Our eventful few days

It is now day 5 and we have had some busy days. On Wednesday, we went canoeing. We played a game called Stinky Fish, but most of us were more concerned about splashing everybody else with our oars instead of getting rid of the stinky fish. We managed to make it with only one boat tipping over, but a sucessful rescue was completed by Ned, the First Mate. All 3 boys survived, but one hat did not. After canoeing, everybody got to run through the sprinkle. I guess when you can't shower, running through a sprinker is the next best thing.

Yesterday, we got to go swimming in the Bay for a little while. We camped out at the Maritime Museum at St. Michael's. We got to take a tour of the museum and then had a scavenger hunt there. Because the tents were set up, dinner made, dinner eaten, and dishes were cleaned up so quickly, we got to go get ice cream at Justine's Ice Cream Parlor. It was fantastic. It was a great night; however, storms were located nearby, so we abandoned our tents and slept on a wooden porch. Not very comfortable.

Today, we visited Poplar Island, which is one big reconstruction site. It used to be over 1000 acres, but after severe erosion, it was only 5 acres. It has now been restored to its original size and will be home to several native wildlife species. We were lucky enough to see a beautiful bald eagle and many terrapin nests along the shore. On the boat ride, we stopped to go trawling. We caught a few anchovies, several jellyfish, sea nettles, and a hog choker. Morgan sniffed the net for good luck (an old seaman's tradition), but we were disappointed with the results.

Tonight, we will be camping at Taylor Island. Perhaps we'll get our first showers of the week????

Our First Two Days

It is now day 3. We have been to Rock Hall, MD and Kent Island, MD. On the first day, everybody was divided into two different watches. Our Port Watch is Morgan, Jaren, Emily, Eric, Chris, and Alex. The Starboard Watch is Zoe, Victoria, Richard, Nick, T.J., and Brian. The watch groups are responsible for many different things, on both water and land. Everybody has been participating in getting the boat on and off the dock. Also, we began using the charts to navigate through the Chesapeake Bay and have learned how to steer the boat. We have also been placed in charge of perfoming the boat checks every day in order to make sure the boat is in good shape. After camping out the first night, we all realized how much we do not like mosquitoes...especially after some of us accidently left our tents open for all of the bugs to come inside. We have also seen several different animals while we've been gone, including jellyfish, ospreys, tons of frogs and toads, turtles, and several cow-nose rays. Right now, we are being swarmed by Japanese beetles on the boat.

Yesterday, we had a lot of fun when we went crabbing with Captain Clay. We did this by trotlining and anytime we missed a crab, we had to sing a song. Some of us got to sing a lot of songs that day. We ended up catching a whole bushel of crabs that were steamed during the day and eaten for dinner. At dinner, we got a lesson from Captain Joe on the proper way to eat the crab. After being promised a reward for eating the whole bushel, some of the students (and crew) buckled down and ate every last crab we had caught. We still haven't showered, so our layers of bug spray and sunscreen are starting to pile up on our skin...but hopefully, we will be able to go swimming sometime soon.

Today, we are headed to Wye Island where we will go canoeing this afternoon.

Getting Ready

Wow, everyone will be here so soon! The crew has been working so hard to get the boat and the program ready for a fantastic summer. Everyone is very excited and a little nervous, but we know we'll have a great summer.