The Ship's Log

August 27: Roseway Friends Sail Makes Friends

Logged on Friday August 28, 2009

p8274968On this beautiful evening in Boston harbor with the faintest hint of fall in the air, Roseway set sail with thrity of its neighbors, most of whom we’d never met. By the end of the evening we had new friends from the New England Aquarium, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the Boston Public Schools, the United Way, the Harvard University Retirees Assocaition, Fablevision, and Huron Consulting just to name a few.

As the sun set over the city and the gentle evening breezes floated by, we felt pretty lucky!

August 13: Nelson Fellows Sail Roseway

Logged on Thursday August 20, 2009

nelson_fellows_on_rosewayOn one of the first days without rain all summer, the Nelson Fellows– a group of Boston inner-city high-school students studying as interns with judges at the Moakely Federal Courthouse–joined Roseway’s crew for an afternoon sail. They sure had a lot of energy and were far too well dressed to get dirty raising sail, but theyhauled them up anyway! Heading out to the harbor isalnds and then back in to view the Constitution, we gave them a breezy mid-afternoon break from their rigorous work schedules at the courthouse. Fun was had by all!

August 8: Summer Ambassador Students Say Goodbye

Logged on Tuesday August 11, 2009

eric_climbingStudents’ final thoughts as they prepare to disembark and head home….

Eric Capo: One of the more interesting things I learned is how to furl the sails, which is more complicated that I would have thought. Another challenging activity was plotting our position on the chart which when I got good at it was really fun. I also learned how to tie so many different types of knots that its ridiculous.  Some of the more challenging parts were 1) the cleaning because there is always something to clean and 2) six hours of sleep and six awake until we got to land. I think that I appreciate downtime more and being clean and warm….Come on Roseway…..it will be an experience of a lifetime.

Nathaniel Fuller: My favorite parts of the course were the food, which was always something different and good, the sleep time between watches on transit, the activities at the parks, and boat checks. The more challenging things would have been the limited space, the transits, and a low amount of showers.  As a result of my course, I think that I have grown a bit more appreciative of sleep time, space for stuff, and showers.
kai_eating_lobsterKai Bartlette: I would have to say that stopping in all those ports for the tall ships festivals was pretty awesome. The transits that required the six-hour shifts I find to be one of the most challenging. Also, it took a little getting used to the cold weather. I’ve gotten experience in how to talk to strangers about this program and absorbed little nuggets of knowledge that I wouldn’t have gotten if I did not attend this trip.  I would tell my friends [if considering the program next year] that they should bring an open mind, warm clothes, and lots of khaki pants.

Kelsey Morrison: Overall, the summer ambassador program was great. I loved being able to sit along the shoreline and just think, this was probably my favorite thing out of the entire course. Being able to sit and watch the waves on the shores of so many different ports. To any one that would be considering this program next year, I would definitely say do it. I had a great time. I hope that when I go home the strengthened friendships and bonds will remain as they are and have been on this trip.

August 7: Welcome Back to the U.S.A.

Logged on Saturday August 8, 2009

group_in_salonbwTRANSIT LOG
Summerside, PEI to Portland, ME
4 August to 7 August, 2009
A WATCH: Eric, Nathaniel, Capt. Dwight, Sam, Gillian, Andrew
B WATCH: Kelsey, Kai, Capt. Tom, Devo, James

A TEAM
Entry by: Eric and Nathaniel
Nathaniel and I switched watches and now we have the easier shifts. On our first watch we sailed under the Confederation Bridge which was really amazing. After the bridge we went to sleep and when we woke up we went through the locks which wasn’t as fun as I had hoped. The water barely moved if it even moved at all. After the locks we passed Port Hawkesbury, and then the sea started to pick up. After that it got cold and foggy. After a couple cold and foggy watches the weather finally started to clear up for us. On the beginning of our second to last watch we started looking out for ocean sunfish (mola mola?). At the end of our watch we had seen lots of whales, dolphins and nine sunfish. On our last watch we cleaned up the boat, waited until 1100 and then docked.

B TEAM
Entry by: Kai and Kelsey
Kelsey and I are now in the B Team and Nate and Eric are now on the A team. This transit took about four days. It’s all kind of a blur at this point. Kelsey was sick for most of the time. On the 12 am to 6 am shift, it was really calm and the sky was clear. We saw about four pilot whales, a lot of fin whales, and white sided dolphins. It was pretty funny, right as A watch was getting off, the sun would roll out letting the sun shine through for B watch. Or right after B watch would get off the fog would roll back. So what ended up happening was B watch had very little fog hours. Yesterday, on our watch, we saw ten sunfish. I saw one swim right next to the boat. You could see it underwater. It was huge! Turns out sunfish can weigh up to 500 lbs and grow between five and ten feet. We caught something on our trolling line. It was a plastic bag. At least we got it out of the water. We saw a shark and a huge tuna jump out of the water. We also saw a small fin whale. That was all in one watch. It was very exciting. For dinner yesterday we had pot roast, roasted potatoes and corn. It seems like we’ve had potatoes in every meal since we left Summerside. When we got to Summerside, they gave us FIFTY POUNDS of Prince Edward Island potatoes. For dinner tonight, we’re having…are you ready for it…lobster. Yeah! We are all excited except for Gillian who is allergic to shellfish.

August 3: Roseway Heads Back Out to Sea

Logged on Monday August 3, 2009

group_in_halifaxStudents in the 2009 Summer Ambassador Program are back at sea today heading for U.S. waters after spending the last 17 days in Nova Scotian ports. This group of fearless mariners will be offshore until Friday, August 7 when they will arrive in Portland, Maine. Their final ship’s log before they disembark and head home will be posted on August 8. Please standby for this exciting report of life at sea.