Some of us showed up in costume today, although it was hard to tell under all our warm layers! It was a rare day to have sunshine and light wind on Halloween. A great day to go on a mini journey. Bravo Team was ready for a longer time aboard Onward putting our stamina to the test rowing and getting the sails up for the first time this year. Before heading out, students used the nautical chart and dividers to measure distances to 3 different possible destinations: Rat Island Tower, Boat Haven or Red Buoy “2”. We looked up the tides/currents and checked the weather. Rat Island Tower was the unanimous choice! Before we left the classroom, the Devo Divas came by with a Halloween candy delivery!

During 45 minutes of rowing time we sang shanties and made up a silly Halloween story about ninja bunnies. When we got to the tower we took time to drift and enjoy a different perspective while having snack. The tower was full of Cormorants- drying their wings, resting, squabbling, and making vocalizations. Cormorants lack waterproof feathers and need to spend time drying them out, unlike other seabirds. Other wildlife sightings today were Common Murres, Common Loon and Harbor Seals. Danielle read a quote by Helen Keller at the end of our Moment of Silence, “Life is a daring adventure at nothing at all.” Every day is an adventure with Bravo Team.

On our return trip, the wind had picked up enough to sail back! We hadn’t set the sails yet this year, so the crew got to know the lines as we raised the mizzen, main and jib. The crew rotated through handling the sheets for the sails and enjoyed taking photos and relaxing as we sailed on one tack back towards the harbor. We made it back to the dock on time to head over to the Halloween parade. It was a wonderful day out on the water building our boating skills and appreciation for the amazing Salish Sea environment.