The Brighton School's expedition in the San Juan Islands May 17-20, 2005.

Entire Four Day Cruise Track
Expedition Overview
Students from the Brighton school in Lynwood, WA prepared for their four day research Expedition weeks before they were to depart by taking care of all the details. From developing an understanding of the oceanographic research gear that would soon be at their fingertips, to solid meal planning and a developing a keen sense for their upcoming camping and anchoring sites, the Brighton students had fully prepared themselves. And after all that prepartion, luck struck them.

Wind speed over the water is generally measured using a visual observational scale that allows a mariner to judge the wind speed in knots by wave height and look, the Beaufort Scale. During this expedition the wind never lulled below force 2 (4-6 kts) and often reach force 4 (11-16kts). READ: Wonderful sailing conditions!

The students set out to study their hypothesis  that would take them to sampling sites near Lopez, San Juan, Orcas, Cypress and many of the other known, and lesser known,  islands in this archipelago.

Day 1 of 4 (no image available)

The Brighton School began their first day of their four day Expedition in Anacortes, navigating out of the mouth of Guemes Channel for Spencer’s Spit on Lopez Island. The students focus was on zooplankton abundance, as they predicted that there would be more zooplankton in the water column below the Secchi disk depth than above. The students chose to sample zooplankton both at the surface and just below the depth at which the Secchi disk disappeared. This white disk (the Secchi disk), named after the Papal Naval officer who developed this simple device in the late 1800's, is one of the most tried and true pieces of equipment in all of field marine science. The students had begun, after just one day out on the water, to experiment with this, and other real world Oceanographic equipment, and had the evening to celebrate and prepare a meal fit for the likes of the newly established field marine scientists they were. (all marine scientists deserve a good desert too!!)

Day two of four, Spencer Spit  traveling to Jones Island (click to view cruise track image)

The students who slept cozily ashore in Spencer Spit shuttled to the Carlyn early the second morning, in anticipation of another great day of data collection and sailing. They were met with AMAZING wind that allowed the students to practice their tacking, navigating and docking skills as they came into Deer Harbor on Orcas Island. Quickly the group rushed ashore with a beach Seine net, chest waders, sample collection buckets, ID books for creatures, energy and intense curiosity. They were met with small Sculpins, Eels, Dungeness crabs and innumerous small invertebrate species that were dripping from their catch.

Meanwhile, at the dock, the Carlyn was being pumped out and provisioned with a sailors delicacy of the best kind,  Baltimore style  Beef Franks...It was a wonderful-caramelized-onion-filled meal to polish off a day of seining, sailing and sampling that began early in the pale gray morning, and ended at Jones Island State Park, with four science sampling stations under these savvy, field marine scientists belts.

Day three of four, Jones Island to Cyrpess Island(click to view cruise track image)

Leaving Jones Island for Cypress Island, the first sampling station required that the sailing crew navigate a course for Obstruction Pass. The Wind watch raised sails and then accepted a challenge from Lal, their instrucotr/deckhand before the challenge, and guide once the challenge was began. The challenge: to navigate safely towards their sampling site, steady Carlyn, and instruct the science team when they were positioned well enough to deploy their gear, collect their data and samples. Once this was accomplished the sailing team was rewarded with their final lesson of the morning, a lesson in the rules of the road on the water. The rewarding piece being the delicious Oreo boats that are used to illustrate vessels navigating their way through a body of water. Those who can determine the boat or vessel who has the right of way in a marine navigational situation will also partake in devouring that vessel. It has been shown on many a research expedition aboard the Carlyn, that once knowledge is actually eaten in the form of an Oreo, that student retention rates remain high.

Day four, Cyrpess Island to Anacortes(click to view cruise track image)

Cypress Island is managed by the Department of Natural Resources, and provides moorage just feet from a rocky beach front landing and campsites. The Carlyn is close enough to the camp site to provide verbal communication between the shore and boat crew. The ability for the boat to be in such close proximity of the shore landing is afforded by the relatively steep and deep shoreline of this North-east side of the island. The day was greeted with relatively high temperatures in the 60's, but with the cloud cover and wind enough to make for adventurous sailing around the North Point of Guemes Island. You can follow the tacks the student performed as they sailed into the South wind towards Anacortes. This type of sailing is called Heading into the wind, and requires the student crew  to man all of the lines and winches that control the sails in order to perform quick tacks (turns) as they made ground towards Anacortes.