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Invest-in-Kids After-school Program
At-sea three-day program

Sunday, June 29 through July 1, 2003
Day Three ~ July 1

Last night, Fred Littleton spoke of his trip aboard the Effie M. Morrissey in 1940.  At the end of the trip, there wasn't a lot of choice about breakfast cereals.  It was Wheaties and that was that.  (Capt. Bartlett had a sponsorship deal with them and is the only explorer to have appeared on their box.)  Well, this morning as the sun rose, so did the ship and we were hauling up the main sail at 0600 without the help of a Wheaties breakfast!  Mate Gwen Matusek woke up all the sleeping hands with a rousting call to the halyards with a promise of tooth brushing after the anchor was up!

By about 0630, the sail were up, the anchor was off the bottom and we were underway, heading back home to New Bedford.  Our new steward, Kate, did a spectacular job with breakfast. We all had a good appetite after all the heaving and hauling.

All watches broke into field day, cleaning all the nooks and crannies of lovely Ernestina.  The After School kids did a wonderful job and the old girl was looking GREAT! (The heavy boson's locker was even moved to get under the sole plates!)

All watches then went into a friendly competition of American Idol...at Sea.  Erika Pires started the event with an incredible rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner".  She has a beautiful voice!  C-Watch sang "Johnny Come Down to Hilo" complete with interesting costumes.  Randy Rivet's accent was so good, you'd think the island he had just been on was Jamaica, not Martha's Vineyard!  B-Watch performed "Walk Around the Capstan" -  a song from our recent play, "Moby-Dick ~ The Musical."  Kristin York, another wonderful singer, did a great job leading that.  Finally, A-Watch sang a chantey about Noah's Ark called "A Long Time Ago."  Jimmy Muse looked quite authentic in his sou'wester and foul weather gear!  Even Paula Abdul herself was present to judge the competition in full Hollywood-style costuming!  She looked surprisingly like our new program coordinator, Gretchen Stuppy. Hmmmmm.

All watches then participated in a Ernestina Olympics event, doing a pin chase, naming lines and parts of the ship, and answering trivia questions based on the ship's history.

We arrived back into New Bedford Harbor at 1430 and were greeted by family members and a food delivery which many of the students stayed and helped with. The last three days have been a bonding time for the kids, the crew and our dedicated chaperones, Jim Muse and Bob Rocha.  We thank the Invest-In-Kids program for the opportunity to share this experience.  We also look forward to the fall for another exciting year with the Ernestina's after school programs.

Program Coordinators: Polly Zajac, Kristen Sharpless
Captain: Willi Bank

Here are some comments from students:

"Thank you so much for giving me the experience of a lifetime. I did not think when I left on Sunday I would have a very good time. Boy was I wrong!"

"I have memories to last a lifetime. Thank the crew and everyone involved in the after-school program."

Johnathan, Kristin, Krystal, and Erika get ready for American Idol at Sea

Randy, Jim, Erin, and Jeremy also get ready

Is it Paula Abdul? OK, it's not....

C Watch sings John Cherokee

B Watch sings Walk Around the Capstan

Kristin and the Capstan Walkers

A Watch Sings - A Long Time Ago

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 1997-2003
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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