Westport High sails again On September 28 and 29th, the
freshman of Westport High - a large class of 143
students - sailed as two groups aboard the
Ernestina. This is the fourth consecutive year
science teacher Mary Anne McQuillan, long-time
Ernestina volunteer, has led her "freshmen
team" of Westport teachers and students.
Their integrated course unit features the history
of Ernestina, weather forecasting, the
mathematics of simple machines, a viewing of the
1930s film version of Captains Courageous,
and the vocabulary of a 19th century
schooner.
Both groups of students set
sail from State Pier in New Bedford for a 4-hour
trip into Buzzards Bay. After raising sail (fore
and jumbo) they divided into 6 learning groups,
rotating through six learning stations on deck
and in the focsle. The Ernestina crew
lead sessions on navigation, weather, ship
history, steering and guiding the ship, simple
machines, and aquatic life.
After the sails, the students
wrote reflective essays on their experience
aboard and its similarity to the initial weeks of
their life "voyage" as freshman high
school students. For most, both represent
stepping into the unknown, meeting challenges,
and learning from the new environment and
experience.
Muses of the Member Sail
"September Song"
could have been another name for a recent
Ernestina Member Sail this evening from 5-8pm,
when the autumn sunset on Buzzards Bay framed a
near-perfect three-hours of sailing, fun, and
fellowship aboard Schooner Ernestina for a group
of 70 members, friends, staff and crew of the
ship. A wonderful element of the night was the
presence of many musical friends of Ernestina.
Salty songs were provided by
Rhode Island singer/song writer and humorist,
John Campbell and Dan Lanier, fiddler extraordinaire
and previous director of the sea chantey program
at Mystic Seaport. Local favorite Ian Geddes
chimed in with his concertina, along with
Ernestinas Tom Goux, as the ships
company echoed the choruses. Special guests of
the evening were notescape.cod, a
close-harmony vocal group from Cape Cod. Their
jazz and popular songs, while not the usual
schooner fare, were thoroughly enjoyed by all
onboard. This group has been featured during AHA!
Nights at Schooner Ernestina headquarters in New
Bedford and includes several Ernestina members.
Of course, the usual Member
Sail activities of raising canvas, taking a turn
at the helm, etc., were enjoyed by all who wished
to participate. This and the songfest underway
delighted a group of senior first-time Ernestina
sailors from the United Methodist Church of
Wareham. As often happens, the convergence of
positive energy and good will, taken together
with the overlay of history and a dose of music
and verse, produced a beautiful evening for all
concerned, "greenhands" and "old
salts" alike.
Captain: Sophie
Morse
Program Coordinators:
Crista Mellican, Polly Zajac, Tom Goux
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