Fall 2000 SEAmester Journal
Sent weekly from sea by on-board SEAmester coordinator and professor Chris Hamilton ...
SEAmester Log, Part 3 October 26, 2000
Duke Marine Lab, Beaufort, NC
After a good sail with strong tail winds and a following sea (causing nausea for some) from New England down the east coast, we sailed up the Delaware Bay and motored through the Delaware-Chesapeake Canal finally arriving in Baltimore on October 17th at 2200. The next morning we had our first "field day" or tearing the boat apart for a thorough cleaning. That afternoon we had our first "pin chase" where the students competed against each other to find lines, tie knots and accomplish other ship related things. The winning watch got a discount on their race t-shirts which bore the Harvey Gamage name. That evening was the big sailor’s party with lots of eating, singing, dancing and intermingling of the crews of the 40 or so schooners in the race that started the next day.The start of the race was a spectacular sight, dozens of tall ships with all their sails full of air, bright sunlight and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge as the backdrop. A strong wind blowing off the starboard quarter gave the ole Harvey Gamage an advantage at the beginning of the race, then, as the day went on we lost most and sometimes all of our wind and we watched boat after boat glide past us, with barely enough wind to keep sails full. The next day was another amusing day of racing with no wind, but the calm sunny conditions lended themselves kindly to lots of academic opportunities on deck, and several students got involved in maritime crafts such as constructing their own ditty bags and some knot work.
Early the next morning we fired up the engine and motored into Norfolk for an afternoon of race related festivities and an award’s ceremony. The winner of the AA class (the biggest boats) was the schooner Californian, which will be carrying SEAmester West in the spring! And we did not come in dead last, there were a few slower boats, but not many.
After another day in Norfolk we were about to set sail for Beaufort, when a student on board expressed concern for a personal health issue. We brought him to a local hospital for testing while we spend an unanticipated quiet day at the dock, which actually gave us a good opportunity to get caught up on academics and other things. The students are all trying to learn all of the lines on the boat and several knots in order to be cleared to go aloft, or climb up the ratlines to the top of the mast. Some accomplished this and we sent our first student aloft the following day. That night at 2200 we motored away from Norfolk and sailed out the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and down toward North Carolina.
We spend the next two days at sea, again with a strong (15kt) tailwind blowing us along, and a following sea rolling the boat making things difficult for the queasy among us. Lots of classes and other academic activities these few days. The water temperature is noticeably warmer (over 20 degrees Celsius) and we pulled aboard some Sargassum weed, among which we found hydroids, bryozoans, shrimp, crabs and fish, including a Sargassumfish (Histrio histrio) which looks exactly like the weed itself. For about 15 minutes we were joined by a pod of Atlantic Spotted dolphin who rode in our bow wake and circled our boat, much to the delight of everyone. I don’t think there was a camera on board that didn’t get used. Also, visible to the east was a long line of large clouds, indicating the presence of the Gulf Stream which we will be crossing into in a week or so.
We are now snuggly tucked into Beaufort, NC, where we are tied up to the Duke University Marine Lab, who are kind enough to let us use their facilities (showers, laundry, laboratories, etc.). Today Dee is taking students to the archaeology laboratory where they are excavating the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the flagship of Blackbeard the pirate. Tonight we will have our first midnight plankton tow, to compare with a daytime population we collected this morning.
The fishing? Still nothing to report, but not for lack of trying, we tow lures behind us every hour of daylight that we are underway. Yesterday we did have a HUGE fish on the line that came off before we could get it on board, much to our chagrin. Hopefully next time I’ll have stories of a great battle followed by a gory dissection and a delicious payoff. Until then.
Fair winds and calm seas,
Chris Hamilton
