Daily Journal

June 25, 2010

By David M. Lawrence

Last night we dodged in and out of small squalls as we headed NNW on our zigzag course to Bermuda. A Watch served on midwatch. We came on just after a neuston tow and were planning to run with the wind. The four lowers were set when we came on deck. We could see squalls developing a few miles away on our radar, but it looked like we might miss them, so we set the JT and fish.

The wind quickly picked up and within minutes, we struck the JT and fish. I don't know if it was the shortest sail deployment in history, but it had to be close. We donned our foulies – I went below to stow my computer safely – and we got rained on, but the first squall didn't amount to much. When it looked like we were clear, three of us, Jacob Keaton, Dylan Meyer, and myself, went down to do the nightly cleaning of the galley.

When we were close to finishing, I began a boat check – a kind of safety and systems check to make sure all's well. Since I was already below, I took care of the below deck bits first: checking the heads and showers, the reefer (refrigerator) and freezer temperatures in the galley, and checking the day tank, batteries, generator, engine, and bilge in the engine room. I came up on deck to find we had run into a more intense squall. I donned my foulies again and finished the on-deck portion of the boat check, looking for chafed lines, fouled lines, missing or misplaced safety gear, and more. I found our port side jib sheet dragging in the water and our third mate, Jeremy Dann, and I took up the slack.

Afterward I took a turn at bow watch. While there, the moon escaped from behind the clouds and lit the sky and water. The scene was a surprisingly vivid palette of black, white, and grays. The shadows offered no sense of foreboding, no hint of danger. Instead, the waterscape surrounding me was full of beauty, enchantment, hope, and magic.

B Watch succeeded us on dawn watch, and they had the pleasure of more squalls. Several people on both watches saw moonbows – which I missed – but I wouldn't trade what I saw on bow watch with anyone.

This morning those of us on midwatch and dawn watch tried to catch up on our sleep. We had greater or lesser success, for example, Jenan Kharbush has the rotten luck of having a bunk in the main saloon where chief engineer Dave Reynolds and I cut up while we try to wake up. (Sorry, Jenan.) We do try to avoid waking others up, but given the confines of a small ship, keeping the noise down can be quite a challenge.

Others who were off watch took care of themselves in other ways. It turns out that second mate Colleen Allard, in addition to having a lovely singing voice, is a talented hair stylist. Colleen trimmed Jenan's hair a few days ago and did Marina Cassio's hair today. The new 'do landed Marina in a feared position on the ship – in front of my camera.

A Watch had afternoon watch today. My job was to shadow the engineers. We didn't have much to do – at least before I broke away to begin writing – except for shutting down a generator, flushing a wastewater tank and doing some preventative maintenance. Earlier, though, they had an electrical problem to track down – a ground fault that was causing a short to the hull. Dave, assistant engineer Sarah Lake, and SEA volunteer Roman Shor tracked it to an electrical panel with an old switch that wouldn't close fully in the aft part of the ship. They replaced the switch, and hope it will take care of the fault.

We have a boiler with a long history of causing problems. Dave always looks forward to working on it. He loves the boiler so much he calls it a "miserable hellhound". Sarah says the relationship between Dave and the boiler is long – and one that she would rather not interfere with.

In addition, I learned today that we have a dylithium crystal accelerator on board ship. It is suspiciously disguised as a water pressure tank, which, if it is, would explain our difficulty in achieving warp drive on this trip.

This afternoon, in preparation for a neuston tow, I learned a valuable lesson. After a gybe, we were to pass the stays'ls and jib from the port side of the ship to starboard. I was taking on the main stays'l by myself, but took too many turns off the pin and it got away from me. The sail caught the wind and slammed over. It wasn't one of my brighter moments. My hands, which could have been seriously hurt, are fine. My feeling of progress toward some sort of minimal competence as a sailor suffered, however.

Rather than end this post on a note of personal frustration, I'll close with a moment I caught in the galley this morning. SEA volunteer Megan Cronin was washing dishes. While she was washing, she was also dancing to an Outkast song playing quietly on a iPod. I was fumbling for something in my bunk – just outside the galley door – when I looked over and noticed her. I wish I'd had a video camera right then. That glimpse of Meg's joy in the moment was one of many that make this expedition priceless.

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To read a recent Science magazine article about marine debris in the oceans (June 18 issue, "The Dirt on Ocean Garbage Patches"), please visit the Previous SEA Research page.