charismaticmicrofauna

* Unfortunately, due to the low bandwidth on the ship, I can’t upload any pictures. When I return home, I will post many. MANY!*

The drive to Newport, Oregon to meet the RV Atlantis was beautiful. Coming from Florida where the days are only now dropping into the 80’s, the weather in the Northwest has been a treat for my senses. As we drove, forests surrounded us. The trees were cozied by shawls of moss and the hillsides were rolling waves of shades of green and orange as the leaves lost their chlorophyll.

When we arrived at the ship, I was surprised at how much bigger it looked than I remember. I guess that after living on a ship for three weeks with the same people it seems smaller and smaller as times marches on, even on a 197 foot vessel with four decks, such as the Atlantis. Despite this, I have still been disoriented while traversing between decks, from bough to aft, from starboard to portside. The first thing to do when we boarded the ship was to find the berthing diagram, our cabin assignments. As it turns out, I am in the same cabin as my previous expedition and I was compelled to claim the same bunk. It felt a bit like I was coming home.

Still homesick, I was happy to be distracted by work that needs to be done before we set sail. All of our boxes needed to be unpacked. Equipment needed to be reassembled, and items that had been sent to the ship ahead of us needed to be accounted for. Most importantly, laboratory spaces need to be prepared. In my case, because I work with radioisotopes, I need to survey the radioactivity lab to be sure that there is not contamination already present or else our lab will be fined heavily. All equipment needs to be secured to surfaces of the ship in the event of high seas so that nobody is injured by flying machinery.

We launched at 3pm today. Typically, on the days we set out to sea, the vessel is out of the harbor by the time I wake up. Due to a sandbar off the coast, we had to wait until the tide was right for us to ship out so that we wouldn’t run aground. I’m starting to feel a little seasick, so I’m going to sleep it off. We have a longer traverse to our travel site during this journey, so I have the luxury of not feeling compelled to work through my seasickness.

Until next time!