We spent a few more days at anchor in the Chesapeake Bay and then we packed up and headed for Lewes. It took a little less than a day to get back; we steamed through the night and got to the dock early morning. We had a quick turn around off loading some of the science equipment and personnel that would not b joining us on the second leg of my final trip on the Sharp. Around 9 am we left the dock with a few extra people, the University of Delaware’s Provo’s and his family along with some other officials joined us for a little cruise around the bay to see some of the work that the boat can do. We went out past the breakwater and did a CTD cast and our guests were given a complete tour of the boat. After the cast we headed back in behind the breakwater to get some respite from the sea state. There we had a wonderful lunch and the visitors were faired back to the dock with the small boat. Once they had been off loaded and everything secured we headed out. Our goal was to get out to where the water would be deep enough to do a 2,000m cast to look at the water profile and take some samples. The weather was a bit rough and some of the scientist got seasick. I went to bed after dinner in anticipation of our early morning CTD cast that was scheduled for 4 am. I got up bright and early and we ended up having to wait for the sun to come up so that the mate on watch could see the sea state and keep us all comfortable for the nearly 3 hour cast. Right after sunrise we put the CTD over and all when well until about 1200m when the computer lost the connection to the instruments on the CTD, we were able to restart the program and get things running again with out having to restart the cast. After that everything went fine and we finished the cast and then did 2 more, not quite so deep but still pretty deep. After the casts were done, much to the delight of the scientists, we headed back early to make it back to Lewes for the early tide. We got in around 8 am the next day and off loaded the science gear. I spent the day helping get the boat ready for the next trip, doing laundry and making up beds. I also helped clean the CTD and get the computers ready for the next trip. Late in the afternoon, Max one of the techs. brought me to Salisbury, MD where I would fly out of the next day. We went to a cute little city run zoo with free admissions and then Max dropped me off at my hotel in anticipation of my flight the next day. I am now currently sitting in the airport in Philly waiting for my connecting flight home to Providence. I should be getting home right now but my first flight was late taking off so we got to Philly with only 20min till my next flight left. I knew my chances of making it were slim but I ran across the airport like a crazy person with my backpack and carry on in tow but missed my flight. As I sit here in the airport, it has given me a chance to reflect on the past six weeks that have flown by and were such a whirlwind of activity. I learned a lot and had a ton of fun this summer on the Sharp and I cant wait to get back out to sea again.