The ship was silent as we arrived at Stellwagen Bank on Wednesday morning. The off watches were laying below after the exciting sail through the night, and with the wind light out of the southwest we continued to sail silently under the 4 Lowers looking for whales. We had heard from whale watching vessels that activity on Stellwagen and Jeffreys Ledge has been uneventful so far this season. Only a few humpbacks have been seen and the spectacular feeding and breaching shows from the past few years has been at a lull. We kept our hopes up and eyes on the horizon. Later in the morning when the watches were rested, we had a class on the productivity of Stellwagen Bank, starting with the microscopic phytoplankton and zooplankton and working our way up to the immense marine mammals that frequent the area, usually.

After lunch our all hands meeting turned into a fishing derby. All of a sudden one of the trolling lines we had off the stern started to bend under the weight of a huge fish. Willi, with his lightning quick reflexes, grabbed the fishing pole and began his tumultuous fight with the beast. With his muscles bulging he reeled in some line and then let some go, trying to outsmart and outwit the fish. This continued for what seemed like hours until finally the arduous ordeal was over and a beautiful ten pound bluefish with gnashing teeth writhed on the deck gasping for its last breath. Willi, a bit fatigued by the battle, still had enough energy to do his victory dance. A quick dissection was done before we filleted the meat and we discovered he ( Pomatomus saltatrix) was a pretty hungry fish with an empty stomach. The cook broiled the catch, and served it as an afternoon snack.

Once the fishing excitement died down we continued our search for whales as we made our way towards Gloucester. We took students climbing aloft hoping we might spot a blow. Despite our efforts we only spotted one minke whale that didn't hang around long enough to entertain us. The crew set the Main Topsail, as we made our way towards the vessels original homeport, and we prepared for a grand entrance. Nothing better than sailing an old Fishing Schooner into Gloucester.

The SW breeze died at the Dog Bar breakwater, so we began to strike sail, and motored to the State Fish Pier, Striking the Maintop and Mainsail after getting alongside. All hands had a three hours ashore in the evening to explore Gloucester, before curfew at 2200. Thunderstorms arrived after dark, and cooled the Harbor considerably. Kept watches alongside through the night (shortest night of the year).

Captain: Willi Bank
Program Coordinator: Crista Mellican