August 15, 2019

This morning at 0600, as usual, we got up and went for our morning swim. Once again, we played Waboba and once again Port won. For breakfast, we had a pancakes and a pancake eating competition. The highest score was Rufus with eleven pancakes. After cleanup, we headed over to UMass Dartmouth’s SMAST buildings. We saw dogfish, eels, flounders, and green crabs. On their dock, we practiced using water sampling equipment. We got a bit side tracked and started to catch comb jellies. We learned about larval blue fin tuna and different types of ocean currents from student presentations. Then we came back aboard and motored to Naushon Island to go to the beach but we had a change in plans because the wind was too strong toward the beach. We set sail for the Francis’s house in Wings Cove. We had another Galley party screaming lyrics while we washed and dried dishes from lunch. We did a lab on population estimates. We examined Goldfish and based on a small sample size, we tried to estimate the total population of Goldfish. After that, Cooper taught us some new knots for the knot tying completion. When Cooper decided that we were ready to win, he let us go on headrig. We did some jobs while we were sailing, like coiling lines, bow watch, and setting and striking the headsails. Once again, it was a rocky journey with everything tilting everywhere. We had to stop sailing and began to motor again because we were not making much headway. When we got to Wings Cove, we went to shore where we were nicely greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Francis. Their swimming pool was very inviting for everyone to jump into. Christian taught us how to do flips into the pool. Some of us were successful and some weren’t. We took a quick dinner break and had burgers and sausages. Afterwords, we had various competitions such as biggest splash, smallest splash, and various flips. Once again, some were more successful than others. Someone had the bright idea of trying to fit thirteen people into the hot tub, which was the record for all summer. Somehow we did it. It was one of the most uncomfortable things we’ve ever done. When we were about to leave, we got on a tree swing and then went back to the boat. Overall, it has been a fantastic journey getting to know new people and learning how to sail the Tabor Boy. -Sam, Ella, and Aila

August 14, 2019

When the bosun’s whistle blew, we climbed out of our bunks and quickly but hesitantly jumped into our swim attire. We busted a move to the deck to be greeted by Leland, the executive officer, and the rest of the crew. We were told to form lines along the starboard and port sides of the boat. Shortly after, we began our morning jumping jacks and pushups. Today it was Starboard’s turn to jump into the 72 degree saltwater first. Leland chucked the Waboba ball at the water and we were off to the races. Port and Starboard each battled to win a point for the friendly competition the boat mates have. Port ran away with the victory this morning. Everyone climbed up the ladder to a delicious smelling breakfast cooked by our wonderful chef Christian “Thunderman”. While underway to Woods Hole on Cape Cod we devoured our eggs and bacon, with a vegan option. We motored to Woods Hole, and in about an hour and forty-five minutes we arrived. Splitting up in to three groups, we jumped into Ribcraft and headed ashore. We all spent time wandering through the quaint town and stopped in shops and food stores for treats galore. At 10:30, we met up again for the start of our tour of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. We walked through buildings and saw the various methods of submersibles and machines that they deal with. We learned that they are used all over the planet to track different types of marine life, fix underground pipes, find lost treasure and/or sunken ships and planes. Finishing up the tour, we promptly head back the Tabor Boy. When we arrived, we were greeted by an enticing meal cooked by our wonderful cook, Christian. Once we finished cleaning up after lunch, we began our pathway to scientific enlightenment, with our third lab of the trip. We took a short walk to a beach on Bull Island where used quadrats to calculate the density of Green Crabs, Asian shore crabs, ribbed mussels, and periwinkles in a 0.5m squared area. We explored the vast nature of the island. Some students ended up placing rocks on top of each other in order to make a hotel for the crabs. We then motored back to the boat and got ready to sail to Clarks Cove in New Bedford. All 14 of us then raised the main, fore, and headsails and trimmed them. The boat cut through the gnarly waves with ease. The crew of Tabor Boy had brought us to anchor in Clarks Cove and we secured the deck. Again, we split into our port and starboard watches for the shell competition we had prepared for. Starboard watch challenged Port watch to a see which watch could learn the most shells. Starboard pulled through with the victory and gained a point for our team. Since the water was warm and it was hot on deck, we all decided it would be rude to turn down such an invitation to jump in the water. When we changed, we were greeted by the scent of ribs and barbeque being grilled at the caprail. Back into our street attire we quickly gathered around the dinner table filled our glasses and got ready a better then ever Hoorah. Each of us sat down and piled ribs, mashed potatoes and green beans atop of our plates till it looked like the Alps. We challenged each other to eat the most ribs, one after another till there were no more ending in an unfortunate tie at eighteen a piece. A lively dance party during clean up ended the long day of adventure and friendship for everyone. All of the incoming students met up with some of the long time crew for a Q and A sesh. Then we went to bed and slept till the morning. Sage, Fred, and Hans 4