The weather looked threatening during the entire four hour sail, but we managed to avoid the real rain.  The fog, on the other hand, found us and sayed with us for most of the sail. Spirits not dampened in the least, the 57 students and teachers broke themselves into smaller groups and began to learn about all sorts of different things from the crew of the Ernestina.  Everybody got a chance to stand bow watch and to steer the big Gloucester fishing schooner, and when they weren't helping to sail the boat, the students were given a lesson on deck about Navigation.

Aside from assisting with the ship's safe operation, the student groups moved through several other teaching stations above and below decks.  In the Foc's'le there was an enormous Polar Bear who helped teach the students a little about the History of the Ernestina, and, in the Fish Hold, they learned about the ecology of watersheds by building a model of one.  After watersheds came a class on Knot Tying, where everyone was given an opportunity to make him or herself a bracelet or a necklace.  Back on deck, there was a Touch Tank into which the students could get a very, very close look at several marine creatures and some aquatic vegetation, as well.

You can see an image (below right) of another Essex-built schooner named the Lettie G. Howard (1893) that was sailing around off New Bedford with us.

The following is a list of things that the fifth graders from Indian Head who were aboard the Ernestina today will always remember:

"Barnacles start their lives as plankton; plankton can be plants or animals, as long as it floats and cannot swim against the current."

"Some slippershells can change from male to female."

"It's a myth that you can hum to a snail to make it come out of its shell."

"We know how to find the ship's location using 'land'marks."

"Red Right Returning!"

"We can make rope bracelets."

"Red buoys are even numbered, and green ones are odd numbered."

"The Ernestina is 108 years old."

"We need to know how deep the boat is and how to read the depth on the charts."

"Cape Cod was named after the first fish a [European] person caught there."

"We know how to use hand signals from bow watch to tell the captain and the helmsperson what's happening in front of the boat."

"The Ernestina was named after more than one person: When she was new she was named after Effie M. Morrissey, the first captain's dughter, then she was renamed the Ernestina after another captain, Enrique Medes', daughter."

"A nautical mile is longer than a statute mile."

"Barnacles have openings in their tops through which they feed on plankton."

"Watersheds are separated by mountains.  In Hanson, we live in two watersheds:  Massachusetts Bay and Narragansett Bay."

"Bivalves have two shells."

"We know how to make necklaces using daisy chain knots."

"The Hurricane Barrier is neat."

"Perriwinkles grow their shells as they grow bigger inside and need more room."

"Also, sometimes we have to stay below decks while the crew lower the fore sail."

It was a full day on the high seas!

Submitted by Amanda Lake

Captain: Willi Bank
Program Coordinator: MaryHelen Gunn