Sail the historic schooner, A.J.Meerwald; experience the immediacy of the Delaware Estuary; and learn how each of us affects our environment. Help crew the schooner, raise the sails and handle lines, go fishing with a trawl net or set and retrieve an oyster dredge, and learn about the importance of your home tributary to the Delaware.

Morning and afternoon 3 hour sails leave from our home port of Bivalve, NJ, and other ports in the estuary.

Special School Rate: $725 per sail.
Capacity: 45 persons per 3 hour sail

Pre-sail information and in-class prep activities will be provided on the Delaware Estuary, vessel specs and history, and sail logistics (weather, what to expect, wear, and bring).

SELECT FOUR OR FIVE SMALL GROUP "LEARNING STATIONS" ONBOARD INCLUDING:

• Watersheds and Groundwater
• Water Quality (issues and water sampling)
• Petroleum in the Estuary (economic/environmental impacts, benefits and tradeoffs)
• Oystering in the Delaware Bay (case study of human dependence on a natural resource, results of resource failures)
• Plankton (examines primary productivity and energy cycling)
• Lenape: 1st culture of the estuary (how technology and world view affect individuals and environment)
• Wetlands (issues, functions and values)
• Environmental justice (what the concept means, who it affects)
• "An experiment in seeing" (observation exercise)
• Your own program content, or discussion of local issues, can be incorporated into the sail by advance arrangement.

SHORE BASED FIELD TRIPS

The Schooner Project offers and evolving variety of shore based activities with themes related to the Delaware Estuary. You may combine several for a full-day field trip, choose just one or two for a shorter Delaware Bay experience, or combine one with a day-sail on the schooner. We will work to fit the components you want into the time you have available.

MARITIME TRADITIONS THEME

Dockside tour of authentically restored oyster schooner A.J. Meerwald and guided tour of the Delaware Bay Museum (1-2 hours).

NATURAL RESOURCES THEME

Tidal wetlands guided walk - Explore the beauty, plants and wildlife of bayside marshes, once considered nearly worthless, now recognized for their global environmental significance. Wetland trip can also include crabbing and water sampling (1-2 hours)

Hands on seining - Using a 20 foot seine net, students will retrieve and investigate creatures at site on the Maurice River or Delaware Bay. Sampling is supplemented with age appropriate ourdoor activities at site, such as water sampling or environmental games. (1-2 hours).

PUBLIC SERVICE

Opportunities for volunteering/public service -- As part of your field trip, your group can spend time doing a public service project. Call for possibilities.

Program fee: $50 per hour for a group of 20, except Public Service (no charge). Call for rates for larger groups.