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Teacher Aboard Logs
| Date:
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November 17 11:39 hrs
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| Position: |
Atlantic Ocean
Latitude: 27:52.0 N Longitude: 73:11.9 W
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| Conditions: |
Winds: 6 knots NW
Barometric Pressure: 1019.0 Skies: clear
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| Entered
By:
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Teacher Aboard Lee Vogtman
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Leaving Puerto Rico!
Night began to fall over the ocean, like the blanket my mother would tuck in from
one side of the bed to the other. Like a child not ready to go home, Puerto Rico
refused to disappear some twenty miles behind us, glowing like a dying campfire
in the night.
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Suddenly we had a new player on the field, as a full crimson moon rose up
from the horizon's edge. Wisps of clouds played games, posing in front of the
moon, changing her face like a shape shifter in the sky. First she resembled a
Chinaman wearing a bandana, then a young girl pouting. Moving quickly, she rose
up high, presiding over the ocean like a queen over her court. Bored with the
game, the clouds drifted off to some other sky as the stars took their rightful
place in the night. Such were the nights following our departure from San Juan.
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And so we said goodbye to Puerto Rico and hello, once again, to
the Atlantic Ocean as we began the next leg of our journey home to the Chesapeake
Bay. As we sailed out of San Juan, we passed the impressive Fort El Morro once
again.
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Capt. Dan took a moment to pose holding the Dundalk Eagle with
the fort in the background. This will be the last time outside the U.S. for this
newspaper, but it sure has traveled lots of miles!
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Chris Landers was out on the headrig working on the sails with
the vast Atlantic over his shoulder like a distant unknown, begging exploration.
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Overhead flew four flags (U.S., Pride of Baltimore,
Puerto Rican, and Maryland), as Pamela navigated and Ellen steered us out to sea.
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It wasn't long before we had a fish on the line and it turned out to
be another small barracuda, the "wolves" of the ocean. The crew looks on as the
hand line is pulled in, and you can just make out the splash of the fish at the
end of the line.
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Just yesterday, though, we managed to land a 31" Mahi-Mahi, Dolphin
fish. They have beautiful, vivid colors and make for delicious table fare!
Here's Captain Dan with the prize.
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Just as I was preparing to send this log, I heard the
shouts of "Fish on!" Rushing up with camera in hand, I found the 1st Mate,
Christopher, and our guest crew passenger dealing with another, larger bull
dolphin! Yumm! We're in for a great meal again! Well, it was lunchtime anyway,
so I put this down to go eat. Guess what we had? Yep...fresh Mahi-Mahi!! Most of
it was breaded, but Andy saved some for Sashimi - raw fish. It was delicious with
capers and soy sauce! Hmmmm!!
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Heading Toward Chesapeake Bay - and Home!
Back to our journey. It didn't take long for the routine to set in, but at least
we were back on our "four hour on, eight hour off" watches. I welcomed the
routine, as I find it easier to sleep with this pattern. The work on deck
continued, including wetting the deck down to keep it damp and help cool off
belowdecks.
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Here you can spot the wet deck, and the flat sea. It was eerie
looking out at the Atlantic Ocean and seeing what appeared to be a huge sheet of
glass, but that's what it was. For several days we had the calmest water I've
ever seen.
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Here's what it looked like from aloft.
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We had incredible sunrises shimmering on the flat calm ocean with a
slight breeze, and then the most unbelievable sunsets and moonrises!
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One of my favorite shots is this one of Brad at the rail with the
sunset in the background. Late in the watch on Monday Nov, 13, we saw a pod of
what looked like Pilot Whales just a few hundred yards away. Unfortunately, they
were camera shy!
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The usual maintenance took place, and I snapped this shot of
the First Mate, Chris Flansburg, as he tied a 3-strand eye splice into a new
line. The metal piece you see is a fid. It is used to spread the strands apart
and allow the "bitter end" of a different strand to be passed through.
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I went aloft to take a look out across the ocean and to try taking a
panorama of the deck below. Because of where I was sitting, I was able to shoot
several segments of the boat except for the bow. Here is the result. I haven't
given up though! I have some new ideas as to how I might get the entire ship in
one picture. We'll see!
Captain Dan Parrott
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I'd like to take a break from the narrative for a moment and introduce
you to the second member of the two-captain team that sails this ship. Captain
Dan is 38 years old and hails from Connecticut. He has one older brother who
works for the state. Growing up in a coastal town allowed him the opportunity
for exposure to the water, including some sailing lessons and fishing experiences
in Long Island Sound. After high school, Captain Parrott went on to study at
Colby College in Maine where he double-majored in English and Government. He
would eventually complete his Masters degree in Marine Affairs at the University
of Rhode Island.
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He grew up traveling with his family and the travel bug began to bite while in
college. It was during his sophomore year that he took off for a semester and
signed on as a student on the ship, Harvey Gamage. For a couple of months
he attended regular classes on board and also learned the duties and skills of a
deckhand. For his remaining summers in college, he worked on schooners and, after
graduating, he went to sea. He began with the basic "6 pack" license which is
usually used for smaller boats with up to six passengers, but this was just the
beginning. He joined Pride of Baltimore and left two years later as the
3rd mate. In 1986, Dan sailed in Micronesia as bosun aboard the vessel, Eye Of
The Wind, a British brigantine. On board was the former 1st mate with whom
he'd sailed on Pride. They were together when they heard the news that
the original Pride had gone down in the Atlantic taking the skipper and
three crew members with it. Both had lost friends to this terrible tragedy. Dan
would not be associated with Pride of Baltimore, Inc. again for another eleven
years.
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During the next two years he stayed in the Pacific sailing around and
taking classes whereby he received the Australian Ocean Master's license. Hearing
that Pride II had been built, he returned to the U.S. and was able to attend the
commissioning of the boat in October, 1988, in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.
Following that, he returned to the Pacific where he went aboard the medical ship,
Tole Mour, as skipper. He also had another opportunity to sail on Eye
Of The Wind while there. By 1990, he had also tested for and received his
U.S. 500 ton Ocean Master's license. (He now holds a 1600 ton Ocean Master with
Sail Auxiliary license.)
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In 1990, he heard that Pride II was traveling to Europe and was offered
the position of 1st mate which he accepted and joined the boat in Spain. It was
during this voyage that he met a very special deckhand, Ms. Kimberly Hannon, at
St. Catherine's Dock on September 15, 1991. Three years later, in August 1994,
they would tie the knot and become man and wife! Together they were able to
arrange several employment opportunities where they could sail together from the
Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans. While Dan was finishing his schooling, Kimberly
had the experience of working in a boatyard where she restored wooden ships.
Kimberly then obtained her Masters degree in Teaching and went to work for the
Baltimore County School System.
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In June of 1998, Dan was offered the position of co-skipper for
Pride II. He has been one the ship's two captains ever since. In
September of this year, he and Kimberly became the proud parents of a baby girl!
They will have to wait and see how this affects their future in sailing. Somehow
I doubt they will ever be far from the boats they love.
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Homecoming
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The ship's crew is trying to get the boat ready for our homecoming
after Thanksgiving. So ordinary maintenance has been stepped up a bit. The
usual sail handling and adjustments continue, as well. Crewmembers are coming
and going from every corner of the ship. Paul climbed the aft mast to do some
work aloft. Look at the calm ocean!
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The skies have been the source of entertainment ever since we left Puerto Rico.
Every morning and evening, crewmembers go up on deck to watch the "celestial
dance" performed by the sun, moon, stars, and planets. Two nights ago, I saw
four shooting stars and one satellite while on watch. I remember as a child
wishing I could someday step on another planet. As I look up and wonder at the
marvel above me, I can't help think that I haven't even begun to appreciate the
beauty of my own planet. And so I've made myself a promise - to see and
experience as much as I can of this earth, and to teach my daughter, and my
students, not to take for granted the world around them.
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Several members of the crew are taking advantage of the clear skies to
practice celestial navigation. I've been lucky enough to benefit from their
experience. Last night I held a sextant for the first time, and Pamela was kind
enough to show me the principle of how it works. In effect, it's nothing more
than finding the angle between the sun, (or star or planet), and the horizon.
That will give you a line of position (LOP). Then if you triangulate using a
sighting from another known celestial body, you should be able to determine your
location. Obviously, that's my very simple rendition, but I hope to learn this
skill as I find it fascinating as well as useful. I've also learned how to find
Cassiopeia, Orion, and a few other constellations. Right now our GPS says we
have under 600 miles to go and that we might be home early. I'm keeping my
fingers crossed but I don't want to get my hopes too high! So I'll just watch
the skies and gaze in wonder at the beauty that lies before us every night.
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Last night was no exception. The Milky Way stretched across the night sky like a
thin membrane of white wool, gathering up millions of stars in its web. Jupiter
and Saturn were on our right, and Venus was off to our left. They reflected
light down into ribbons of white highway, reaching across the ocean toward our
vessel like a mother's hands urging a child onward. "Go home," they said. "Go
home!" We're on our way, I answered silently. We're on our way.
Your Teacher Aboard,
Lee Vogtman
YOUR THOUGHTS
- Why do you think Barracuda are sometimes referred to as the "wolves"
of the ocean?
- When was the sextant invented?
- Why would mariners still be interested in knowing how to use a
sextant if we have GPS units that fit in the palm of the hand and can
tell us exactly where we are on the planet?
- How far is it from Puerto Rico to Baltimore, Maryland?
- We have to sail around Cape Hatteras off the coast of the Carolinas.
Why is this area so famous, and what is it famous for?
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