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Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Auburn Middle School

We had a lovely Tuesday morning with the first of three groups of 7th grade students from the Auburn Middle School. The weather was humid and warm at the dock and warmed up even more for the students as we pulled out into the harbor to raise the sails. As we headed out of the hurricane barrier and into Buzzards Bay we were cooled off by a light breeze coming from the southwest. The water was calm and the clouds were rarely letting the sun peak through. It was one of those bright cloudy days.

After being bombarded by totally new environment, the students and chaperones did a great job of listening carefully and participating appropriately. The students were split into five groups and rotated through learning stations through the day. They learned about navigating with a chart, plankton, folklore and the history of the Ernestina. A great job by everyone on steering the ship. While they waited to steer, they learned to make daisy chain bracelets with colorful string. Most importantly, they learned about the mechanical advantages of simple machines like the blocks (pulleys) on the ship that allowed them to achieve the otherwise impossible task of raising the sails. I hear that one small girl was stronger than two large boys at this station. Something to remember about mechanical advantage… Thanks to you all for a safe and enjoyable sail!

Other components of the program were ashore including a visit to the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum and to the New Bedford Sewage Treatment Facility at Fort Rodman.

After the sail returned, Ernestina was back out again for an underway US Coast Guard inspection. They put us through the paces with sail setting and a run-through of all the drills including the 'man-over-board' drill. The photo to the right, below of the ship out in the fog is from Fort Rodman during the class trip out to the Sewage Treatment Plant with crew aboard now in the midst of an inspection.

Captain: Amanda Madeira
Program Coordinator: MaryHelen Gunn

We would like to thank Lotus and IBM for donation of software, hardware and funding to enable regular electronic updates from the ship.

NOAA Chart is provided courtesy of Maptech using Cruising Navigator 4.3 and grabbing the image using Grabit Pro 6.02.

 
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Copyright 1997-2002
Schooner Ernestina
89 North Water Street, P.O. Box 2010, New Bedford, MA 02741-2010
phone 508.992.4900 -- fax 508.984.7719
www.ernestina.org

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