Please come with the following information and knowledge:

• Lifejacket Safety
• Coming prepared with sunscreen (non-greasy) already applied.
• what to do in an emergency, hypothermia, sunstroke, near drowning
• Prepare a weather briefing, marine forecast for the Chesapeake Bay (From Sandy Point To North Beach)
  http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/AN/532.html
• High and Low Tide Information for the specific date you are sailing.
• Know the knots so we can quiz the girls, instead of teach. Common knots are the figure eight, bowline, cleat hitch, half hitch, and square knot.
• If they can practice throwing a relatively heavy line at home, then we MAY ask them to throw a dockline when coming back to the dock, and show them how we tie up the boat.
• Please have the girls prepped on sailing terminology so they have heard some of the terms before getting aboard. If they know a "textbook" answer, we can show them practically how the term is used aboard. See Terms Used by Sailors.
• Have the girls find the latitude and longitude of where they come aboard the boat. Have them use 80 Compromise Street, Annapolis, MD 21401.
• Teach your girls ahead of time the most important thing to know about sailing- finding where the wind is coming from. If they practice this for a couple of weeks before sailing, then we can tell them how a sailboat moves through the water with just wind. (Have them look at smoke stacks of steam, which way flags are blowing, which way the waves are going, etc. Licking your finger doesn't work so well.)
  

Skill Builders aboard Schooner Woodwind

• Show you know how to be safe on the water.
• One of your girls will demonstrate how to put a life jacket on in front of the passengers during the captain's safety speech. This is where we explain what to do if someone falls overboard and if there is a fire aboard the boat.
• One of your girls will assist in helping the crew get a final headcount before we leave the dock, and give that count to the on-shore office.
• Show you can get underway onboard a boat.
• The captain will talk briefly about where to sit and what to expect aboard.
• One of your girls, or a small group of girls should prepare a weather briefing. This shall be read aloud to the captain and passengers to show how the weather may affect the captains decision of how many sails to put up and the route to take.
• One of the girls or a very small group of girls will accompany a crew member to make a log entry of how many people are aboard, weather conditions, and check any systems before raising sails.
• Girls that have not helped in other areas will help raise the sails with the supervision of the crew.
• We will show them why it is so important for them to know where the wind is coming from and how a sailboat moves under wind power alone.
• Learn the communication signals and language used by sailors.
• The crew will go over terminology and why we use it aboard.
• We will also teach them signals we use for a lookout on the bow of the boat. We will have them practice being a "look-out".
• Show you "know the ropes".
• Show the crew that each girl can tie a knot. Time does not allow for us to show them how to tie all the knots. This is where they should show us that they are proficient in tying knots.
• The more they can practice at home, the more we will let them participate aboard the boat!
• Technology aboard a Sailing Vessel.
• One of your girls, or a small group of girls should prepare a briefing including a tide table of when high and low tide is for the day. We will be explaining why this information is necessary.
• We will show them quickly how to find out where they are by using latitude and longitude. We will be using their coordinates from where we are dockside, to figure out how far we have gone.
• Some chartwork may be taught, depending on the time frame and their knowledge base.
• Career Exploration
• They can interview the captain or crew while they are taking their turns at the "helm" (steering the boat). They can ask how long they have been working on the boat, or how long they have been sailing. Maybe ask, what is the most difficult thing about their job?
• Service Projects
• We can give you a list of people to talk to about Service Projects.

There is so much to see as we sail past the United States Naval Academy into the Chesapeake Bay. Along the way, we point out the interesting sights to everyone aboard. All passengers get the opportunity to take a turn at the helm, including the family members who brought their child aboard.

Great info to give to the girls before their arrival:
Parts of the Boat
Terms Used by Sailors
Check out our Video!

What to Wear: Layered Clothing for the temperature on the water and soft soled shoes.

“Absolutely Excellent! The staff made booking easy and was very accommodating.
Boat Crew was fabulous with the Girl Scouts - Fantastic! Will recommend to all other girl scouts!!!!”
Missy Henriksen, Girl Scout Troop Leader # 1332

Call 410-263-1981 to arrange a cruise for your Scout Group.