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Daily
Log, May 19 Thursday May 19, 2005 |
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Morning Position |
Midday Position Henry Hudson Park 42˚ 32.6' latitude 073˚ 45.5' longitude |
Evening Position Henry Hudson Park 42˚ 32.6' latitude 073˚ 45.5' longitude |
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The last few days of a Voyage of Discovery are always hectic. This is particularly true today, the last full day of the voyage, when our student crew members are preparing to deliver their reports. Here's the day in pictures.
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0600 hours: The day begins as we greet our second dawn while anchored at Athens Channel.
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0630 hours: Back on dry land, today happens to be opening day of Revenge of the Sith. For some of our crew members, both students and adults, this is cause for celebration. To commemorate the occasion, Mr. Weisse performs the Star Wars Theme for reveille.
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Hmm. It seems that the students are developing a resistance to Mr. Weisse's trumpet playing. A few more tunes soon have them up and about, however.
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Some of the crew are feeling a little mischevous this morning. Some of the adult crew, that is! Since some of our students spent time yesterday dissecting fish from the river, our pranksters decide to add a little something extra to this morning's meal. So, for breakfast, we're having banana bread, oatmeal, and... fish eyes? Actually, these "fish eyes" are made from some candies taken from the snack basket left out overnight for the crew members on anchor watch. |
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Some students think the prank is pretty clever...
...but others are less impressed. |
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Soon enough, breakfast is over and our minds turn back to the important tasks at hand. Everyone on board has goals to achieve today -- both the students and the adults. 0900 hours: We have weighed anchor and are motoring upriver toward our next destination, off of Henry Hudson park, just south of Albany. The river just off the park provides a very narrow area to drop anchor, so we have little room for error. Fortunately, we have clear skies and mild weather today, so we should face no problems.
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The students once again fulfill their duties while we are underway. To the left, Veronica takes the helm, steering with the whipstaff. To the right, Bryan calls a sighting back to the quarter deck while acting as the Half Moon's lookout.
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The local avian wildlife is particularly active this morning. We spot numerous blue herons along the river's edge on our way upriver. Shortly before noon, we see another immature eagle winging its way north. 1200 hours: We have now arrived at Henry Hudson park and dropped anchor, much to the amusement of the rod fishers along the shore. |
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Now comes crunch time! Down on the orlop deck, the students split up into their teams and collaborate on their final reports.
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Meanwhile, the adult crew gathers up on the weather deck. Before we can arrive in Albany tomorrow, we need to lower the top masts. If we don't lower the top masts, we won't be able to fit under the Dunn Memorial Bridge. It's heavy work, but with all hands on the capstan both top masts are soon down. The image to the right is of us motoring under the northernmost bridge crossing the Hudson that we can pass with our masts raised. |
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The big event tonight is looming, but the students compile their reports quickly and still find themselves with some free time this afternoon. Some of the students break out a card game...
..but when Mr. McDonald gets involved, the card games quickly switch to card tricks, which become math puzzles in turn.
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Eventually, all the students who have not yet had a chance to calculate our arrival times or to determine the origin of water samples by measuring salinity get their turn.
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1700 hours: Some students spend some time in the great cabin, checking themselves out on this website and reading e-mail that you at home sent in to us. Daymien, Bryan, and Veronica are pictured here, but Kiera and Jamal lend their assistance as well. |
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Time for a fishing update!
We're proud to report a catch! Congratulations to Mr. Dawson for landing the first fish of the voyage. This fish is soon used as bait in the hopes of landing a bigger catch. |
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1830 hours: The sun is sinking for the last time during this Voyage of Discovery, so it's time for our final dinner together. |
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Our new crew members (including our students and quite a few of the adults as well) also receive their official crew shirts. The only way to get one of these shirts is to serve on board the Half Moon and perform all the duties required of its crew. (If you visit the Crew Pages and move your mouse over the crew portraits, you can see each new crew member receiving his or her shirt.) Congratulations to all! |
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1900 hours: The time has finally come for our two student teams to deliver their educational reports. But who will go first? Kiera, representing the water science team, and Samantha, representing the weather science team, step forward to decide the order with a game of rock-paper-scissors. After an initial tie or two, it is decided that the water team will go first.
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This Voyage of Discovery represents something of an experiment for us. On previous voyages, students have delivered individual presentations. On this trip, the student crew has been split into two watches, with each watch working together to prepare a group presentation.
The water science team consists of Emily, Bryan, Daymien, Jamar, Veronica, and Kiera. Their presentation addresses topics like water salinity and temperature, current speed, tidal patterns, and dissolved oxygen content. |
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The weather science team is comprised of Samantha, Jamal, Ginny, Andi, and Dylan. Their studies focus on topics like wind speed, air temperature, and cloud formations. Check back soon in our Learning Pages to see more of these presentations.
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Each team has up to 40 minutes to deliver its presentation. For the rest of the hour, they answer questions put to them from Captain Reynolds and the adult crew... |
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...from the other students... |
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...and even a few questions from the peanut gallery. |
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2100 hours: Both teams have now delivered their reports and the last question has been answered. Sounds like a good time for a celebration! And as it happens, we have an extra reason to celebrate: Veronica's birthday falls on Saturday, the day after we arrive in Albany. ...Surprise!
Happy birthday, Veronica!
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