The best education involves personal risk-taking, and Ocean Classroom--with the obvious discomforts of extended life at sea--is the best of education. No acknowledged risks, however--regarding safety--are tolerated. So when an electric starter motor for a never-used fire pump (a two-cylinder diesel that may be started by hand crank) failed a test after the Harvey Gamage's departure from Booth Bay, Maine, a spontaneous service stop at Gloucester, Massachusetts was elected. The teaching staff is very familiar with this historic town, and provided a rich set of educational field studies for our nineteen intrepid sailors, including tidal pool ecology, historic city sites, the library and the Maritime Heritage Museum, where I encountered them studying marine biology.

The museum offers a set of pools featuring a diverse set of aquatic environments and species, ranging from tidal pools to rock habitats.

Upon my arrival, every student begs that I communicate "How much I miss you!" to everyone in Andover. They are ravenous for school gossip, but focused on concrete assignments covering species identification, feeding habits and habitats.

Every time I have visited an Ocean Classoom group, I have been impressed by the quality of the academic component. This is not a sailing trip. It's an academic program on a sailing ship. One student said today, "It's not that the work is too hard; it's just that there's so much, and we have so much else to do."

Eventually, after lunch and library time, tenders came in from the schooner to fetch the crew.

The kids seem happy to be back on board, excited that their sail recommences this evening.

They are excited despite knowing that life aboard ship is tough. Most of the kids spent Thursday night seasick in a steady chop, and work has to continue regardless. Here, in a calm harbor, we're pulling up a tender.

Quarters below deck are cramped. The aft cabin (boys) is particularly close (although they have no complaints,) while the girls' bunks amidship are (relatively) spacious. Girls chose to read and study there before dinner.

Two boys enjoy even more spacious accomodations forward in the fo'c'sle, but--as Danny told me--there's a cost...... The vertical ladder can be a nuisance when you have to puke.

Next port of call: Mystic, Connecticut.