Ship life

Well here it is, I haven’t seen land in over 10 days and I really don’t miss it. Yes, I’m kinda bummed about missing out on the beginning of the Fall Season’s rugby craziness, and I could do with a nice long bike ride, and I haven’t had the chance to hang out with my gang of class mates and house mates and one of the first things I’ll probably do when I get back will be some cooking and baking in the kitchen. But all in all, it comes down to the fact that I love being out on the ocean. I missed it. I quickly re-adjusted to the constant humming of the AC, the vibrations of the engine and learned to “read” the ship… when my shift isn’t working I can tell by the movement and sounds of the ship whether we’re underway or about to/in the middle of setting in or hauling back.
After spending two years on the Doulos I’m accustomed to ship’s life but of course every ship’s got it’s own culture. I’m having a lot of fun with the crew and the other scientists. Long-lining involves a lot of downtime as we let the line soak and sail to the next station (and sometimes when we spend 45minutes pulling in a line with nothing on it) so there’s a lot of messing around, cracking jokes and random conversations.
I’ve also been learning a lot about football – Saturday’s is college football, Sunday is the NFL and then Monday night there’s more. Oh, and everyday there’s big guys in suits and important looking headsets (I’m still trying to figure out why they don’t just use a lapel mic while inside the studio… maybe it gives them the feeling of being an important part of a coaching team?) talking about football. I’ve also discovered I probably would have made an excellent cheerleader had I gone to school in the States!
Actually, I’ve got a suggestion for my rugby team whose been trying to recruit new players. Somebody suggested that we should talk to the girls that were cut from the soccer, lacrosse and field hockey teams. I think we should start recruiting cheerleaders because they’d make excellent jumpers in the linouts! As opposed to merely lifting them we could toss them…
We’ve been pitching and rolling for most of our cruise – even the captain told me the other day over dinner that it’s kinda rough. It takes a bit if re-adjusting and I remembered why I never liked showering on the Doulos during a voyage (shaving your legs can get quite challenging!). I’ve got a mean looking bruise on my knee – let’s just say I learned my lesson about going to the bathroom in the dark without my glasses on while the ship is moving that much.
Between the crew and scientists we’ve got a marvelous cast of characters and things never get dull. To recount a short conversation on evening in the galley (dining room): “If y’all finished my Earl Grey, I’m gonna kick that persons ass”, “Wow. I don’t think anyone has ever used the words ‘y’all’, ‘Earl Grey’ and ‘ass’ in one sentence”.