Day Six: Water, Water, Everywhere

Today was a wet one for the crew of the Sigsbee.

We got off to an early start—even early by Sigsbee standards— and began the longest transit of the trip, seven hours from the Eastern Shore to the mainland.

During this time, students took care of the usual tasks the boat requires, nearly on their own. With very little help from professional crew, they can raise both sails, lower the centerboard, man the helm, and throw and tie off dock lines. During the science time, students did a multitude of things, and I'll let them speak for themselves.

Anya says, "My favorite part of the day —there's so many things—working on the project was really cool because we got to look at the things that have different effects on the bay. I was looking at the human impact and how something like global warming could impact the bay and its biodiversity."

Students also started work on bands that they're weaving themselves, making good use of their new knot skills.

One in progress and one finished.

DaRe'one told me that "we were learning about lift and velocity and how they're interchangeable. High pressure corresponds with low velocity and low pressure with high velocity. The boat uses lift to go along the waves, so to understand lift on the sail you have to understand pressure and velocity."

Sigsbee has been treating us well, so when we docked, it was time to return the favor to her. We broke out the sponges, brushes, and soap and gave her a good scrubbing.

Scrub a dub

Manning the hose.

Soon after, we headed to the beach. "We went fossil hunting on the beach and I got an imprinted fossil," says DaRe'one.

Unfortunately, we got rained out—hard. 

That provided its own entertainment, though: "It was fun to run back from the beach and work as a team to get camp set up right before the rain hit," says Anya.

Staying dry and entertained.

Good night for now, and check back soon!

Edit: I'm updating this just because I'm blown away by how into their projects these guys are. As I'm sitting here prepping for tomorrow, I've heard the educational coordinator get questions like, "What is the name of the equation used to calculate biodiversity?" and "What are some of the effects of pollution on jellyfish?" and What's the salinity level that oysters feed at?" It's nearly dark yet they're still hard at work by lantern light.