Day 1, July 8

The great Sigsbee left the shores of Baltimore this morning with a new student crew (CBay2) on board. We happily set sail on the Chesapeake Bay—learning about the boat, our roles and responsibilities—on the way to Gibson Island. The twelve young sailors were divided into two groups, the port watch and the starboard watch, with each group watching the port and starboard sides of the boat respectively. We learned how to put up the sails and had lessons on water quality. We finally docked on Gibson Island to set up tent. Awesome start!

The Sigsbee docked on Gibson Island

Setting up tent

Young chefs in action

Dinner time!

Day 2, July 9

We left Gibson Island early to continue our Chesapeake adventure. On route to Tilghman Island, a lid fell off a container on the boat into the river. We seized the moment and practiced a man overboard drill, successfully retrieving the lid. We then went fishing and caught some blue crabs and snails.We finally docked on the island and toured the Phillips Wharf Environmental Center. We saw and touched horseshoe crabs, turtles, and even watched a seahorse give birth!

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Ospreys

Learning knots

Fishing

Docking on Tilghman Island

Phillips Wharf Environmental Center

All work and no play...

Day 3, July 10

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day with a nice cool breeze. We got on the Sigsbee and sailed on to our next destination. On the way, we learned about precipitation, wave amplitude, wind speed, and cloud types. We also built miniature boat models and learned about buoyancy. Then we made our flags: The port and starboard watches both designed flags to fly on the boat. When we finally reached the beautiful Solomons Island, we went swimming and hunting for fossils on the beach!

Leaving Tilghman Island

Fossil hunting on Solomons Island

Day 4, July 11

After a nice breakfast at camp, we drove to the Calvert Marine Museum. We saw many fossils, fish, boats, and historical artifacts. We then went sailing. fishing and dredging aboard the Sigsbee. First, we hoisted our flags above the Sigsbee. Then we went fishing and caught blue crabs, oyster toadfish, oysters, mussels, sea squirts, and even a skilletfish with its eggs in an oyster shell. Then we went dredging and caught a lot more oysters. We even found a pearl in an oyster! It was a very lucky day for us on the bay today.

Calvert Marine Museum

Flag lifting

Fishing

Newly molted blue-crab

Skilletfish and its eggs in an oyster shell

Dredging

A pearl in an oyster

Day 5, July 12

Today was awesome. We learned about navigation. Captain Nick let the student sailors take turns at steering the boat! We also learned how to look out from the bow of the boat and relay positional information back to the captain. We dredged and fished on our way to Horn Point, catching oysters, blue crabs, sea squirts, and a white perch. Our camp at Horn Point has the most beautiful scenery. What a day!

Navigation

Class

Dredging 

Fishing

White perch

Gorgeous camp site