Our hope for today was to launch our freshly painted and oiled boat Townshend. A Small Craft Advisory was posted for the day which requires us to stay ashore according to our Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection.

We started out with weather observations and determined the winds were at a Force 6 on the Beaufort Scale (between 21-26 knots) and coming from the south. Definitely not fun longboating weather!

It was sunny and warm(-ish) out so we continued on outside. We learned to play “New York City Tag” and also practiced our communication skills, leadership and teamwork as we Zen Counted up to 20. That challenge took a few tries but we eventually made it to 20 with only one person saying a number at a time and everyone saying at least one number. It’s harder than it sounds-especially because we only had a few seconds to strategize.

After that our newest team members, Anna and Jasmine, signed on to our ship’s articles, which is out team agreement for how we work together. Everyone put a finger on the ship’s articles flag and recommitted to them.

We took a moment to admire our work on Townshend. Even though we couldn’t launch her, we got her ready to launch by bringing much of her gear and parts aboard. Using clear communication, care, and eyes for safety we loaded oars, masts, anchors, and dock lines. A team in the Bosun’s locker bent the sails back on the newly varnished yards.

Next was snack! We decided to stay out in the sun. After a moment of silence, Hunter brought us back together with the quote: “I love all things that flow.” We all appreciated seeing some blue sky, feeling the rays, and some even appreciated getting splashed by the breaking waves.

The end portion of our day was spent in the classroom. We revisited our environmental project ideas and then started making a project plan for building bird nest boxes. After some great discussion and brainstorming, we each have a task to complete during the week to keep the project rolling.

Finally, we reflected on our busy day with “High Tide, Low Tide.” Our High Tides were being out on the beach and getting splashed by waves, having our Moment of Silence outside in the sun and wind, playing games, project planning, and bending on sails. Our Low Tides (challenges) were forgetting how to tie the knots we needed on the boat, feeling a bit chilly, having our Moment of Silence end, and managing heavy gear safely while loading the boat.

So much was flowing to make this day a success!