Well we were blessed with a much calmer waters today, and it looks like all of our seasick companions were much recovered. However, Jennifer is still pretty hurt and we are stopping in Eureka tomorrow to drop her off.
I got to do a CTD collection early this morning (it was really nice to be outside!) and then we didn't have another till later this evening. So guess what I did? Powered my way halfway through another 400 page book that I found in the library. This one's a historical non-fiction about pirates, which I deemed both appropriate and entertaining for the whole boat situation.
When I went in the kitchen to get some tea earlier, a couple of the crew members were discussing our location and asked me if I knew how many nautical miles we were from shore. I had no clue. Little did I know that conversation would lead into a really cool 20 minute discussion about astronomical navigation, which it did. Turns out, that's one thing I know nothing about. I was really impressed with the whole thing, and Patrick (one of the crew) showed me an awesome book they had in the library called Bowditch's American Practical Navigator. It's about 1,000 pages and known as the 'epitome of navigation'. It was originally published in 1801 (thanks Google) and our edition is the 1960 version. It has everything from how to use sextants, trigonometry, astronomical navigation, celestial body identification, and all other kinds of really neat things. Or at least neat for a nerd like me.
When I wasn't brushing up on my navigational abilities, we did a couple more CTD collections in the evening, and the nice weather held very well. The last collection there was a very sad and sick looking little bird on deck that took all my self-restraint not to try to rescue. But he really didn't look like he was going to make it long, and I figured handling him and bringing him inside with all the ship's noise wasn't going to do him any good. I hope he is okay!
Anyhow, we are heading for our next transect line right now - a little bit south of where we are. Hopefully the weather will pick up as it was rather gloomy today! However I will gladly take 'gloomy' over the rough water we had yesterday. I was looking over our map of transects earlier today, and noticed something peculiar about our transect line outside of San Francisco. See if you notice anything forboding:
Yes...the map reads 'CHEMICAL MUNITIONS DUMPING, AREA DISUSED' um, right on top of one of our stations. Nearby areas read 'EXPLOSIVES DUMPING, AREA DISUSED'. Lovely. Apparently 'disused' doesn't include deep-sea scientific collection?
Here's to not blowing up,
Shea
Weather: Gloomy, foggy
Ocean: Calm...yay!
Menu: Lunch: Shrimp fettucine, beef stroganoff, salad with smoked salmo
Dinner: Grilled garlic shrimp kabobs, sourdough bread, baked red potatoes, minestrone soup
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