Swim Call!!

Cold, numbing and exhilarating. That is how one of our days in Bar Harbor began. To start off, we all woke up at the routine time of 0700 for 0715 muster. As has been the case on all chilly mornings in New England these last few weeks, everyone slowly walked their way out of their racks and onto deck. Once out of the companionway, each of us was immediately greeted by our two best friends, Bar Harbor fog and Bar Harbor rain. For our past few days in Maine, we hadn't seen the sun once, which was evident due to hundreds of wet clothes hanging in forward and the musty smell that accompanied them. As everyone emerged and made their way on deck, the crew followed behind after their own crew muster. At 0715, Captain started off telling us what would go on that day... researching in the library and paper writing. Then he said something that no one expected. "In place of morning chores, we're going to go swimming." In a blaze of time and confusion, one moment we were all on deck in full foul weather gear and the next everyone was in bathing suits in the water, or practically running up the Jacob's ladder. Some of us were used to the cold temperature and took it as a welcome back to New England, but some didn't feel as welcomed and were in and out of the water within seconds. Feeling especially comfortable, Diane, Timbah, John and I swam a lap around Gamage before exiting. John stayed in for a good ten minutes more. We still don't know if that's due to insanity or if he was born cold blooded. Measuring the water temperature after our swim, we found it to be a brisk 48 degrees F. Even though we'll have the sniffles for the next week, we are all glad we took the dip and started our day off with some excitement instead of being grumps and letting a bit of rain get us down.

Hayden Wright