After morning dip, we enjoyed a quiet morning in Bass Harbor. The students went ashore with the crew and walked down to Bass Harbor Light, on the southwestern point of Mount Desert Island. Once back aboard, we got underway in pea soup fog towards Mackerel Cove at Swan’s island. While underway, students took turns plotting the vessel’s position with Emily.

    Once at anchor in Mackerel Cove, we ate lunch on deck as the fog lifted from the cove. Lunch clean-up finished and students put on their suits for a general swim call. Emily, Will S. Tim and Xander took advantage of the opportunity to jump from the seventh ratline whereas Taylor and Dayren swam a full lap around the vessel.

    Shortly thereafter Emily introduced the students to concepts of salinity and conductivity before they analyzed our water samples from the week. We collected water samples from all the harbors we visited as well as from the Man O’ War Brook at Valley Cove. Additionally, we analyzed the water from the vessel’s desalinator (water maker) and a bottle of Aquafina. Although even after a long week, the students put in a good effort, they were definitely jealous of the crew who spent the time exercising the avons.

    Once the lesson was finished, we went ashore on Swan’s Island and walked to Saturn Press, a printing press. Joe, the owner of the press and shop, told us about the history of printing presses and clarified that even though we always think of Gutenberg as the founder of the printing press, it was actually invented four centuries earlier in China.

   We had burgers and dogs on deck for dinner followed by oven-baked smores. After evening colors, we played a round of Jeopardy as a review for the test tomorrow morning, which set students into a flurry of studying before lights out.