Crew Newsletter Spring 2007

  • John Bullard, President

    I write this on June 2, 2007 from the library on the Corwith Cramer.  I joined class 211 in Bermuda and we have had a great trip north.  Currently we are hove to about 40 miles south of Lunenburg and have just finished field day.  Cramer is under the command of Capt Beth, who is assisted by mates Tim, Binh and Sandy.  Amanda sailed the first leg.  Chief Scientist on this trip is Chuck and he is assisted by Jim, Matty and Pat.  Engineer is Kate and Steward is Laura.  We have three promising deckhands, Aaron, Anne and Mark. We are hoping to beat a gale headed for Lunenburg and to do that we had to abandon our hoped for stop at Sable Island.

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  • David Bank, Director of Marine Operations

    I hope all of you have had a great Spring Season!

    In recent years I have benefited from several opportunities to fill in as Acting Director of Marine Operations at SEA.  I assumed the role of Director of Marine Operations at the end of May following Al Hickey’s successful tenure.  I am looking forward to working with the excellent Marine Department tea

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  • John Bontrager, Port Engineer

    Plans for fall yards have moved to the forefront of activities in my office.  The Robert C. Seamans (RCS) will be in San Diego from Sept. 3rd through Oct. 10th.  While there RCS will undergo a project of major proportions as crew disassemble the refrigeration and freezer boxes for deck inspection and repairs.  The need for this project stems from a long sought cause for moisture often found in her companionway.  Last summer, and during drydock yard in Seattle Chris Havard discovered moisture leaking down from overhead of the freezer.  Upon further investigation we determined that insufficient thermal insulation coupled with escaping moisture/cold air causes an ice block to form above the freezer.  This discovery then led to conclusion that once formed the ice block’s outer surface melts allowing water to flow aft and down a bulkhead to RCS’s accommodations deck..

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  • Jen Haddock, Marine Operations Coordinator

    Greetings to all,

    Spring has finally arrived here in the Hole. The flowers are out and the lawn is green.  We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Corwith Cramer on June 16th at Dyers Dock. For the Marine Dept that is the indicator of the beginning of the summer season.

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  • Liz Maloney, Marine Operations Assistant

    Again, I have decided to write the crew gossip section of the newsletter.  Jen is jealous because I’ve been having much more fun writing this than she had writing her section about licensing!  A small disclaimer:  I’ve tried to include the things that I’ve heard about recently.  I apologize in advance if I have left out anything or messed up the details.  Let me know and I’ll file a correction in the next newsletter! Read More

  • Mary Engels, Assistant Science Coordinator

    Hello everyone, Mary Engels here.  I think most of you know that I have taken over for Sarah Piwinski as the new Assistant Science Coordinator here at SEA.  For those of you who don’t know me, here is the quick and dirty:  Country girl from Oregon, more or less the usual schooling routine, grade-middle-high school, Colorado College for undergrad, University of Hawaii for grad school where I was blessed/cursed to study coral reefs (I say cursed because the job prospects for coral reef scientists outside the zone from 20 degrees N/S are sort of few and far between).  Since leaving Hawaii I’ve been sailing full time with SEA and loving every minute.  In addition, the past ten years I spent my summers in Utah running rivers and frolicking in the red rock country.  That was and is one of my passions.  If you are interested in the story, let me know and we can talk story sometime.  Toward the end of last year I found myself thinking pretty seriously about trying to be land based for a while, for a lot of reasons, not the least being I was excited to NOT live out of a suitcase.  About that time this job came up and seemed to be the perfect fit.  Of course there is more to the story than that, but it will have to wait for another time.
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Spring 2007