Gloucester Harbor and a trawl before transiting across Stellwagen Bank to Provincetown Harbor.

Wind: East Force 2
Seas: Swells 6-8'
Temperature: 24C
Pressure: 30.35"Hg

Written by B watch: Brittany Canniff, Kara Cutrona, Ka-lok Chan, Tedros Abraham, Will Collins, & Jessica Tebbetts.

Ernestina woke on August 1, 2001 to the sound of all her crew and guests saying "rabbit rabbit".  Through all the commotion she heard there was a great swell coming from the south.  She waited patiently through breakfast but she longed to have her anchor raised so that she could get some surfing in.

First she had to be cleaned inside and out.  Then before she could head towards Stellwagen Bank she had to pull an otter trawl behind her.  After it was hauled on deck Ernestina headed toward Stellwagen Bank.

While underway the students inventoried and identified all the critters caught in the otter trawl.  Among the critters were skates, flounder, sculpins, rock crabs, sea stars, lobsters and sea squirts.  Ernestina thought this was very exciting, however she was very muddy after and needed another wash.

After the creatures were safely returned to the water lunch was had by all.  Ernestina kept on sailing toward Stellwagen.  She got some entertainment from the crew when they had emergency drills.  It was a serious matter to the crew but Ernestina had seen it all many times before.  It was the same silly orange float named Bobette that they used for man overboard drills.

More science then for the crew.  A plankton tow was pulled by Ernestina for a while.  She caught many different kinds of plankton due to the upwelling that occurs there.

Later in the afternoon the students and crew were pleasantly surprised by the antics of a humpback whale.  Ernestina was happy to have such playful company in the water.  The whale breached, and splashed its fluke.  Everyone could even hear the powerful whale blows.  This was quite a show for the students on Ernestina's bowsprit.

With the swells big and the day late she headed towards Provincetown.  Ernestina was happy to anchor after such a long eventful day.  She rested as the students did some quiet evening programs.  The students were tired too.  They retired after a quiet reading about squid from Crista.  All were quiet on their anchor watch during the evening.  Ernestina was happy and safe.

Captain: Willi Bank
Program Coordinator: Crista Mellican