Bravo Team reconnected with recently launched Townshend for an afternoon of bird watching in the sunshine.  First we had a visit from Ron Sikes from Admiralty Audubon.  Ron visited to share his extensive birding experiences and show us photos of building and maintaining Purple Martin nest boxes that were put at Boat Haven and at PT Marine Science Center.  A lot of valuable information was shared in his presentation & we asked follow up questions to help guide our plans for the project.  Many details are in the works so stay tuned as to how you can help in the nesting box project (funding, building materials, or volunteering hours on a work day).

Hunter was coxswain today and helped get us organized around our gear and down to the boat.  After remembering some safety guidelines, we loaded Townshend and Hunter made a plan to get us off the dock.  New students Jasmine and Anna followed the lead of more experienced Bravo team members as we back-watered, trailed oars, and pushed off the dock.  No wind was also helpful.

Quickly outside of the marina we lashed in our hummel bands and Daniel Molotsky threw a fender for a Man Overboard Drill (MOB).  Visiting Captain Nate Seward was on board to witness the workings of a traditional longboat and he was back in the cockpit with coxswain Hunter to help time our recovery of our MOB in under 4 minutes.

Shaking the ‘cobwebs’ off our longboat skills (after a month of maintenance and the Holidays), we drifted for snack, Moment Of Silence (MOS) and naturalist report on Purple Martins by Anna.  Binoculars were aboard to help us capture close-up detail of wildlife and specifically birds as we look at local species and learn more about them this spring.

Rowing back into Point Hudson Marina, crew was given the challenge to close their eyes to follow lead stroke Gabe with the sound of a splash instead of their sight.  We made a slow approach to the dock and tied up with a sense of peace and awareness of a newly maintained boat, wildlife on PT Bay, and a team ready to come together for their spring environmental project and May longboat journey.  We appreciate you reading and stay tuned for more adventures!