Lady Maryland: Lady Maryland: Trip #4 (Day Five)

"My favorite part about visiting Block Island was getting to feed the dead squid to the spider crabs after we dissected them." - Harry

Another awesome day on the Lady Maryland! It's hard to believe that our voyage is halfway over already!

This morning we set sail early and headed towards Block Island, an island off of the Rhode Island coast that attracts a lot of visitors for its bicycling, hiking, fishing, and of course, its beautiful beaches. We started the day off by exploring more of the local marine life, this time using a tool called a "dredge" that sinks into the muddy ocean floor and catches sea life as it drags along the bottom. The cadets all helped to haul the dredge up, but they got a little timid when they realized that what the dredge had primarily caught was a whole lot of mud. Nonetheless, some jumped in to feel their way through the mud, and we eventually sorted out a few shell fish. Not entirely satisfied, we decided to throw the trawl again, too. This time, we hauled up a whole spectrum of creatures: small fish, starfish, jelly fish, crabs, shell fish, and more. The cadets spent the next hour identifying and studying our different species before we released them back into the water.

The group was feeling much more energized and alert today after a good sleep on a calm sea under the stars, and as we sailed towards Block Island, the group kept in high spirits by singing songs, new and old, as they stood watch and cleaned the ship. The cadets also learned about water health, and tested the varying levels of phosphate, dissolved oxygen, and salinity in samples drawn from the side of the ship. They determined that the water was fairly healthy, but talked about the overall health of water on our planet and how it is being affected by humans. We will take more tests tonight on anchor watch to see if the water where we anchor, near land, is any different from the water further out at sea.

Captain Michael had warned us that the Block Island harbor would be worse than the mall parking lot on Christmas Eve, and sure enough, when we sailed into the salt pond in the center of Block Island that serves as the harbor, there were boats everywhere: huge yachts, fellow schooners, fancy sailboats, small speedboats – even an old, rusty military tug boat! It was fun to look around at all the ways to travel over the water, and to compare our dear schooner’s various parts to other boats as we passed. Finally, we found a good place to drop the anchor, and a small transporting boat picked us up to take us ashore.

We were dropped off at BIMI, the Block Island Marine Institute, where we spent the next hour observing the marine life that BIMI had collected in observation tanks. In one tank, where scallops cohabited with starfish, the cadets attempted to place scallops near enough to starfish to witness the starfish catch and eat the scallops, as they had learned that starfish eat by vomiting digestive fluids into their prey. Though there were some close calls, the scallops always won out, snapping their shells and scurrying away at the last moment. Needless to say, it was very interesting to watch, and the cadets were amazed at the diversity of life in our waters.

After spending some time at the observation tanks, our cadets got the opportunity to dissect squids! Each cadet got his or her own, and they were taught how to cut a squid apart into its various organs, learning each organ’s purpose as they went. A few cadets were brave enough to eat the lens of the squid eye – supposedly full of vitamins – and most ended up with more than a little squid ink on his or her fingers. Afterward, they got to feed the squid pieces to the spider crabs in the observation tanks. Opinions were mixed about whether the lesson was gross or awesome, but overall it was very interesting. Afterward, the cadets were ready to head back to the ship and haul out towards the Fishers Island Sound, where we would anchor for the night.

The cadets continue to have a great time, and each day they become more comfortable with the different components of sailing, taking initiative and often handling the sails almost completely on their own. Tomorrow, we’ll sail a short distance to Mystic, Connecticut – our sixth state in as many days! The crew is very excited for Mystic, a port that they had to skip on the previous trip, so we're excited, too, though we're not sure what we'll find there. Another day, another adventure!