0700 hours

Current Position: Anchored at Haverstaw Bay.
Latitude: 41˚ 12.5'
Longitude: 073˚ 56.0'

Day Four of the first leg of our Fall 2008 Voyage of Discovery.

This marks a hectic day on board the Half Moon, even though the ship will remain anchored here in Haverstraw Bay throughout the day -- and well into tomorrow. During this layover, the students will use their extra time to focus on collecting data for their presentation projects.

To start the day, the teachers have introduced a new Pillar of ethics for the students to contemplate: Caring.

0900 hours

After breakfast, the students dig into their projects. They will continue to collect data at regular intervals -- typically, every half-hour -- throughout the day.

Ericka and Chris are using a water sampler to determine the water's temperature at various depths.

1000 hours

Alex consults with Dr. Jacobs as she collects a water sample for the salinity experiment she is conducting with Gabby.

All projects are operating according to procedure...

...so far...

Shannon feeds out a tethering line for the float bottle she and Rowan are using to measure the current's speed and direction.

Although float bottles have long been in common use for this type of procedure, this particular float bottle remains an experimental device for us on this Voyage of Discovery.

Shannon flings the bottle overboard, and the current carries it down the length of the weatherdeck, to where Rowan is waiting to time its passage.

Shannon and Rowan performs their tasks perfectly -- and collect their data -- but then the project suffers an equipment failure...

The float bottle has slipped free of its tether and is rapidly being carried away by the flood tide!

We immediately use this opportunity to call for a man overboard drill. Just as they would in an actual event, the students maintain visual contact with the bottle at all times.

Meanwhile, Mr. Schuijer is quickly dispatched in the Zodiac (the ship's inflatable tender) to mount a rescue.

Success! The float bottle is saved -- but it takes roughly 90 seconds to reach the bottle, and note how far it had traveled in such a short time.

In the end, all is well, but the importance of the ship's safety procedures has only been reinforced.

1030 hours

Since the Zodiac is already fired up and in the water, we decide to immediately launch an exploratory expedition of the opposite (easterly) shore.

Mr. Schuijer, Mr. Gorter, and Ms. Smith search the beach for biological specimens and signs as to whether this will prove an interesting location to bring the students for their own shore trips.

Sadly, the area appears to be rather sparse -- little more than boulders and pebbles here. Or so we think!

Mouse over to rouse the crab.

1100 hours

Just as the Zodiac crew is giving up the search, they discover a pair of mating blue crabs in calf-deep water just a few feet away. We quickly retrieve them for an overnight visit to the ship -- while making sure to keep our fingers clear. The mere clack of the male crab defensively snapping its claws is enough to unnerve our hearty explorers.

1115 hours

Mission accomplished, the Zodiac crew races back home.

1130 hours

When the Zodiac crew reaches the ship, they see that work has continued unabated in their presence.

Students are not merely working on their own projects in isolation. In name of good crewmanship -- and in order to fill in their spaces on the Task Matrix -- the students use their free time to help each other with their projects.

Here, Gabby helps Chris prepare the Van Dorn sampler for its next use.

Mouse over to face the crab's wrath.

1200 hours

The crabs prove to be fascinating guests for our jumpy crew.

The crabs are too big to go in the aquarium, so we simply place an aerator on their bucket and leave them be.

Once we decide we've annoyed the crabs enough, the students return to their experiments. Tyler S. and Kathleen are tracking the arc of the Sun, with the goal of determining true noon and true south.

The Zodiac has launched again, this time carrying several students among the crew. Every student will eventually get a chance to explore the shoreline and search for flora and fauna specimens.

Meanwhile, Gabby and Alex continue to test their collected salinity samples.

1300 hours

The Zodiac has returned, and with it a bounty of plantlife. The plants are added to the aquarium environment, while Captain Reynolds focuses on identifying their species.

After much investigation, he concludes that it is Eurasian water milfoil -- a highly problematic invasive species which clogs waterways and squeezes out the local species of milfoil, which shares a similar appearance.

1315 hours

Lunch is served! Today Mr. Gorter provides us with a variety of "Dagwood sandwiches" to enjoy.

1430 hours

In the heat of the afternoon, most of the crew retreats below decks when not conducting their data collection. Most of the students are currently busy on the orlop deck, updating their journals. Today the teachers focus them on their Pillar of the day -- Caring -- and how it enters into their lives.

Meanwhile, down in the Galley, Mr. Gorter is between meals, so he's conducting a creative project which arose spontaneously last night. As the days go by, each crew member will contribute a drawing -- drawn with the same blue marker and on the same notepad -- which is then posted on the fridge. At the end of the voyage, everyone will have to try to guess who drew what.

We'll return to our fridge art in a later log entry.

Work continues elsewhere as well. We have no need for lookouts or helmsmen while anchored, but maintenance marches ever onward.

1500 hours

Yet another creative project is whispered of in the shadows of the orlop deck -- the mysterious "Project O." What could this be, and why don't all of the senior crew members know about it?

1515 hours

The projects continue. Jared enters his data after checking the air temperature.

1530 hours

With everyone contributing to everyone else's projects -- including taking over for other students who are busy on duty or away in the Zodiac -- the Task Matrix is filling up quickly.

Meanwhile, Kathleen and Rowan compare notes as they discuss their projects.

As one moves about the ship, one occasionally hears dramatic bursts of stomping echoing through the wooden beams. What's the source?

It's Tee-Ahna! When not busy working with Jared on their project, she has taken it on herself to teach some of her crew mates a dance drill routine.

Kathleen is one of Tee-Ahna's students, but at the moment she's busy testing the water clarity of Haverstraw Bay with a Secchi disk.

1545 hours

Another crew loads up for our third and final Zodiac expedition of the day. They're soon off exploring and, so we hear, chasing after the wakes of passing tankers.

Mouse over for a closer look.

1600 hours

One nice aspect to traveling on the Half Moon is that you're virtually always the most interesting vessel on the water. However, the paddle boat now circling us -- the Commander -- has its charms, too. We listen in as the Commander's tour guide tells its passengers about us.

Ms. Smith has been acting as Mia and Michael's senior crew advisor for their mechanical advantage experiment. As the block-and-pulley rig grows more elaborate, the trio draw in an ever-widening crowd. Soon students are clustered around the device, furiously scribbling notes.

1745 hours

As the afternoon winds down, several more students take the opportunity to go aloft and take in the view.

Mouse over to sweat the tackle.

It's at about this time that the Zodiac team returns. This was the last expedition of the day, so we haul the tender out of the water for safekeeping. Ms. Fountain and Ms. O'Leary are recruited to sweat the fore tackle...

...much to everyone's amusement.

1830 hours

At last, the mysterious Project O can be revealed -- a surprise birthday celebration for Ms. O'Leary!

(At the rate we're adding birthdays, in a few years we'll be having birthday cake after dinner every night!)

1845 hours

Mr. Gorter has announced that we're having burritos for dinner, so Ms. Fountain and Ms. Housler decide to turn the celebration into a full-blown Mexican Night.

To do that, we'll need some decorations! Using found materials, Ms. Fountain and the students create a sombrero, a margarita glass, and, as shown, a maraca -- the latter out of a dowel, a can of potato chips, and some colorful paper decoration.

Mouse over to practice some steps.

1900 hours

Tee-Ahna's dance lessons for the celebration are continuing to take shape as well.

(In all fairness, stop-motion photography doesn't really do their routine justise.)

As the sun sets, the crew once again relax at the rail. Tonight, they're telling each other riddles.

Within a few minutes, however, the promised burritos are delivered and everyone eagerly sits down to dinner.

Mouse over for the action.

After wolfing down their food, the students hop right back into their state of building excitement. No longer confined to Tee-Ahna and her protégés, mysterious bursts of highly coordinated movements are sweeping through the student body.

1945 hours

At long last, Ms. O'Leary is brought on deck to reveal the surprise...

Happy Birthday!

The students begin their celebration with a traditional round of the "Happy Birthday" song, even including Mr. Mangrum in the mix.

Ms. O'Leary is then proudly presented with her margarita and related accoutrements.

Next, the students present Ms. O'Leary with her birthday cake -- birthday cakes, in fact. (Earlier today, Mr. Gorter was generous enough to offer the galley to the teachers so they could bake up their cake mix.)

One yellow cake, one chocolate, and sprinkles for everybody.

Even before digging into the cake (and before we lose the last rays of daylight entirely) we launch the entertainment portion of the evening.

First, going one at a time, the students present Ms. O'Leary with the letters of her name, and telling us the glowing things they stand for.

Not visible in this photo: Michael's apostrophe, "For how apostrophal you are."

Next, Mia takes the stage for a solo act, singing a lovely rendition of Mariah Carey's "Hero."

And lastly comes the dance drill routine. Sadly, Kathleen is downed by a last minute bout of stage fright, but the show goes on to much acclaim.

Truly, they have "stepped up" and "brought it to the yard" with their "rumbleseats" and "jukeboxes," as the kids these days would say.

After the curtain comes down, the doomed cakes finally meet their fate at the hands of the ravenous crowd.

2015 hours

After the celebration, the remains of the cake are delivered to the galley. We're certain Mr. Morel and Dr. Jacobs will be more than happy to finish them off for us.

2030 hours

As the hour grows late, the crew settle into their evening routine. The teachers and students congregate on the orlop, updating and reading from their journals, and discussing what today's Pillar, Caring, means to them.

Elsewhere, the senior crew get settled in their own ways. Dr. Jacobs and Mr. Woodworth relax in the foc's'le (forecastle), where the aquarium and scientific gear are stored. They spend the remainder of their evening observing and identifying the many new species that today's expeditions have added to the tank.

2030 hours

Captain Reynolds convenes the nightly anchor watch briefing on the weather deck. Since the students are already familiar with the surrounding landmarks, he spends most of his time offering an astronomical tour of the stars and constellations above. At 2200 hours, the lights go out and a quiet evening begins.

Next Time: Continuing upriver!

On this date in 1609:

The tenth, faire weather, we rode still till twelve of the clocke. Then we weighed and went over, and found it shoald all the middle of the River, for wee could finde but two fathoms and a halfe, and three fathomes for the space of a league; then wee came to three fathomes, and foure fathomes, and so to sueven fathomes, and Anchored, and rode all night in soft Ozie ground. The banke is Sand.

-- Robert Juet's Journal.