The Getting of Sea Legs
[Written on afternoon of 6/3/08. Position -58′ 0″ latitude and -56′ 0″ longitude. Temperature 1.1C
Ah, the getting of sea legs. The water turned rougher on Monday morning, and the Scopolomine, though I’m sure it’s helping, apparently has its limits. I have spent much of the past two days in bed. (See photo of my cabin.) The ship is rockin’ and rollin’ for sure, and for me, it’s much easier to tolerate if I’m horizontal. I apologize for the brevity of this post, but looking at a computer screen is kind of the kiss of death.
That said, it is beautiful out here. The slant of the sun is such that even at its highest, the light has the wonderful coppery tint of sunset. This morning we awoke to a light fog, which gave way to a triple rainbow as it burned off. (Though there is some disagreement as to whether this was a rainbow or a sunbow. I’m not certain what the difference is.)
Activities on the ship have been low-key since we got underway. Tim Shaw and Ben Twining have taken some water samples in an effort to determine whether ash from Chaiten volcano is present here, and if so, what types of nutrients it is adding. At yesterday’s science meeting (daily at 10:00 a.m.) Tim said, “We may be witnessing a massive natural experiment in ocean fertilization.”
Meanwhile, Steve Rock’s multi-beam echosounder (sonar) has been checked out and is working properly. The radio-controlled airplane team have been cleaning and repairing the plane, getting it ready for its vital mission, which will happen tomorrow, weather permitting. If the wind is higher than 15 mph, it’s a no-go.
And now, back to bed, hoping my sea legs will arrive in the night.