Last week was a fun week of science at the Boothbay Sea and Science Center. The “Emerging Oceanographers” (ages 8-17) have been working hard to become expert weather observers and forecasters.

Not only are they making daily weather observations themselves, BSSC is pleased to announce that it’s now operating a weather station installed at the waterfront on the Little River that’s presented by Rainwise Net and hosted by Roundhouse One and the Little River Boat Club (https:rainwise.net/weather/RH104544).

Last Thursday’s weather may not have been ideal for sailing, but it did provide us with a first-hand account of the unsettled weather and veering wind shift characteristic of a frontal passage. The Emerging Oceanographers were able to track the front themselves after studying NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) surface analyses for a few days beforehand. The perfect learning moment presented itself as the front passed through East Boothbay during our oceanography time.

The “Budding Scientists” (ages 5-7) have been busy studying the intertidal creatures along the Little River. These “scientists” spent some quality time observing and studying an organism of their choosing at the intertidal. They observed and recorded the behavior, habitat, and physical characteristics of their chosen creature (after naming them, of course). Having become the experts on these organisms, these Budding Scientists had the opportunity to present their “Creature Feature” to the rest of the group.

The Mizzen Program (ages 5-8) was packed last week with 10 participants, and each day lead to a new adventure on the water. Each participant sailed taking turns to practice steering a straight course, tacking and jibing. Our sailors learned that dark ripples in the water mean stronger winds and thus the boat will heel a little more. Then they discovered that easing the mainsheet will make the boat heel less. By the end of the week, we all had gotten our sea legs.

On-shore activities continued the learning and laughter with charades of boat parts and sea animals. A quick lesson on knots had everyone tying figure 8’s, square knots, and bowlines — a definite favorite for its resemblance to a lasso. Midweek, we switched up the activities and went rowing to a beach, while we collected trash along the way.

The Stays’l Program (ages 8-17) had a blast this week with winds just right for sailing Sonars, BSSC’s 23-foot sloops. All sailors took a turn at steering, trimming the sails and handling the jib, perfecting when to pass this sail during a tack. They quickly learned sail-handling, as the Little River is a very little river indeed, though not too little for a pair of Sonars to sail out and in each day. Lessons on land discussed Crew Overboard Drills, a safety drill practiced by all boating organizations including the Coast Guard, research vessels, and educational institutions. Midweek saw a change of pace by staying in the harbor and using our smaller boats, namely Turnabouts, rowboats, and an Optimist. Of course we played our favorite game of tennis-ball tag, meaning that whichever boat had the tennis ball was “it” and had to toss it into another boat to make them become “it.” This gave the sailors the opportunity to sail and row without an instructor (though we were close by) and take full command of their vessel.