Official Vessel of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
MembershipCalendarProgramsOutreachHistoryStatistics

Ernestina Logbook Page

Date: Wednesday, September 13 and early Thursday, September 14, 2000
Time: 1000 EDT

"Last night the moon had a golden ring,
And to-night no moon we see!
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe,
And a scornful laugh laughed he.”


Verse from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Wreck of the Hesperus

The crew of the Ernestina had a very different experience than those on the Hesperus that night off Normans Woe. The full moon shone on us so brightly all night that we were able to read by moonlight. We passed Normans Woe close after noon on Wednesday morning. A small front had come through in the early morning hours, the drizzle cleared and the wind shifted, but never really filled in.

Gregg Germaine led us through his class on celestial bodies and navigation before going over our safety and emergency drills before departing on our overnight sail.

An afternoon class on the marine ecology of the bank resulted in students making many wonderful planktonic creatures out of clay. Once on the bank, we spotted a shark lurking 25 ft. off the ship (no swim call there) and whales in the distance. We sailed on a southerly course down the bank, did a plankton and Neuston tow and hove to for dinner as you can see on the chart. We were subject most of the night to drifting with the currents and hearing the breath of whales. The thick line on the chart indicates going westerly above the shipping lanes, then northerly. Most students also observed bioluminescence during the 0200-0300 nighttime tows.

Underway with the use of the engine again at 0430 towards Race Point to catch the fair current in the Cape Cod Canal at 1100 Thursday. An unforgettable moonlit passage!!!!

Wind: S'ly, Force 3
Visibility: Sunny, Good
Barometer: Falling Slowly

Captain: Amanda Madeira
Program Coordinator: Crista Mellican

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.

 
Click on a month to view the complete schedule:
| April | May | June | July | August | September | October |November |

Copyright 1997-2000
Schooner Ernestina
New Bedford State Pier, P.O. Box 2010, New Bedford, MA 02741-2010
phone 508.992.4900 -- fax 508.984.7719
www.ernestina.org

produced by...