Friends Forever International (Day 4)

Boston Harbor Islands

August 24th 2023

Everyone is acclimating to life at sea and on the boat pretty well. After nearly the entire student body, being out of commission with seasickness a few days ago, several people said they missed the chores, tasks, and activities on the ship. After morning chores yesterday, we took the small boats over to Georges island, the area is curiously, both a state and national park, protected and maintained by rangers. On the island was a 19 century fortress, built for the war of 1812, but primarily manned and operated from the Civil War to the second world war. One of the crewmates, Aiden (no relation) used to be a Ranger there, so we got a tour of the fort and the island. It was nice to be back on steady land, able to walk more than 100 feet in a given direction. Then we return to the ship for lunch, we set sail on much calmer waters, learned a bit about navigation and compasses, and went out on the headrig . We finished the day with a movie night on the deck, as we watched Treasure Planet, but I was so comfortable with my pillow and blanket, that I fell asleep halfway through. Today, we are taking another shore excursion to Great Misery Island before starting sail and continuing with our activities. We don’t have too much longer on this trip. Gotta make the most of it!

-Aiden

Hello world, my name is Emma Aiton and I am currently residing on the Denis Sullivan. It has been an interesting week with my lowest points, being throwing up, seasick, and my highest points being exploring Georges Island, pulling up the 500 pound anchor, heaving up the sails, and going on the headrig. Adapting to my new living conditions were hard at first, but it gets easier as the week progresses. I have learned lots of interesting knots and coils this week, including a working coil, a balentine coil, a figure 8 knot, a square knot, and a bowline knot. With my team and the crews encouragement, I have pushed myself to face my fears, and was able to jump off the boats into the water, and go onto the headrig, which was actually really fun. Night watch has been rough, but with the amazing midnight snacks that the Cook makes, and the fun nightly activities that the crew has planned for us in between boat checks. Overall, it has been an amazing experience , and I am sad to see it coming to an end.

-Emma