Rise and shine on this third day of our journey. We all woke
up early this morning and got our tents taken down and packed away. After a
nice little breakfast – cereals, blueberries, yogurt and bananas – we headed to
the Sigsbee and prepared to set sail. Today the Sigsbee kids were split up into
different watches (a term used to refer to different groups). One group was the
Starboard* watch and the other was the Port* watch.
Starboard watch began with
a lesson about the Chesapeake Bay. They
learned that the Bay was an estuary, and that it was fed by 19 different rivers
along with the Atlantic Ocean. They also got
to learn more about the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delmarva (the peninsula
that covers Delaware, Maryland
and Virginia).
A demonstration using a salt bridge divide helped illustrate the mixing of
fresh water and salt water into the estuaries creating brackish water. Finally
they got to practice water quality testing using different instruments on
board. They measured the salinity and the dissolved oxygen, found the pH, and
tested for phosphates and nitrates in the Bay.
While Starboard watch was doing all
that, Port watch was being kept quite busy doing navigation stuff. They got
lessons on how to figure out exact locations on the chart. They were taught
more about doing lookout, and about doing inspections of different parts on the
boat – including the engine, the hatches, and even the head (i.e. the
bathroom). They even got a chance to practice driving at the helm. The kids of
Port watch worked on a rotation basis, switching duties between lookout and
navigational stuff, for about 3 hours. During this time, the kids again got to
see a huge cargo vessel. This time it was the Wallenius Wilhelmsen.
After their
lessons, the kids got to enjoy lunch. Now, after lunch, the deck was just a
little messy, so it was time for a wash down. What is this wash down you may ask?
Well it’s basically the crew members using a hose that is on board to spray
down the deck to get it clean. Well this sounds simple and a little boring
right? Well it gets so much better. Once the deck was clean, we started a
party. Yes a party – a hose party. The hose was turned skywards, creating a
waterfall, which the kids then got to go under and get wet. Considering it was
quite hot today, this was an awesome way to cool down. But wait, it gets even
better. We added buckets to our party. Crew members helped fill up some buckets
on board with water, and we all got a chance to sit on another bucket and have
our entire body covered with a bucket of water. The party was on! And to make
things even interesting, we lined the kids up and the crew members and I poured
water all over them at once. But don’t you worry, we made it fair and the roles
were reversed. This time, the kids all got a bucket and the entire crew and I
lined up - with our hands behinds our
back, like we’re facing the firing squad – and got pummeled by the kids and
their watery weapons. This was the perfect party for a scorching hot day.
After
our party, we all cooled down for a little while, but then the action
continued. The kids went trot line fishing once again. They got the net set up,
and as a group tossed it out into the Bay. This time they caught a spotted hake
fish, a small crab, and lots of see nettles (jelly fishes). They filled out
their Marine data sheet once again and used their newly caught friends for
educational purposes as they learned more about these specific organisms. They
even got to do their own drawings of one of the organisms and label its
anatomical parts.
After a long day of sailing, and lessons, and an awesome
party, we docked at our third site. We immediately got camp set up and since we
arrived a little early, there was a bit of free time. We used this free time to
all go canoeing/kayaking (the kids were in canoes and the crew members were in
kayaks). After our relaxation on the river, we headed back to camp, got
ourselves cleaned up and prepared dinner. Now, after dinner, and after all our
dishes were cleaned up, we got to enjoy one of the most popular camp snacks of
all times – SMORES! We had our smores and gathered in our circle around the
fire pit, where we talked about the exciting parts of our day, and things we
were still looking forward to or wanted to improve on. We discussed our plans
for the following day, and all went to bed. Today was yet another fun day
aboard the Sigsbee, and who knows what’s in store for the rest of the trip.
We’ll just have to wait and see. Until tomorrow, take care.
* starboard refers to the right side of the boat, and port refers to the left side of the boat. This doesn't mean the kids were restricted to the side their watch was named after though. It was just a good way of naming to two groups
* starboard refers to the right side of the boat, and port refers to the left side of the boat. This doesn't mean the kids were restricted to the side their watch was named after though. It was just a good way of naming to two groups
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