Day 4 CTY Session 2

Today began with our longest journey yet and what a successful trip it was!  An amazing class on plankton and its vital role in the bay concluded with our instructors, Katie and Jacob, actually collecting plankton and displaying it to the students.  We followed that up with an exciting exhibition on triangulation and navigation based on a compass with Captain LP and Julia.  After a long day, what’s more lovely than enjoying a game of frisbee and washing clothes?

Day 3 of CTY Session 2

After starting our voyage off on such a great note yesterday, today was more of the same!  With a great of sailing (with a large human knot) as well as a fun time in Solomons Island, students learned about the nautical history of the Chesapeake in all its grandeur.  This included some exciting visits with important creatures like river otters and lionfish, as well as tours of similar boats and an old lighthouse.  This was all capped off with a delicious meal and fossil hunt on the beach which lead to a discovery of sharks' teeth.  All in all, a great day has been had and another exciting adventure starts tomorrow.

With our first sailing day underway, Chesapeake Bay 2 already is excited about the new adventures enjoyed today and the ones on the horizon.  A fun time of hauling in crabs and fishes of the Potomac River as well as exciting times of learning how to actually sail made today a fantastic, knowledge-filled trip.  Exciting days of seafaring to look forward to as we get underway tomorrow following the holiday.

Last day sailing! Today students did some early morning fishing and caught 11 crabs and a couple of fish. They learned about the fish they caught and deepened their knowledge of crabs. Later in the morning they got time to work on their final projects. The day was ended with the Skipjack Races, which was a series of events that the students competed in. In their separate teams they had to race to finish coiling rope, cleaning the deck, putting on emergency life jackets, tying knots, and putting up the sails. When putting up the sails the students endured the added challenge of the crew simulating harsh storm conditions using the ship’s hose.

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.