Schooner Ernestina sailed with Nichols Middle School today with a 9am to 5pm program into Buzzards Bay.

You can see the track (red line) originating in New Bedford Harbor and moving out the channel to set an Otter Trawl off Clarks Cove in the morning. During the rest of the day the ship reached across and sailed closehauled back and forth across Buzzards Bay.

The Otter Trawl was full, so full that it was hard to retrieve aboard. Most of it was Codium (Codium fragile), a dark green algae with thick, spongy branches. Also hauled aboard were many slipper shells (Crepidula fornicata), a few Green Crabs (Carcinus maenas), three Tautogs (Tautoga onitis) and two juvenile Cunner (Tautogolabrus adspersus). Tautogs and Cunner are related fishes in the Killifish family.

The winds began to pick up during the afternoon and are predicted to blow NE 20 knots tonight and 20-30 knots by daybreak with visibility reduced in rain and fog. We'll watch the weather for tomorrow's sail.

Winds: NE 12-18 knots
Sea: <1 foot
Weather: 90% Stratocumulus
Air Temperature: 19C
Barometer: 30.22" Steady

Captain: Amanda Madeira
Program Coodinator: Crista Mellican