Day Four: Diving and Dredging

My contributor today was Wes, who said his favorite part of the day was swimming—since we got rained out a few days ago, it was highly anticipated by everyone.

Our captain taking a swim.

Jumping off the Bowsprit, or the very front of the ship.

"We got to jump off the skipjack," Wes told me. "I was asking to jump off this entire week and I finally got to. I landed on some jellyfish though." Not to worry though, Wes' parents: we had our first aid kit handy, and jellyfish don't hurt too much anyway. Meat tenderizer breaks down the jellyfish proteins and quickly neutralizes the stingers, and we had plenty on hand.

Off the back!

When they weren't at play, the cadets were learning more about the wildlife of Chesapeake Bay. Wes again: "I learned about birds— thedifferent parts and how they each can be used for identifyinging the bird and each have different characteristics that help them survive in their habitat." Students also dredged for oysters, collecting them from the bottom of the bay with a dredge. Dredging is what Sigsbee was built for, and she performed admirably.

Games back at the campsite.

Making dinner.

The night at camp was a pretty regular one—games and grilling—but we ended with a few surprises:

Dissecting squid! And using the ink sacs to write letters home.

We finished the night with laundry, everyone's favorite chore.

And a final word from Wes: "Oyster dredging was pretty fun too because we found two fish and a bunch of crabs inside the oysters."

Good night from our beautiful campsite right on the water!