Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday! We had technical difficulties but I’ll outline the past few days here. Students have been learning about GPS fix navigation and three point fix navigation which are two ways to find our location when we are sailing. We had a very windy day on the water and in the turbulence students learned how to perform a deck wash. They also learned about plankton and expanded on their knowledge of water quality. The final project was introduced and students spent some time on the boat researching their chosen topic with books from the ship’s library. At camp students got to tie dye some handkerchiefs.

Today students spent the entire day at camp and visited an oyster hatchery. At the hatchery they cleaned the oyster tanks, got to cool off with a water fight, and helped the staff clean the oysters themselves. Afterwards students returned to camp for a lesson on squid dissection. They learned about the different organs found in squids and got to see them in person. Free time was once more spent locked in competitive card game competitions.

Today students had a long and exciting day on the boat. They learned about water quality and how it is measured with the crew of the boat. They also learned about some of the aquatic life in the bay. This was followed by a hands on activity that involved fishing and sorting their catch. Students caught some bay anchovies, a toadfish, and multiple crabs. To get out of the hot sun for a while students got to jump off the boat and go for a swim. At camp they spent their down time locked in competitive card games. 

Today students woke up and had breakfast on the boat. We had a long and hot journey that lasted most of the day. Students got a lot of hands on experience with sailing and navigation in addition to learning about water salinity. We visited the waterman’s museum and learned about how people used to make a living on the Chesapeake bay and how that has changed over time. Afterwards we set up camp and ate a delicious pasta and garlic bread dinner.

Students had an early start today at 4 am! In two different shifts they got to learn about crabbing with a local waterman, Captain Clay. The students caught two blue crabs in the bay, one of which Clay described as a jumbo crab. After that the students got back on the boat to learn more about the biology of crabs while using the live specimens as models. The captain of the Sigsbee also spent today teaching students about navigation and how to use landforms to identify where the boat is located. The day ended with some well deserved swimming at the beach. At camp students completed the full circle of their crab education as the staff of LCF walked them through how to eat crab!

And away they go!

The CBay students were picked up by the LCF staff this morning. After saying goodbye to their phones they loaded their gear and themselves into the vans for the trip down to Sigsbee.  After doing some shuffling of luggage the campers boarded the boat, got their life jackets, had some introductions to life aboard and got under way.  Students jumped right into learning by doing as they handled dock lines and fenders and raised  the sail.  Today will be filled with lots of orientations to sailing, camping and life on the Bay.