The ship is a celebrity with a great supporting cast

To my Dearest Ones 10/10/12

We have a chance to write, and it is so difficult to decide what to fit into a short email to you. So much has happened, between learning about the ship, how to manage watch duties, meeting all these amazing people, etc.

You would be astounded at the amount of data we collect every hour -ten times more than at the dojang! But it is exciting to collect it, realizing that every piece of information is so valuable to where the ship is heading, the projects we are undertaking, the safety and comfort of the ship and crew. Right now in my bunk, I can hear the crash of the waves just on the other side of the hull. I’ve recorded it for you. The ship is rocking forward over the swells. We are moving very fast for the moment, (8-10 knots?) mostly motoring, with the four lower sails up. For a day this rocking made many of us sick, but now we are fine and moving with the ship with more and more ease every day.

I hope things are going well with all of you. There were so many unfinished projects and situations when I left. I trust you can manage without me, but imagine there will be plenty to catch up on when I return.

This truly is an adventure. The ship is a celebrity with a great supporting cast. Every member of the crew that I’ve spoken with has interesting stories to tell, and an intelligent viewpoint in conversation. I hope that each of you kids will find an opportunity to participate in real science in this kind of atmosphere. There are high school and college voyages, which I truly encourage you and your friends to consider. There are no prepackaged experiments here. It is all real data gathering, real hypotheses, real equipment, real examination, etc.

We hope to reach the Gyre on Wednesday. So far our samples and observations have found more plastics than on a cruise away from the Gyre, but much less than we expect to find soon. We watched a big piece of orange plastic foam float by today. Smaller pieces are showing up in the net tows. I wonder whether we’ll find other kinds of floating debris, such as wood, glass (like the fisherman floats), or other things. (update: just saw 5 pieces float by,then a few more. Picked through the lastest catch and counted 161 tiny pieces -almost as much as the biomass in the same tow.)

The ship is quite comfortable, even if my bunk is small-just big enough to sleep in and write in, so I’m happy. My biggest concern, besides doing my duties well, is the drills we can expect every week. There was an alarm the first night out, and we all woke and threw on our clothes, grabbed our knives and harnesses, and were ready to head up on deck when the captain announced that it was a false alarm. I responded automatically without thinking whether it was a drill or real emergency. Anyway the response should be the same. We were all relieved, though, that it was neither. But there will be many drills, and I keep the necessary items at hand for grabbing. I hope that the drills take place when I am already on watch! (update: another non-drill, with a small electrical fire in the lab. All is well.)

The food gets better every day. Last night we ate the tuna we caught; for breakfast we had waffles with strawberries and whipped cream; for lunch we had baked potatoes, green beans, herbed chicken breast. I hear the dinner tables being set right now. Maybe the Mahi Mahi we caught. I think of you especially whenever we eat your favorite foods.

Watches have become more and more exciting. I was on lab duty this morning, and we deployed three different pieces of equipment: first the MOCNESS, then the Hydrocast, and then the Neuston net. The MOCNESS is new, and we had to assemble it first. I thought of you kids and your Lego and other toys. You would have enjoyed it. Then we had to work out the details of deployment, including the wire angles and depths, timing, etc. I had to record our position and water data, Kellie kept the time, Kim drove the wires while the scientists managed the actual deployment over the side. The MOCNESS can be lowered even deeper than the 4500 meters or so than the ocean is deep here, but we only used it down to about fifteen meters today, with only five of the nine nets. (update: we picked up a plastic buoy yesterday, which was crawling with life – barnacles and crabs, mostly. It looked like the pirate captain in the Pirates of the Caribbean. The stamp in the plastic was Chinese, but I wasn’t sure whether it was Chinese Chinese or Kanji.)

Deck watch includes checking wind, speed, distance, walking through the ship to be sure all is well, checking the gauges in the engine room, etc. It seems simple, but must be done correctly. We man the helm for an hour, stand bow watch (at night) for an hour, and the third hour is idle (doing whatever needs to be done) and boat checks for an hour, then we cycle back to helm or wherever we started the four-6 hours. Other days we might be
helping in the galley. It is all hard work, but satisfying. It gets easier as I learn the routine, though it was very difficult at first, when I had really no clue as to what to do.

I’m trying not to talk about you kids all the time, but I am thinking about how to tell you what is happening, wondering what excitement you are up to, or hoping you can do this one day, too. EuiJeong, Boppi, Halmi, Kids: I am so grateful to all of you for your support and your work at home, keeping things running smoothly. I hope and pray you are all well and happy. Give each other hugs and kisses from me!!! I miss you all, but am so glad you let me go on this voyage. I hope to have much to share with you as a result.

Please share this letter with family and friends, including Kris and Barbara for BAGHS and BAHFT, Facebook, blog, as well as PBA, Choi’s, etc. My best to all of you.

LOVE and hugs!

Mom, Christa, me.