142 A\ 



100 YEARS EXPLORING LIFE, 188&-1988 



MBL group pulling in the seine with a catboat. The picture appears to have been taken 

 at Quicks Hole, with Pasque and Naushon in the background. MBL Archives. 



might fail to replenish itself. John Valois as current supply director has 

 followed a similar ethical dictum. 



In those early years, the "second-hand steam yacht," the Sagitta, went 

 out twice a week with students on board. One experienced collector on the 

 Sagitta reported that the ship was not perfectly designed for the demands. 

 There was little deck room for standing or walking, and the boat rolled very 

 badly even in the rather calm protected waters near Woods Hole. The 

 Vigilant, which arrived in 1896, proved much more popular, even if not a 

 perfect ship. This two-masted sailing boat was purchased from a Portu- 

 guese swordfisherman and had an interesting shape, pointed at both ends 

 in a manner not typical of American ships. As a result, students called it 

 Ainphio^us, because it looked so much like the long, thin Brachiostoma of 

 that name. On collecting trips, the group of students and instructors 

 gathered on board and nearly filled the decks. They began with the Sagitta 

 towing the Vigilant off the shore. "Those collecting trips," Winteinon Curtis 

 reported, "to dig for worms at Hadley Hiubor, collect along tlie shore at 

 Tarpaulin Cove, dredge off Nobska, angle for urchins and starfish in tlie 

 Sound, wade tlie flats at North Falmoutli, or new blue crabs at Waquoit 

 were the highlights of that summer." Everyone hoped tliat the wind would 

 be up and the ship could sail confidendy all the way home without the slow 

 and tedious steam help. 



