With so much left to say about my time at sea, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been home for a month already, and that I’m leaving so soon for Antarctica. I fly out on December 27th, and will arrive 26 hours later in Punta Arenas, Chile. From there, it’s another four or five days [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘sea’
December 21, 2008
Battling the Boobies
Prologue Our ship must appear, to some birds, like the only truck stop along an ocean highway stretching for hundreds of empty miles in any direction. Throughout our voyage, a strange assortment of birds—from sparrows to owls—found their way to the SSV Seamans. Most of our avian guests paused to rest for just a few [...]
December 15, 2008
The Helm
When things are going well on the helm, it’s incredible. It’s powerful. You can feel the force of the water pressing against the helm in your hands. You are in a position of ultimate control. You know where you’re going and how to get there. The boat does as you say. This rarely happened. You [...]
December 15, 2008
The Geographies of a Ship, Part III: On Deck
Continuing our tour of the SSV Seamans… Climb out the ladder from the doghouse and you will find yourself on the quarterdeck of the Robert C. Seamans. The quarterdeck is a raised deck in the back of the ship, and–between the helm, compasses, and proximity to the doghouse–is essentially the center of the ship’s command. [...]
December 11, 2008
The Geographies of a Ship, Part I: Down Below
Thanks to a few principles of physics, ships are taller than they are wide. The world on board a ship is a vertically-stacked world, like a layer cake of labyrinths. Allow me to take you on a tour of the brigantine I called home. This will be a multi-part post. We will begin our tour [...]
December 8, 2008
Shipshape
The price of safety is eternal vigilance. This is a phrase we heard often. It should be noted, however, that there also exists an unstated sister to this maritime maxim: the price of cleanliness is eternal diligence. It’s hard to know where to begin narrating my experiences at sea, so I’ll begin with the mundane: [...]
November 26, 2008
land ho
Happy Thanksgiving, Internet! I am still in shock that it’s even November, let alone Thanksgiving. Two days ago, I was in shorts and a tank top, sweating on the quarterdeck of a sailing vessel in Mexico. A week and a half ago, I was still out of sight of land. * * * Approaching land [...]
October 14, 2008
Radioactivity, Knots, and Stars
Good news, everyone: I am now certified to handle radioactivity! This is probably strange news, as you haven’t heard from me in more than a month. Since early September, I’ve been busy learning how to tie knots, learning how to use a sextant, learning what angle to turn a sail in order to make [...]
