Daily Journal

July 13, 2010

By David M. Lawrence

We are docked at St. George's, Bermuda.

The expedition is not quite finished yet. The crew and volunteers don't officially disembark until tomorrow, but everyone senses the end is near. Many of us are torn – this has been one of the greatest experiences in our lives, yet we are ready for it to be over.

A Watch, on evening watch (1900-2300 hours) last night, was the first to see signs of Bermuda – they could see the sweep of Gibbs Hill Light and the glow of the lights of the cities of Hamilton and St. George's. For most of the night, we sailed a box course – kind of like a holding pattern, until our scheduled rendezvous with the Bermudian pilots at the sea buoy.

By the time B Watch came back on deck for dawn watch (0300-0700 hours), Bermuda was clearly visible – quite close, actually. It was only a few nautical miles away. I began the watch on bow watch. My final time to have the ocean and sky to myself, and to see the bioluminescence that will glow in my memory for the rest of my life.

Sometime after I was relieved from bow watch, I took over the helm. Just before 0600 hours (our scheduled meeting time with the pilots) I saw the pilot boat approach and it dawned on me that I would be driving when the pilots came aboard. The weight of responsibility did not do much for my serenity. As the pilot boat came alongside, I focused on steering straight and trusted the pilot boat helmsman to do the right thing.

He did, and in doing so safely dropped off two friends, Chad Townsell and Anthoni Lightbourne, who had piloted the SSV Corwith Cramer out of Hamilton when we began our expedition in June. I was very happy I did not kill them through some steering mistake of my own.

Just before I began to panic over actually taking the ship to the dock, watchmate Sarah Wegmueller relieved me at the helm. She had the pleasure of steering the Cramer through the narrow passage into St. George's known as "The Cut." Sarah did an admirable job.

Once we finished docking, we had breakfast and launched immediately into a delayed field day. We had to get the boat extra clean – our expedition may be nearing its end, but the Cramer won't be idle long. We all worked hard, and had a very clean ship ready for passengers who came aboard late this morning.

They were coming for a day sail. We had three sets of visitors – journalists from Channel One News, students and staff from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), and someone who was supposed to have been on the cruise with us. That was Tyler DeWitt, who flew out to Bermuda before we departed in June, only to have to fly back to the U.S. because of a medical issue.

From what I saw of Tyler today, I wish he'd been along for the entire cruise.

The journalists were Jessica Kumari, Ali Kermalli, and Eman Varoqua. They were here to shoot a video piece on what we've been doing for closed-circuit broadcasts to local school systems. Our guests from BIOS were Charlotte Best, Gwyn Evans, Carolyn Labarbiera, Kevin Lew, and Olga Shatova. They came aboard to see what we do and compare notes.

At 1130 hours Chad and Anthoni, with another pilot, Jacal Washington, arrived to take us back out to sea for the day sail. They dropped us off at the sea buoy. We set sail, and for the next few hours gave a sailing and scientific demonstration to our guests. (Tyler did not act as a "guest." He acted as if he had not missed any time as a member of the crew.) During the demonstration we deployed a carousel, did a neuston tow, and observed plastic debris in the waters around Bermuda.

We also enjoyed our last bit of sailing – for most of us, for a long, long, time.

We returned to St. George's shortly after 1630 hours. This time, our pilots were Anthoni and Myron Robinson. They led us through the cut and to the dock without incident or the slightest hint of drama, and our sailing on this expedition came to an end.

Tonight, the rest of the crew is celebrating on the quarterdeck while I finish my repertorial and editorial duties for the evening. It's OK. This is my job – and missing stuff like parties is part of the job.

Just like missing holidays, family occasions, and celebrations with friends is part of the job of a scientist on an expedition. We do it because the reward, whether good science or a good story, is worth the sacrifice.