For the first 5 days after deployment, strong NW winds fueled a current that carried College of the Redwoods’ drifter at speeds of well over 1 knot. Those winds died down on Sunday and postponed our hopes of the drifter making it past Point Reyes. The past 36 hours have becalmed our drifter, and it has become a waiting game.
A weak front is predicted to slip through the area today, and with it will come southerly winds. Southerly winds could produce a northerly current, and more significantly, an onshore flow. The front is predicted to move through quickly, and our usually reliable NW winds should return tomorrow. Today produces another round of anxiety among the students and staff following the journey of the drifter. Will it be driven onshore today, or will tomorrow’s northwesterlies power our drifter past Point Reyers?
Regardless of the drifter’s immediate fate, the drifter has proven to be one of the most dynamic and powerful teaching tools I ever had. Each day’s odyssey has been a string of teaching and learning opportunities for all of us.
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