Under a ponderous heap of heavy
thunderclouds, the Ernestina slipped her dock
lines and backed out into New Bedford Harbor with
16 sophomores from Bourne High School. With a few
claps of thunder for applause, the fresh crew
raised the mainsail, then the foresail, jumbo and
jib, and the ship glided through the Hurricane
Barrier and out into a glass-like Buzzards
Bay. After refreshing
the ship with a brief shower, the storm clouds
dissipated and the voyage really got underway.
With a student at the helm and another few
standing watch at the bow, the rest of the
sophomores broke themselves into small groups and
began to learn a little bit about navigation,
plankton, and the multi-faceted history of the
good ship Ernestina. As the students all rotated
around the ship through their educational
stations, the wind began to pick up and the sun
broke its way through the storm clouds.
After all had filled their
brains to capacity, the lunch bell rang and the
belly-feeding began. Once sated, all hands turned
toward the deployment of our otter trawl. Under
the careful guidance of Otter Trawl Captain Du
Jour, Liz Maloney, a superfluity of scup were
hauled back. Among the other items that we caught
in our net were: Moon snail egg sacks; a few
massive hermit crabs (one of which was living in
a five inch hairy whelk shell!) and a few
normal-sized ones; 2 flounders; limpets; squid;
spider and sand crabs; barnacles; codium; and red
algae. It was quite a haul.
By the time we had everything
identified and sorted into life-support tanks, we
were well on our way back into New Bedford. The
wind was blowing like stink as we flew past the
parading circle of protesting fishing boats and
wove our way between small sailboats racing
across the channel. The students were brave
enough to survive the bucking bowsprit, and a few
even braver souls helped to furl the jib as we
nosed our way through the waves. Once we cheered
our way through the Hurricane Barrier and were
safely back home in New Bedford harbor, we
lowered the jumbo, the fore and then the monster
mainsail.
With all the canvas neatly
furled and put away, we triumphantly slithered
through the precipitously skinny space between
the fishing boats and the cement pier. The 16
Bourne sophomores used this short respite in the
busy schedule to write some reflections about
their day aboard the 108-year-old fishing
schooner. Safely at the dock, the students
retrieved their bags from the fish hold and bid
adieu to the Ernestina and her crew. The crew
will remember the Bourne 16 as enthusiastic,
energetic students who were happily willing to
engage in new and different experiences and who
came together as a team in just a few short
hours.
Respectfully submitted by
Jessica Bryant and Amanda Lake
Captain: Willi Bank
Program Coordinator: MaryHelen Gunn
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