Programs Blog

Graicen, Emily and Jonah – B Watch

Ship’s Log

Noon Position
41*46.5’N X 070*00.2’W

Ship Heading
281 degrees

Ship Speed
4 knots

Log
47 nm

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan
Warm and cloudy, Winds SW x S /F4, Stays’ls

Description of location
Exiting Cape Cod Canal

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This was an exciting day – we went through the Cape Cod Canal. First, we heard the anchor pulling back which woke us up before our actual wake up. After our official wakeup from A watch, wee had oatmeal for breakfast. When we went up on deck, we were underway and it was cool to see the boat in a new place than our anchorage when we’d gone to bed. Then we went onto watch and we were in charge of the ship. We set the first sails of the trip – the fore stays’l and the main stays’l. We learned to do Ballentine coils so the halyard can be easily released and not catch on itself. We learned how to observe the weather and noticed that the wind conditions calmed throughout our watch. We all learned how to do our science hourlies although we weren’t doing any other science because we were motoring through the canal. It was a busy watch with lots to do, but we had some solid, delicious muffins for morning snack to power us through the rest of watch.

We gybed the boat multiple times. On lookout, Graicen watched out for lobster pots and was communicating each one back to the mate. “It was a minefield!” she said. Jonah and Emily reported that the engine room is very warm when the engine is running. By the end of the watch, we all felt way more comfortable with our tasks. It was rewarding to get more comfortable on deck; to go from having all these terms and tasks seem foreign, but by the end of watch, it all felt familiar – boat checks, steering, weather, etc.

The canal was interesting. We saw tons of people on shore, and we waved at them and they waved back at us. It was exciting to see all the ships and marine traffic. It felt strange to see society again after a couple days on the ship. Jonah thought it was cool this 100-year old human development has been benefiting marine traffic and letting ships cut across the Cape Cod.

We’re a bit nervous for our next watch – dawn watch – and getting the midnight wake-up. But, as Emily says, “Exhaustion is rewarded by learning new things!”

Signing off to take a nap!

Graicen, Emily and Jonah – B Watch

B Watch at the rail, entering the Cape Cod Canal