Here we
are at anchor in Gloucester harbor. We arrived
after just 3.5 hours underway with a fair
easterly then southeasterly breeze and all four
lowers set. The only hair in the ointment was the
6' swells coming out of the NE making for a
confused and lumpy sea. Green seas washed the
boots of the bow watch (moved slightly aft)
plenty of times, and several fell victim to the
mal de mer (confused and lumpy tummies) in
conditions that could have led even more seasoned
sailors to the rail. We held a starboard tack all
the way but needed the motor to help us weather
Halfway Rock and Newcomb Ledge off of Salem.
After that we shut down, fell off the wind (and
seas) and charged in past Norman's Woe into
Gloucester Harbor doing over 8 knots--a sight
that wouldve made the old Gloucestermen
proud. The students seem riveted by this
opportunity out on the water. Theyve held
up enthusiastically through detailed shipboard
orientations, setting sails, and picking through
sea creatures trawled up from Gloucester Harbor.
Alan Hankin, famed environmental educator now
professor at Emerson College, provided a
characteristically high-quality and irreverent
dissertation on the workings of the Deer Island
water treatment facility as we charged past. Alan
explained, in terms a college student could
appreciate, the multi-stage processes that
convert greater Bostons 250 million gallons
of effluent daily to fresh, if nitrogen-rich,
water for discharge into Massachusetts Bay.
Engineer Steve Swift responded in kind to
inquiries about the ships own wastewater
management processes.
Once outside the channel, lunch, and the
relative merits of eating such yummy food in such
lumpy seas, kept our minds occupied until it was
time for introductions to line handling and safe
practices on deck. By the time we cleared Dog Bar
Breakwater around 1430, it was time to strike
sail and set the trawl net. Gloucester Harbor
proved its fecundity once again. Skatestons!
Male and Female Winter Skates, primarily.
Lobstersone with a bluish shell! Dozens of
Floundersincluding one 7"
not-often-seen Windowpane Flounder. A few small
Scup. Piles of Sanddollars. Rock Crabs. Jonah
Crabs. A few bits of Sea Lettuce. Kelp, and
Perforated Kelp. A few Sea Stars. Several small
Sea Robins, and a couple lookalike small fishes.
Hermit crabs. And more.
Professor Hankin is setting his full agenda in
motion, with water quality monitoring devices [to
assess pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity,
and other measurements], minnow traps, plankton
nets, and more at the ready on deck for students
explorations. As the smells of dinner waft
tantalizingly up from Lauries galley, the
students are fishing in a variety of ways
to learn the many secret underwater lives
of Gloucesters eastern harbor.
Given the intermittent rains, after dinner well
hunker cozily in the fishhold for tales of the
old days, told in music and story from the musty
attics of crewmembers memories.
Captain: Sophie Morse
Program Coordinator: MaryHelen Gunn
Days run: 25.3nm
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