Slater. 'You had to carry 

 out duties and be honest 

 and fair. The only real 

 opportunity for the sailors 

 to jump ship was at port." 



While the hourglass is 

 filling up, Slater goes over 

 ship vocabulary and sailing 

 history. 



"Until the 1930s, 

 there was commercial 

 sailing," says Slater. 

 "Sailing now is essentially 

 recreational." 



When the hourglass 

 becomes half full at 9:30 

 a.m., Phetteplace nngs the 

 bell three times. 



"I read sea novels," 

 she says. "I just love sailing. 

 I have a small sailboat, 

 but don't get to use it 

 much because I live in 

 the mountains. Here I 

 can experience beautiful 

 sailboats at the marinas." 



Later in the day, the 

 teachers divide into two 

 groups. One group goes to 

 the beach and builds a sand model of the Cutty 

 Sark, an English ship built in Scotland in 1 870. 



"We brought the plans for the tea clipper," 

 says Slater. 



The others stay inside and learn to make a 

 monkey knot used as a weight for a heaving line 

 on a boat. 



Using a piece of rope and some marbles, 

 Wlliams shows the teachers how to tie a massive 

 knot around a marble. 



"This is fun," says Mike Turner, a physical 

 education teacher in Davidson County. "I have 

 never made a monkey knot before." 



When Darden returned to her kindergarten 

 class, she taught her preschoolers how to tie 

 knots. 



"My students were mesmerized by the 

 experience," she says. "They got to make a 

 monkey knot." 



Darden also brought back seashells for each 



TOP TO BOTTOM: John Slater shows teachers how to 

 tie a knot. • Teachers board the Good Fortune for a 

 trip along Beaufort Inlet. • As the wind changes, Capt. 

 Peggy Burris trims the sheet. 



student. "A lot of my students haven't ever seen 

 the ocean. They were so excited to get the seashells 

 and hear the ocean. We also did a measurement 

 in the hall to show how big a ship is and made 

 drawings of a sailboat." 



NEW OCRACOKE CENTER 



With the opening of the old U.S. Coast 

 Guard station in Ocracoke in 2006, NCCATwill 

 be offenng more coastal courses. The renovated 

 education center will have sleeping quarters for 

 teachers as well as seminar rooms. 



The station, a prominent white structure 

 on the mouth of Silver Lake harbor, has been 

 vacant for several years. The federal government 

 transferred the building to the state of North 

 Carolina in 2001 . Since then, the state has been 

 renovating the facility. 



At the Ocracoke center, teachers will follow a 

 schedule similar to those that NCCAT provides on 

 its main campus in the mountains. The centerwill 

 offer a range of subjects, including topics related 

 to the coastal environment. 



"However, we won't just focus on coastal 

 ecology," says Williams. 



Dunng construction, the crews discovered 

 relics of the past — from an old newspaper tucked 

 behind a wall to charred timbers burnt in a fire. 



Some interesting island history has been 

 uncovered that will enliven teacher discussions, 

 says NCCAT executive director Mary McDuffie. 



As construction moves forward, NCCAT staff 

 members also are gathering stories from former 

 Coast Guard personnel who served on Ocracoke. 



"We are trying to locate these personnel 

 and compile an oral history," says Alton Ballance, 

 project facilitator on the Ocracoke campus. 

 "We recognize that interviews and actual 

 documentation from the crews and their stones 

 are an important part of the history of the station." 



McDuffie says the eastern campus will 

 become a special place for North Carolina 

 teachers. 



"It will make NCCAT programs more 

 accessible for those who live and work in the 

 eastern part of the state, and will be instrumental 

 in helping NCCAT to retain the quality teachers so 

 essential to the success of North Carolina's school 

 children," adds McDuffie. 



Teachers, media specialists and school counselors can 

 apply for NCCAT seminars. Call 800/922-0482, sende- 

 mail to information@nccat.org or visit the Web: www. 

 nccat.org. To learn about the Ocracoke project, contact 

 Alton Ballance, ballancea@nccat.org. □ 



COASTWATCH 9 



