From Whales at Home to Whales at Sea

My apologies for the lag in updates for the Session 2 Bristol WHALES class's adventure upon the Lady Maryland! We find ourselves on Day 3 without a word from your ambassador RA ... blame the mild seas and ill-timed dosages of Dramamine. Although I puked nine or ten times yesterday, I felt more blessed than cursed, surrounded by the sweetest CTY cadets who kept checking in on me and asking how I was feeling. Luckily today has gone by without a single trace of nausea and I have mustered up the courage to come down into the Captain's cabin and tap out a post.

We set sail with haste on Monday afternoon and it wasn't long before we were enjoying a delicious meal on deck cooked by our amazing chef, Michael. Dinner consisted of baked chicken, smashed potatoes, summer squash, and fresh bread. The chicken made for a particularly "unctuous" main course, and the cadets had to face the greasy dishes with a special vigor. The crew aboard the ship encourages us to lick our plates clean before washing them to save as much fresh water as possible.

Michael pointed out that some of the most valuable lessons we learn here on the Lady Maryland are not limited to the classroom subjects. From our nine days here we can learn firsthand the importance of good planning. Planning allows us to be properly cleaned and luxuriously fed while living on this small vessel while at the same time avoiding as much waste as possible. Living efficiently is good for the environment, but also absolutely necessary on a trip such as this one.

On Day 2, we were taught tons of boat sailing/maintenance protocol (and vocabulary!). Once we were finished with our morning chores, the class fished some marine life from the ocean and used the library on board to identify the various species of algae, snails, and crabs. Part of this process was completing scientific observational drawings of the critters in our readers. Here's one of mine:

In the evening, we anchored the boat off the shore of Cuttyhunk Island and the cadets enjoyed a refreshing swim and shampoo with dish soap!

Today we woke up early and after our chores we were able to begin a cool scrimshaw pendant project in the tradition of old whaling sailors. At around 10, we halted the project to go out on a smaller boat and tour an oyster farm! Sadly, the Cuttyhunk Oyster crop was damaged this year by a hurricane that threw off the salinity of the water. The farm tour informed us of the basics of the business and the general prices of oysters at wholesale and from restaurants. At the end, everyone who wanted to got to eat an oyster fresh from the sea! Delicious!

Signing off for now!