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0700 Hours
Current Position: Anchored at Niantic Bay in Long Island Sound.
Latitude: 41˚ 18.9'
Longitude: 072˚ 11.2'
Day Two of our 2008 Fresh River Voyage of Discovery.
We rise bright and early to greet a clear horizon, then ease into our morning, enjoying a simple breakfast at 0800 hours. On board the ship, it's a leisurely start to the day; we launch the Zodiac (the Half Moon's inflatable tender boat) and send a few senior crew in to shore to collect wildlife samples.
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1015 Hours
While the Zodiac expedition is away, our educators gather the students on the weather deck and offer their first introduction to the materials and techniques the students will be using for their presentation projects.
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Mouse over to help Jamie slice sandwiches.
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1145 Hours
After the briefing, the students return to their regular duty assignments. Down in the galley, Jamie puts the finishing touches on grilled cheese sandwiches for the crew.
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1200 Hours
The morning is warming up, so for now most of the crew is relaxing below decks. Carolann, however, has found a shady spot to sit down and start learning her knots.
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1215 Hours
Lunch is served! Along with the grilled cheese sandwiches, we have clam chowder and macaroni salad.
Hopefully Nick is enjoying his time on deck, because he won't be seeing much of it this afternoon...
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1330 Hours
The Zodiac expedition has returned bearing some crabby local beachcombers discovered feeding on a dead fish.
Jamie and Nora immediately consult our reference library and measure the crabs to identify their species. Other students will take the same opportunity as the voyage continues.
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Work continues below decks. On galley detail, Carolann is making cornbread for dinner, while Nora -- returning to her maintenance duties -- hustles down from studying the local marine fauna to cleaning a marine head.
Oh, it's not that bad, Nora!
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1345 Hours
With all hands back on board, we prepare for departure. Rig teams climb aloft to unfurl the sails.
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1400 Hours
Down below, Captain Reynolds finishes his lunch while discussing the student projects with Ms. Dulen-Jennings and Ms. Cowles.
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1415 Hours
After wrapping up in the galley, Captain Reynolds steps up to the orlop deck and gathers everyone around to brief them on their plans for the days to come.
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1430 Hours
The time has come to weigh anchor. Ms. Read leads the fore deck team, holding out an arm to indicate the direction of the anchor rode for the captain's benefit. Mrs. Convey climbs out onto the channel to handle the anchor as it is drawn on board.
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On the weather deck, the capstan team starts walking their beat, hauling in the anchor rode one step at a time. Additional crew members stand by to add their strength as needed.
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On the orlop deck, Mr. Schuijer remains at the bits, ready to make off the anchor rode just in case of emergency. Ms. Dulen-Jennings, Alex, and Jamie form the faker team, neatly folding the rode back and forth after it comes in through the hawsehole (aglow with daylight, to the right) and passes around the capstan.
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Ms. Cosgrove oversees the rode as it passes around the lower capstan, preventing overrides and other snags.
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1500 Hours
After the anchor is weighed and secured to the fore channel, Mr. Schuijer detaches the shackle connecting the chain to the rode. The remaining rode is then freed from the capstan and faked. Once the chain is reattached near the hawsehole, the anchor is ready to be deployed again at a moment's notice.
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Oksãna takes the helm as we get underway.
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1515 Hours
The heat and humidity are starting to wilt our crew, so we call for a deck wash. Soaking the ship's planks in salt water is good for the Half Moon, making it more watertight, and it comes as a relief to sweaty sailors as well.
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1545 Hours
As we round a buoy and set course for our next destination, our mast teams assemble to set the sails.
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1600 Hours
While most of the crew remains on deck, two crew members climb aloft to work in the tops, their job being to help manage the top sails.
Mr. Coolidge takes in the view from the main top...
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Mouse over for a closer look.
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...while Nick is stationed in the fore top. It's a lonely business, being a top man; they'll remain up here, on duty, for much of the afternoon.
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Meanwhile, their crewmates work busily down below.
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1615 Hours
As we sail along on a westerly course, we continue to make adjustments to our sails to maintain our grip on the wind.
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Some sails take a little more effort to brace than others.
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1600 Hours
Although the students have not yet officially begun thei research for their presentations, we have already started taking regular readings of the air and water temperatures for the ship's log. As Tahari enters the latest data, Alex -- still tethered to his duty as part of the main mast team -- looks on with interest.
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In between bracing and adjusting the sails, we coil the lines to keep the deck tidy, as Gabriel is doing here.
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1645 Hours
Either we have stowaways on board or foretopman Nick has decided to make the best of his situation by hunkering down in the shade of the top sail.
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1730 Hours
We're enjoying a steady wind, so we decide to set more sails and increase our speed. However, the courses and tops are already set...
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Mouse over for another view.
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...so Ms. Read climbs out onto the beak to set the spritzel. Despite the cramped space, the spritzel is actually a fine place for new crew members to learn sail handling; due to the small scale of the sail, a single sailor can easily observe how each line is rigged and affects the sail. Ms. Read, however, is quite experienced, and soon has the sail set to her liking.
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1815 Hours
Dinner is served on the weatherdeck. Along with Carolann's cornbread, we're also having chile -- a nefarious meal in the lore of the Half Moon's old salts. Crew superstition holds that serving chile on board summons storms and bad luck (but it turns out that the curse seems to be broken).
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1845 Hours
As the crew relaxes on deck, it comes to their attention that Mr. Mangrum and Mrs. Convey have coincidentally dressed in identical outfits today. Does the old saying about pets and their owners looking alike also apply to longtime crewmates?
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Of course, comraderie is not hard to come by on board the Half Moon.
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1915 Hours
Jamie and Tahari man the helm as a team. This may be a first -- two helmsmen on duty at the same time and they still have plenty of room to walk around in the helm hutch.
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1930 Hours
As we approach our destination for the night, a protected cove at Duck Island Roads, we put the sails back in their gear.
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1945 Hours
While we douse the courses, the topmen have already started furling the top sails.
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Mouse over to let fall the anchor.
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2015 Hours
As we sail behind the safety of the sea wall, we lower the anchor to the water line and pull the "fid" to let fall.
This is our final scheduled anchorage during the voyage; once on the Connecticut River, we will be docking each night.
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2030 Hours
Our rig teams once again climb aloft to furl the courses. David is rapidly becoming an old hand out on the main yard.
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Another night at anchor, another opportunity to go rescue a snagged flag from the fore mast. Tonight it's Nick's turn to ascend to the ship's uppermost heights.
He quickly pulls the flag free and has it lowered for the evening.
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Now that we're at anchor, the Half Moon once again quickly becomes the center of attention for every passing boat within sight. Carolann, Danielle, and Nora practice their "overenthusiastic waves" to greet them.
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2100 Hours
We briefly draw down our anchor light to make a minor adjustment as dusk settles over our anchorage, then settle into our evening.
2130 Hours
Captain Reynolds holds an anchor watch briefing. Tonight's anchor watch may be challenging; the humidity is so dense that the lights of the surrounding anchored boats and nearby shoreline fade away into the darkness even as we discuss them.
Other than a little rain, however, we encounter no problems in the night.
Tomorrow, the students will take the first steps for their presentation projects.
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