Eastside Preparatory School's expedition from Shilshole Marina in Seattle to Everett. This trip was undertaken by driven and articulate 6th graders who displayed an amazing sense of community! Temperatures were between 60 and 70 degrees throughout the Expedition with mostly moderate to light wind from the North.

Day one of five  (click to view cruise track image)
The first day began with an introduction to the Carlyn and the fine tuning of the hypothesis. Included in the experimental design were considerations of weather, desired cruise track, sampling techniques and types of sampling sites.

The students chose to to study the variation in plankton abundance  (both zooplankton and phytoplankton) in shallow vs. deep water. They added an intriguing ammendment, predicting that there would be more zooplankton present where there were more phytoplankton.

Day two of five (click to view cruise track image)
This days cruise took the students from the front side of Blake Island to the backside. The camping area here is more primitive and much darker as it is shielded from the Seattle metro areas lights and sounds, and contains a pit toilet and minimal park ammenties. This area was a great venue for games and beach exploration.

Day three of five (click to view cruise track image)
Today the students put their skills to the test as they took the boat off the mooring ball. They had also become more savvy with the equipment aboard and with some crew assistance determined how  to plot their sampling stations in the Cruise Tracking program that produced these images  for furture reference.

Being savvy campers, the group chose to stay one more night on the backside (north-west side)  of Blake Island so as to basque in the relative seclusion of this area, and keep the camp set up of course!

Day four of five (click to view cruise track image)
Today as students were analyzing the weather report to determine their sampling plan in Elliot Bay, a feared tender boat approached our moorage and  identified themselves as the Sock Pirates of the schooner Adventuress. The pirates handed off a challenge for the students: they were to use their skills in sailing and science acquired during the previous three days to navigate accross the Puget Sound and collect their samples....all before the lunch at noon. They needed to hurry! The students quickly organized and got to task, safely maneuvering Carlyn and crew to Elliot Bay, and were rewarded with a tasty meal, sans socks!

Day five of five (click to view cruise track image)
The last day aboard the boat. Here we begin to 'beat' or tack (turn bow first) up into the wind as we headed for Everett. The course was challenging, as the wind was coming out of the North at 15 knots, but the students decided head directly accross the sound the sample near the Edmonds SCUBA park and tack their way up to Everett from there. As their last day was coiming to a close there was an all-hands strike of sail to put the boat away one final time together. As we made our way to the breakwater students reflected on their past five days, while eager parents awaited their arrival on the dock.