The October weather continues to provide some perfect sunny days for small boats. The Girls’ Boat Project was on the water once again this week on our long dory Onward. We learned to row the boat last week and this week we continued to build our skills.

After leaving the harbor, we worked on maneuvering and stopping the boat with our oars. We had several pauses to admire the seal that kept popping its head out of the water off our port side. We also got a close look at a small group of harbor porpoise that were feeding close by.

We put our boat rowing skills to the test with a crew overboard drill, rescuing our fender “Bobette.” Samara was at the helm and led our crew to a successful recovery in only 4 minutes. We even had to practice again when a sail tie was accidentally dropped in the water.

Next up was setting sail. We worked together to raise our jib, main, and mizzen sails and had a lovely time reaching across the bay in front of town. Snacks and a moment of silence made our day on the water complete.

We ended our day with appreciations for our crew members and for our boat Onward. We appreciated Samara for leading us in a successful crew overboard drill, Zella for helping with the jib and being patient with Fiona’s oar hitting hers, Claire for being a focused coxswain, Isabella for working hard, and all of us for being a great crew. We appreciated Onward for being her so we can use her, having hummel bands for our oars, and being fun and easy to sail.