Day Five: Resist the Urge to Keelhaul Students

Day five gave us a nice break from our usual morning routine, as we went for a pre-breakfast hike to the cliffs for fossil hunting. Pouring through the piles of pebbles and broken shells, we found fossilized clay imprints, giant scallop shells, and Captain Joe even found two shark's teeth. We then ate, packed up and set off for Annapolis. During the transit, we passed the lighthouse marking Bloody Point, where old skipjack captains used to "keelhaul" their crews (knock them overboard with the boom so as not to have to pay them). Luckily, we avoided needing to keelhaul any students. Port Watch was on duty, and successfully navigated our way to Annapolis, while Starboard got a chance to do some water quality testing. We arrived at Annapolis after experiencing our first docking at a crowded harbour, and got back in touch with civilization for a bit by walking around downtown. Our campsite at Thomas Point, Outside of Annapolis, was by far the most beautiful we stayed at, located on a point jutting out into the middle of the bay with a waterfront view all around. The kids were ecstatic over our surprise dinner of pizza from Papa John's, and by their one chance to be reunited with their cellphones for a quick call home. As we ate, we were able to watch the lightning flashes of a storm slowly approaching from the Bay, which was as breathtaking as it was foreboding. Luckily, we were able to get in our tents before the storm arrived, and were lulled to sleep by the rain.