Journals – Christa at Sea

October 4, 2012September 12, 2017

Night Watch

Happy birthday to my oldest, 15 today!

Just came off night watch– only one hour because we are still in port, alongside. Typing on phone.

Quiet wake up call by previous watch, telling me it was 0150, ten minutes to two, and a little chilly out. Time for my watch.

On deck, two others from my watch–kim and noah, and Katy, first scientist. Read standing orders, initialed. Had read night orders before going to bed. Just regular boat check and log weather.

Boat check includes walking the deck and surveying the lines tying us to dock, to ensure no chafing, that the lines are still holding correctly, tide hasn’t moved them to rub or loosen. General check of the deck– lines, any gear out of place, all’s well. Below-decks it includes a walk-through, looking for any standing water, unusual smells, anything amiss, check dry stores, refrigerator temps, and engine room– record oil pressure, temps, water levels, etc.

Also need to record seas and weather. Skies currently 6/8 covered in cirrus, seas calm, wind 1 beufort. Temp 20C. Continue reading “Night Watch”

September 22, 2012September 12, 2017

Caught our breath, then caught the photo just as the shuttle turned.

Just finished watching the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s flyover of the San Francisco Bay with an enthusiastic crowd at the Stonebrae Golf Course. We were in the Hayward Hills, and saw it bank west after flying over Chabot space and Science Center. It was so close we could see detail on the fuselage, and sky between the Shuttle and its 747.

There were almost no commercial jets over the Bay – we were surprised to see any—and a few escort jets. Some of us straddled a doorway to catch simultaneous coverage on TV as the shuttle flew over the Golden Gate Bridge, but from our vantage point the bridge was obscured by haze. That same haze had delayed the flyover by about an hour. We didn’t share names, but bonded over a moment marking the end of the historic era of the space shuttle.

Many, many years ago I had dreamed of being an astronaut. The space shuttle program was fresh, and regular space travel seemed right around the corner. Through many twists and turns, I chose a different path, but going to sea seems to put me back onto the path in that dream. I won’t be going into space on a shuttle, but six weeks at sea is a strikingly similar endeavor.

September 21, 2012September 12, 2017

Kayak across the Pacific Ocean

#130 of 138 in Google Maps’ 4,150 mile driving directions from San Diego to Honolulu: “Kayak across the Pacific Ocean.” This includes driving north to the Canadian border and the Kayak Trip directive to, “continue straight” for 2,756 miles. I really, really hope our captain is not using Google Maps, or it’ll be a long haul. On the other hand, it is good to see real people are programming the maps. What else could they say? Fatal error, cannot compute, your computer will shut down or implode in …. Seconds?

Or they could have assumed we really wanted to drive on solid surfaces, and given us directions for a submarine automobile to wheel its way across the ocean floor. Not sure how it would go, what with the subduction zone and all. And more funny computer stuff: Microsoft Office 2010 doesn’t recognize the word “subduction.” Seriously?

Twenty-some years ago, we used LORAN and celestial navigation. It was possible, by these methods, to locate oneself sailing in the middle of Ohio – a long leap from the previous day’s more accurate fix somewhere in the Sargasso Sea. I guess a kayak could take care of that?

On this trip, we should be using GPS and celestial navigation. Using celestial bodies and a sextant is much more interesting than plugging a destination into the dashboard computer on the car, but one should add an extra bit of time for calculations. Why use celestial as backup? Why not?

For a seriously good K-12 read related to seafaring and navigation, check out the Newbery Award book Carry on, Mr. Bowditch.

September 20, 2012

Question from a friend

Who/ what will you leave behind for these weeks and how will that work (or not) for you?

The above is in response to a call for questions I should ask my shipmates. My intention is to interview as many as would like to be and/or I have time for while at sea. But maybe I should answer that question, myself, first.

I am leaving behind a young family and a busy couple of martial arts schools. But “leaving behind” is a bit too dramatic. Our lives already have been a constant dance of parting and coming together again.

My younger children, now 8 and 11, have gone on month-long road trips with their grandparents every year since they were about 5; my husband travels to conventions, tournaments, Black Belt testings in the US and abroad; my oldest child, now 14, has travelled overseas every summer for the past three years, and is living abroad this year as an exchange student in music school in South Africa. And this past summer my travels began again after a 15-year hiatus with a trip back to Finland, and then a first visit to Africa… now the SEA again.

(And why do I keep capitalizing SEA? Besides the immensity of it for me, it is also the acronym of Sea Education Association, with whom I sailed 24 years ago, and will again in less than two weeks. Check out www.sea.edu .)

In some ways, then, our family is particularly prepared for mom to ship out for a month and a half. They will keep their rhythm. Fantastic grandparents will be there to keep the tempo—they who have been adventuring for at least as long as I can remember.

So, while I feel a bit like a hobbit who has been visited by Gandalf, I can hardly claim that a sedentary life has been disrupted. On the other hand, 15 years was a long time to stay put and I was just about contemplating that it might be time for a mid-life crisis. Add to that– I’m not leaving my family behind for a tour of duty as a soldier, as so many have had to. I am quite aware of how fortunate I am.

They will all have to function without me for a few weeks. And I will have to simply keep too busy to miss them too much. They’ll be fine, both realizing new independence and appreciating more clearly where they really do need and want me. They are my solid foundation, and without them as they are, I couldn’t be without them. It will be a huge time of growth for all of us, this hobbit quest.

September 17, 2012

How did I end up going to sea?

So how did some ordinary suburban mom get to go to sea on an expedition?

The long answer is a loose series of accepting opportunities, contemplating adversity and pursuing dreams… with a good deal of random chance and supportive network.

In short: about twenty years ago I sailed on a research vessel with SEA Semester part of my junior year in college. This past July, SEA Semester sent out a call for interested alumni to apply for about twenty volunteer positions on a plastics expedition to the Pacific Gyre. Right away I began to dream, but also realistically admitted that it was not for me. I have responsibilities at home and with our two martial arts schools. I couldn’t afford to be gone for six weeks, and I certainly didn’t have the scientific background to make myself a serious applicant. But I read the information more closely, and they were also looking for writers and a connection with the K-12 world: those needs, I might help fill. So I applied and was happily astounded to be selected.

The supportive network comes in the form of nuclar and extended family, friends, homeschool groups, schoolteachers, and social media. I asked my daughter how she felt, and she encouraged me to do what I encourage them to do: “Pursue your dream, Mom.” My only detractor is an ambivalent 8-year-old son, who will understandably miss mom, even though he thinks the whole thing is really cool. Could I do it without going so far away for so long? We’ve read sea adventures, and he knows the ocean can be a dangerous place: there are storms and pirates and ghost ships and kraken and all sorts of mysterious sea creatures. Those adventures are fun to imagine, but for real? Mom?