Day 2: Rained out

        After we were woken up at 6:00 in the morning, we took down our tents and split into our Port and Starboard watches. Port watch headed to the boat and learned how to prep to get underway while starboard watch learned about the Chesapeake Bay ecology. We began to sail to Horn Point. As we continued sailing, the rain got progressively worse and soon forecasts predicted water spouts and high waves. Due to bad weather we were forced to turn back, and head back to the Solomons, not before one extrodanarily tall student got to drive the boat. When we got back to the docks, the rain had stopped and we began activities. We fished for jellyfish, tested water samples and shucked oysters. We went back to the Calvert Hills to camp. We watched a demonstration of a runoff model and learned about Riperian Buffers, salt marshes, and oyster reefs. We had a scrumptious

dinner of meatball subs, salad, and corn on the cob. We then moved our belongings to a pavilion to be sheltered from possible rain and set up our tents. We then painted out watch flags. Tomorrow we will be sailing to Horn Point to camp and continue on our way from there.

Lucy, Colby, Jake, Kalyn, Aurora, and Cooper

Natalia and Cooper catching Jellyfish

Jellyfish catches!!!

Card Playing

Relaxing by the dock

Oyster Shelling!

Flag making for out two groups, Port Watch and Starboard

Day 1 of Awesome Camping Adventure

After a three-hour van ride to The Solomons, we reached Sigsbee. We had sandwiches for lunch, then headed to the Calvert Maritime Museum to view the exhibits. We viewed otters, rays, skates, starfish, turtles, sharks, and fossils. We also toured the lighthouse and dock area. Then we learned about skipjacks and other types of boats. We were also very excited to discover that there was a gift shop. Once we returned to the boat, we packed up our belongings and headed to camp. We had a delicious taco dinner, prepared by staff and campers. 

Long live Edgar

Day Eight: Project Presentations and Tent Races

Our last day aboard Sigsbee was marked by the presentation of the projects that students have been working so hard on these past few days. They covered a wide range of topics concerning the Chesapeake, from biodiversity to climate change to dredging and fishing's effects on the Bay.

Otherwise, the day was filled with our last attempts to catch some fish, visiting the Calvert Marine Museum, and racing to see who could set up their tent the fastest. I don't have a lot to say for this last day, so I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

One of the three sea robins we caught.

Some from inside the Calvert Marine Museum.

The very end of our last voyage aboard Sigsbee.

Tent races!

And a last photo of our campsite.

Day Seven: Syrup, Swimming, and Seining

Strictly speaking, some of this belongs in yesterday's post, but it was late enough to warrant inclusion in this post.

After bedtime last night, we had another storm roll through—bad enough to warrant waking the crew up, getting out of tents, and moving to a pavilion for shelter. Not to worry, everyone was safe, but it did provide for an hour or so of downtime late at night. Never ones to waste time, the students entertained themselves with stories and shadow puppets.

Our new late-night friend.

The morning brought us another surprise: all of our pancake syrup spilled in our food tub. That made for a messy cleanup for Port Watch.

All over the place.

When we got to the ship, we discovered another surprise: one of the lines had gotten caught up near the top of the mast, so one of the professional crew members had to go retrieve it.

Don't worry, she's roped in.

We finally got ourselves under way, and a good few hours of sailing brought us to Point Lookout, where we finally, at long last, got to go swimming at a bona fide beach.

Building an aquarium to hold fish we caught while Seine netting...

...And using the Seine net.

One of our catches.

A nice dinner was followed by rod-and-reel fishing off the pier, and that's all the news from Sigsbee as we wrap up the last few days of the adventure!

A few of the pier and fishing.

I think this is the first trip selfie. I certainly didn't take it.

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.

Day Five: Oysters

Pretty quick update about yesterday. The crew stayed at the same campsite last night, which means no sailing during the day. Instead, we toured the Horn Point Marine Lab. Specifically, we learned about their oyster restoration project.

Touring the lab.

We learned about the entire life cycle of oysters—from larvae to fully grown—and how beneficial to the environment of the Chesepeake they are. 

A few other facts we learned:

•Oysters can change gender.

•The Marine Lab distributed 1.78 billion spat into the Chesepeake last year, their largest amount ever.

•The more movement oysters go through, the harder their shells get, so scientists at the lab hang oysters in baskets that get jostled by the waves.

•A bucket of larvae can cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars—and would contain millions of larvae.

•They have an eyespot and a foot that looks like a tongue.

•They can only stick to something once—so if they miss an oyster bar, they can get buried in sand and suffocate.

•Each oyster can spawn millions more, though very few survive.

•Oysters eat plankton, phytopkankton, fats, and algae.

In exchange for the cool information on oysters and letting us camp at Horn Point for two nights, we put in a little elbow grease and helped them clean oysters and oyster tanks. I was working with Port Watch, so most of the pictures today are of them. Hoping to get more of The six crew members in Starboard Watch!

Cleaning, cleaning , cleaning

Back at camp, the evening was busy with showers (first proper ones in five days!) and a bit more laundry. We ended the night with tie dying some bandannas—which I didn't get a picture of, but each student has their bandanna to as a keepsake, dyed in Sigsbee colors (blue and white).

Now we're back on the boat and headed for our next destination, which is our longest transit of the trip: fully seven hours under sail. Watches are busy keeping the ship running or working on science projects as I type. 

Check back tonight or tomorrow morning for another update!

Okay, one more picture from yesterday:

Titanic poses at sunset.