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Ernestina Logbook Page

Christian Heritage School
Overnight Program in partnership with Ocean Classrooms
Day Two

Thursday, May 22, 2003

 

A cold damp morning, at anchor off Stonington Point in Fishers Island Sound. Mainsail set from day before. Wind is Northeast at Force 3 on the Beaufort Scale. Schooner Spirit of Massachusetts is also anchored, close at hand.

Our plan was to send students ashore in dories to explore the intertidal zone, but weather calls for better sailing.

After breakfast, chores and a meeting with all hands, we get underway.

B watch has the deck, and they ready the jib, and man the helm and lookout; A and C set the foresail scandalized, and ready the windlass to haul back.

To sail off the hook, and avoid running aground, or T-boning Spirit [in the vernacular for running into them broadside with the bow sprit], the students must follow instructions from their mates.

The starboard anchor is up, slowly the schooner gains sternway.... Rhonda shifts the helm to set the vessel on a port tack. We drift close to the stern of Spirit, and the jib is set back to port. The big mainsail on Ernestina (2665 Sq feet), pushes the bow closer to our neighbor, but finally the rudder gains steerage, the big black boat falls of the wind.

Once the anchor is on the rail, the Jumbo is set, we are off quickly. We charge out of the Lords Passage before Spirit has gotten underway.

We sail in Block Island Sound, and through the Race into Long Island Sound where the seas calm a bit.

The watches spend the afternoon tacking the ship, and racing against Spirit. It is cold, wet and windy, bit no one cares.

At 1615 we make our way back to the City Pier in New London, and pass the USCG Bark Eagle at anchorage B. The Cadets salute Ernestina with 3 cheers. A nice welcome indeed.

At 1800, alongside, both schooner crews mingle, and say goodbye to students from Christian Heritage. We sailed 38 Nm today, and it was worth it.

Program Coordinator: Rhonda Moniz
Captain: Willi Bank

U.S. Coast Bark Eagle lays at anchor off New London, her home port.

Steering along in light wind with Spirit of Massachusetts close at hand...

Foul weather gear is called for.

Posing for a shot as the ship heels to starboard and sails along.

Learning is what Ernestina is all about.

Group shot looking aft on the port side.. What tack are we on?

Morning meeting to check in on the work of the day.

Here are some comments from students from the trip:

"It is a great experience for those who love the water.
The crew is awesome and so is the food. Bow watch is a
lot of fun as well because you get to learn all the
different hand signals and use them."

"The trip was amazing. We sailed from New London, CT. We
started by setting the sails. It was hard work raising the
thousand pound sail but we pulled through. Our group
was separated and put into watches. Within the watch
we were all assigned specific tasks, those tasks were
shifted every half hour. The tasks were to do bow,
steer the boat at the helm and do boat checks. Each
task, easy though they sound, were complicated. The
crew did an awesome job teaching us to do each task
fully."


"Thank you to the crew of the Ernestina for making such
a fun adventure, one that I will never forget."

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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