Explore to Restore: Day 7 & 8

The last day of the Explore to Restore Project started with an early morning wakeup, followed by a boat ride on the Severn River to an Island on which the Outdoor Education Center Airlington Echo is located. We were welcomed by Lauren and Sean, who would first show us around the area and explain everything to us. Our mission then was to plant trees in the middle of the marsh. Those trees can’t be planted directly into the soil but you first have to create a mound. We had a lot of fun and it was very interesting learning more about the biodiversity and adaptation in this area.

In the late afternoon we went on board Pangaea again, which came to pick us up from Baltimore. Our last night of the project we spent on board Pangaea, discussed a lot of things e.g. future projects with Mike and eventually ended the evening with a party amongst great friends.

The next day we set sail to New York in the late afternoon after taking a lot longer to get fuel than expected. This time the sea wasn’t as calm as it was on our sail down, and quite a few of us were struggling with seasickness. After a day sailing we arrived in New York at around midnight and anchored in between the city skyline and the Statue of Liberty.

The following morning we scrubbed Pangaea and cleaned it completely so that it is now ready for future events.

All in all, we YEPs thoroughly enjoyed our time here in America and are looking forward to the next opportunity that we can meet up again.