June 25th

Afternoon watch (1:00pm-7:00pm) stretched on and on today. We started with a watch meeting at 11: 45 on the headrig, which was both nerve-wracking and seasickness-inducing, but it did help me get over my fear of being "off-deck."

We played "hot seat" in which I got to learn a fair bit about my watchmates, Ian, Zach, Jon, Talia, Marina, Caroline, and Sam. I was so nervous out there, that adrenalin kept the nausea down, but once we were back on deck for lunch, I couldn't eat. I once heard seasickness referred to as "involuntary bulimia." I think that's a fairly apt description.

I was on science watch today, which means lab work. I was pleased to find for the first time so far that I actually knew what was happening and felt confident to step up and do pH testing of the water samples the previous watch had collected. The 100 count, in which we count and categorize the first 100 organisms we pull out of a sample from the plankton tow took a long time, and I had to continually refer to the pictures, which were only sometimes reminiscent of the organism I was looking at, but I'll bet we get better at it quickly. Looking through the microscope on a rocking ship takes a bit of finesse as well and is a little like reading in a moving car.

Class today consisted of a sail handling lesson during which I broke open several blisters hauling lines. I will be glad when my hands toughen up and I get those wonderful line-handeling callouses. Still though, it was oddly satisfying to bleed a little, as if I'm leaving a piece of myself onboard the Robert C. Seamans.

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And now, your enjoyment, a little shanty we sing sometimes.  I had to make it a video because Blogger won't let me upload mp3s, so excuse the bad editing and the not-perfectly-synched lyrics.

Cape Cod Girls: