It was a glorious day for a member sail
this morning as 59 members boarded for a 4 hour
sail. We were very pleased to host 15
members of the Cronin family who have been
celebrating with an extended family reunion over
the last week. It was great to have Hannah
and Gordon Cohen back onboard. They both
participated in the open enrollment sails and
traveled to New Bedford from West Virginia for
the Cronin reunion and got some exciting sailing
in too! Lee Heald, program director from the New
Bedford Whaling Museum and family were aboard as
well. We entered Buzzards
Bay under very light winds. It was quite
beautiful to see the Bay so calm. The Beans
provided us with exceptional sea music for most
of the voyage. Our own Erika Boulware, an
AB deckhand, and engineer Steve Swift also lent
their voices for some songs.
The afternoon winds finally
arrived at noon as we were getting ready to come
back to the dock. We arrived back at State Pier
at 1300 and bid farewell to our members as the
Beans sang "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave
Her."
Back onshore, Tom Goux and
intern Gil Pires marched in the Cape Verdean
Independence Day Recognition Parade. Cape
Verdean President Pedro Pires was the Grand
Marshall and sat in the reviewing stand as the
student-made 6-foot model of Ernestina went by.
We thank President Pires for
his efforts 20 years ago when, as he served as
prime minister, Ernestina came across the
Atlantic as a gift from the newly formed Republic
to the people of America!
Our evening sail was very
exciting. Marybeth Starrett had chartered
the ship for a surprise birthday party to
celebrate her husband, Steve's, 50th
birthday. He arrived at the ship thinking
he was there to take measurements for deck
cushions. (on Ernestina??) When the guests
yelled, "Surprise", he still didn't
know the party was for him. It truly was a
surprise!
As we sailed towards Ricketson
Point, the skies opened up and pelting rain came
down on the party. Thankfully, the storm
passed the bevy of gag gifts were brought
out. Steve took all the ribbing with good
humor.
Upon returning to the dock, a
crowd of movie goers awaited the ship for a
"Stars in the Spars" evening. We
want to thank Shaw's and Star Market for their
support in this community activity. Over 40
people watched "20,000 Leagues Under the
Sea." Another exciting day in Ernestina World
from sun-up to hours past sunset!
The upper chart image to the
right shows the evening sail that arrived back at
9pm after taking a spin by Padanarum Harbor. The
other includes the past week's worth of tracks
that show Ernestina's cumulative activity in the
Bay. The ship gets around!
Photos are due soon.... We had
a technical problem with the digital camera
hookup. Check back in Tuesday.
Captain: Sophie Morse and Gregg Swanzey
Program Coordinator: Steve Kirk and Polly Zajac
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