|
A cold damp morning,
at anchor off Stonington Point in Fishers Island Sound.
Mainsail set from day before. Wind is Northeast at Force 3
on the Beaufort Scale. Schooner Spirit
of Massachusetts is also anchored, close at hand.
Our plan was to send
students ashore in dories to explore the intertidal zone, but
weather calls for better sailing.
After breakfast, chores
and a meeting with all hands, we get underway.
B watch has the deck, and
they ready the jib, and man the helm and lookout; A and C set
the foresail scandalized, and ready the windlass to haul back.
To sail off the hook, and
avoid running aground, or T-boning Spirit [in the vernacular
for running into them broadside with the bow sprit], the
students must follow instructions from their mates.
The starboard anchor is
up, slowly the schooner gains sternway.... Rhonda shifts the
helm to set the vessel on a port tack. We drift close to the
stern of Spirit, and the jib is set back to port. The big
mainsail on Ernestina (2665 Sq feet), pushes the bow closer to
our neighbor, but finally the rudder gains steerage, the big
black boat falls of the wind.
Once the anchor is on the
rail, the Jumbo is set, we are off quickly. We charge out of
the Lords Passage before Spirit has gotten underway.
We sail in Block Island
Sound, and through the Race into Long Island Sound where the
seas calm a bit.
The watches spend the
afternoon tacking the ship, and racing against Spirit. It is
cold, wet and windy, bit no one cares.
At 1615 we make our way
back to the City Pier in New London, and pass the USCG Bark
Eagle at anchorage B. The Cadets salute Ernestina with 3
cheers. A nice welcome indeed.
At
1800, alongside, both schooner crews mingle, and say goodbye
to students from Christian Heritage. We sailed 38 Nm today,
and it was worth it.
Program Coordinator: Rhonda Moniz
Captain: Willi Bank
U.S.
Coast Bark Eagle lays at anchor off New London, her home port.
Steering
along in light wind with Spirit of Massachusetts close at
hand...
Foul
weather gear is called for.
Posing for a shot as the
ship heels to starboard and sails along.
Learning
is what Ernestina is all about.
Group
shot looking aft on the port side.. What tack are we on?
Morning
meeting to check in on the work of the day.
|
Here are some comments from students from the trip:
"It is a great experience for
those who love the water.
The crew is awesome and so is the food. Bow watch is a
lot of fun as well because you get to learn all the
different hand signals and use them."
"The trip was amazing. We sailed from New London, CT. We
started by setting the sails. It was hard work raising the
thousand pound sail but we pulled through. Our group
was separated and put into watches. Within the watch
we were all assigned specific tasks, those tasks were
shifted every half hour. The tasks were to do bow,
steer the boat at the helm and do boat checks. Each
task, easy though they sound, were complicated. The
crew did an awesome job teaching us to do each task
fully."
"Thank you to the crew of the Ernestina for making such
a fun adventure, one that I will never forget."
|
