Daily Journal

July 8, 2010

By David M. Lawrence

This morning, we did our last three Tucker trawls – another sign the end of our expedition is near. We still have a lot of work to do. We'll be deploying the carousel and doing neuston tows all the way back to Bermuda, but each stop will be shorter than they've been lately now that the Tucker trawl apparatus is put away.

Another sign that we're nearing the end of the expedition is that some of the crew and volunteers have formed a committee to prepare a presentation about the cruise and its research that everyone can take to their homes and schools. I'm not a part of that committee, but I walked past its meeting this afternoon and heard committed, passionate people focusing on facts rather than hype. In a media environment where he who stretches the truth the most all too often wins, it's refreshing to hear my crewmates focus on facts.

We've been sailing today – something that most of us prefer. We don't have the heat from the engine heating the aft sections of the ship up, but it is still more than hot enough. Winds have been light, even if enough to sail on, but humidity has been high. It's stifling below deck – the library, where I write now, feels more like a hot dog steamer than a place of study and work. It's been cooler on deck, especially if one can find a bit of shade.

The last couple of weeks, my shipmates have been working on sailorly crafts – making things out of sailcloth and leather. In the old days, sailors had to be reasonably decent at sewing, for there were no seamstress shops at sea to take torn sails for repairs. Over the centuries, sailors have developed quite a repertoire of things they can make out of sailclotch, leather, and rope.

Part of SEA's mission has been to pass on maritime traditions. It encourages students or, in our case, volunteers to practice what the writer Hervey Garrett Smith called "The Arts of the Sailor." Shortly after the watches began checking off the basic skills we needed to go aloft, we were given access to the bosun's locker, where old sailcloth, scissors, rulers, twine, needles and other sewing materials are located.

Sailcloth is not that easy to work with. It is thick and tough, as it should be. It's thicker than a usual sewing needle and thread can handle without breaking. Instead, a sailmaker's needle and sail twine are used to work with it. A sailmaker's needle is thick, with a triangular cross section that is designed to push through heavy sailcloth while leaving little trace behind. Sail twine is likewise sturdier than thread, and is waxed, which adds to its strength.

Those two tools are not enough, however. A sewing palm is kind of like a leather glove that just covers the palm, with a hole for the thumb and a hard surface, usually made of metal, on which you can rest the head of the sailmaker's needle as you push it through the sailcloth. It takes some effort and coordination to properly manage the needle, twine, and palm, and still stitch the sailcloth with a minimum degree of competence. I tried it, and don't feel all that competent.

The projects have been diverse. Roman Shor, arguably our best photographer (given my ego, that is hard for me to say), is making a camera bag out of sailcloth. When he started on it, I was skeptical, but it is taking shape and I'm beginning to believe. Some are making wallets. Others are making purses and other kinds of bags.

Two of my former B Watch-mates, Marilou Maglione and Jenan Kharbush, have been busy on the craft front. Marilou is nearly finished with a journal cover made of sailcloth, with a leather spine. Jenan made an elaborate bookmark, with a cutouts of birds, a fish, and a ship that looks a lot like the SSV Corwith Cramer sewed on.

Marilou's journal features a secret weapon that is popping up on many of the craft projects on board this ship – the artwork of Matt Ecklund. He sketched a compass rose featuring Pisces – Marilou's mother's sun sign – on her journal cover. Nearly a dozen people have requested his artistic services. The sea, its life, and ships seem to be his muse.

And he seems to listen well.

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For more from sea, listen to an interview with Chief Scientist Giora Proskurowski on the July 2, 2010 Science Update podcast, produced by AAAS.