By Symphanie Rosario
Staff Writer
For the past 10 years, Mira Costa students have boarded the Tole Mour to experience life at sea. Harold Coller and his marine biology students embark on this trip every spring to either Catalina, Santa Barbara Island, Anacapa or San Clemente for five days.
This year, the Tole Mour left Long Beach for Catalina on April 14 for a five-day and four-night trip. After Catalina, the students travelled to Santa Barbara Island, then went back to Catalina Island to a town called Toyon.
“A lot of the students who want to attend this trip think that it is going to be a leisurely boating trip, but it’s the complete opposite,” Costa science teacher and chaparone Karl Kurtz said. “We get up at 6:30 a.m. and don’t get to go down to our bunks until 9 p.m. This is definitely a working trip.”
While on the trip, the 30 students are split up into four groups, one for each chaperone. Coller has been attending this trip since he first began teaching for Costa 10 years ago. Kurz and Karen Cunningham, the Costa science lab assistant, and Trevor Oystrick also chaperoned this trip.
While on the boat, each group participates in “sail training” and “lessons under the sail.” During these sessions, students learn the basics of sailing such as plotting the course, climbing on the rig and using the radar.
“The sail training and lessons under sail were very interesting,” Costa junior Jazmyne Morrison said. “We learned so many things about sailing and the boat. This trip is probably the best thing that I have ever done.”
Aboard, each group also rotates the “pride stations.” There are four pride stations: deck, galley, chaperone and “pride down below.” Students assigned to deck pride must wash and clean the deck. Students assigned to the galley must help clean the kitchen and wash dishes.
“Chaperone pride is the best pride station,” Cunningham said. “Students assigned to the chaperone station participate in an experiment with their chaperone in the lab below deck. Pride down below is the worst pride station because the students have to clean the ‘heads,’ or bathrooms.”
When the boat docks, students learn about the marine life surrounding each location by snorkeling around the reefs. Students are also able to kayak around the island and go to a marine biology lab to look at all of the specimens before heading home.
“My favorite part of the trip was snorkeling in Catalina, San Clemente and Santa Barbara Island,” Costa senior Richard Sparks said. “I have never seen marine life like that before, so it was pretty interesting.”
Each day begins bright and early; students wake up at 6:30 a.m. and put their swimsuits on. They then have to jump into the cold water without wetsuits in order to wake themselves up. This is called the polar bear swim. After the polar bear swim, students dry off as quickly as possible and get ready to go to breakfast.
“The polar bear swim is one of my favorite parts of the trip,” Coller said. “It’s such an invigorating and refreshing way to wake up in the morning.”
Some students are naturals on the water, but others are prone to seasickness. Many students spend the first two hours on the water huddled around vomit buckets trying to get acclimated to the boat’s movements.
“I was least excited for the bad weather, but not because I’m afraid of the rough waves, but because major 15 to 20-foot waves won’t be fun on my stomach.”
Coller and the other chaperones know sailing basics, but a full crew is on board at all times teaching the students how to sail and control the boat. Each year, Costa students leave the crew with a good impression, which allows future students to enjoy certain benefits that groups from other schools don’t.
“We all went on this trip barely knowing each other,” Costa sophomore Sam Reese said. “By the time we got back, we were all very close. We spent five days with just each other; it’s like we are all a family now. This trip was a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for me.”
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