Well, what can I say besides we are still alive. The great October sunshine has officially disappeared and the rain has come. Thankfully I like the rain in moderations. This week was harder than most because we had a relief captain and the boat broke AGAIN! We have been using the dinghy as the only source of powering the boat and get really wierd looks from people when entering a marina. Ya, I would probably stare too if I wasn’t on the boat. We had no power when docking at the labs today and the boat almost got away by doing a 360 in the docking area. Luckily it took six people to pull the boat into the dock while the wind was trying it’s hardest to push it away. We once again walked the boat into the dock at the labs. At least I got data this week and am excited to have it finished and analyzed quick. I am losing some data points because of some electric noise screwing up the recordings. I realize that’s just how science works. I am counting the days to be able to see my family when they come up. I hope to get more opportunities to acquire more data for my project in this next week. I do hope to have my project complete soon. Did I mention we also had some great porpoise bow riders last week, it was a highlight of mine!
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Well it’s now getting into the 7th week and it has been a roller coaster ride. See Colleen’s blog for the adventures of the Gato Verde. I am getting homesick but the beautiful weather is making it worthwhile to be away. I know the whales are in the area and hopefully they are ready to be studied when we get out to the water. We move back on the boat tommorrow and hopefully have a smooth sail off.
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Wednesday September 13, 2006
Today was our second day fully at sea and our real first gloomy day. Everyone had to throw on an extra layer. Wind was good for sailing and we even got some pretty good waves that made the boat go up and down. We had fresh pancakes this morning from Jason and Peggy with Jason’s bread machine. My compliments to the cooks, but I would like walnuts in mine next time, thanks. We had our first dump of our dump today and that went faster than expected. I stood upwind. Soup was an almost must for lunch because of the ‘cool’ weather. I saw a harbor seal stick it’s head up around some gulls and if you can identify which gulls they were, more props to you. We also saw the NOAA group on their cool looking boat in their warm gear. Wish we had an opportunity to swap boats for an hour or so. They were on their way to Canada to tag the transients while we sailed along. We got our first attempt to drop our equipment in the water, ya that was interesting for everybody. We discovered if we saw whales tomorrow (which we have not yet seen) we could probably not get any real data. That’s fine with me because I am taking this as the test run it is. We were able to anchor in Mitchell Bay and I got the Internet for about two seconds and that was it. As fast, and I do mean fast, these last two days were the fresh breath of air I needed while I was drowning in the wealth of information. I actually got in some exercise, so to speak, while I am getting more familiar with the boat. It feels so good to just sit on the trampoline and feel the cool breeze pass over you and listen to the waves crash. I must say again, thank you mom.
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Tuesday September 12, 2006
Well yesterday we set off on a bright beautiful late afternoon and headed over to Shaw Island to moor overnight. Well there was too many boats so we headed out to Jones Island where they were even more boats, but we had to stay instead of island hopping in the dark. Peggy is my cabin mate and we unpacked our stuff in Cabin B. Juliette had an unfortunate accident when her brand new digital camera went overboard, just 20 minutes before we set anchor for the night. A moment of silence for the camera. Peggy and Colleen made a great green curry for dinner that was a recipe from the 2005 crew (thanks).
Today we went sailing and it was a lovely day. Once we finished cleaning the boat we learned some sailing terminology. Then it was about time for lunch. We were hoping to be able to sail by this time but the wind was lacking in the area. We motored out on the biodiesel engine and finally the wind came to help us out. I love the trampoline on the bow of the boat. It is so relaxing when the sun is gracing us with its presence. At one point I went to the back of the boat (stern) and saw Peggy steering the boat. So cool! It was then my turn and I jumped at the chance. It was a little scary after the last little boat I learned to sail was very ‘tippy’. This is more like a car and was much easier once you got the hang of it. I then was able to steer doing a tact because an aircraft freighter was headed our way. They weren’t able to tell which country it belonged to but it had a Canadian flag on top and the US flag was on the bottom, but the US was bigger. Who knows?
I was able to talk to Adrian today and it’s weird to think he is on the opposite side of the country on Capital Hill and I’m living on a sailboat in waters between US and Canada. Adrian, when you read this remember I am coming home with a new peg leg, eye patch and a Belted Kingfisher on my shoulder. Aaarrgghh! I became the pirate of the ship yesterday when I got something in my eye and couldn’t quite get it out for about 3-4 hours. I’m all good now. Can’t wait to get out there again tomorrow.
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So as of today my extent of wildlife has been Fred, our resident field mice, Bambi outside our cottage, crows, turkey vultures, one bald eagle, one osprey, commorants, unknown passeriformes and harbor seals. I will add more later.
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On Friday we had learned to sail and had a chance to kayak out of Jackson Beach. Let me just say I am not good at sailing. I thought I was going to tip us for sure. The commodore teaching us didn’t seem to be as scared and told us we just weren’t used to the angle of sailing. Darn right I’m not. I like boats to stay pretty even on the water, but hey that’s just me. Kayaking was lots of fun and I could see myself doing that again and again and again, you get the picture. It took me awhile to get used to the oar and rudder situation, but worked out for the best in the end. So we had weekend number two which was the holiday weekend. Peggy invited me to accompany her to Seattle. We stayed there for the weekend and shopped. I went to the big REI and bought Keen’s for $30, Yeah!!!! Cute light blue color. Had part two of my proposal due on Tuesday, so the weekend was not all fun and games. Arrived back in the island on the Monday ferry. I finally got to meet Scott and his son Liam. Liam is so cute and just a bit shy. David Bain was also on our ferry and he gave us his time on Monday and Tuesday to talk about our projects. I was very intrigued on his PowerPoint presentation because it was very similar to what I was doing, except I only have 10 weeks to put it all together. We’ll see how that goes. I packed all my stuff today for the boat on Sunday. I wanted to see how much I could pack in a small duffle. I did well put need to still pack boots and heavy jacket. If you know me, then you know I love to over pack but I am getting so much better. You would be so proud.
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Well it’s week two being in Beam Reach and I have had one weekend to my leisure, so I thought. On Friday night we saw the Merchant of Venice play by Shakesphere at Roche Harbor. The play was very well done and the weather was just perfect for it being outdoors. They even serve tea and cookies at intermission. On Saturday Donna took Juliette and myself into town for the Farmers Market and to go grocery shopping at the locals market. I’m not sure if I mentioned this before in my other blogs but it’s the “local’s” grocery store and it has no sign on it to let anyone know it is a market. There is NO sign at all, a bit strange to me, oh well. Donna was kind enough to drop us off at the Whale Museum since we were given free entrance tickets. I learned a bit more about the orcas and alot about one in particular, Luna. If you don’t know the story about Luna, here is the website http://www.reuniteluna.com/. Also follow the link that shows the sea lion comparison. That young whale really touched me and made me very emotional. If you don’t know me then you wouldn’t know that is no surprise. I am extremely emotional with animals when compared to humans. However, I am still not sure how I will feel when I see one from a boat out in the wild for the first time. Anyways, back to the museum, it was nice and very educational for everyone who would visit it. I stopped next at the wildlife care center store just next to the museum and talked a bit about the animals they see come in to the center. I had to ask about owls and any other birds. I then went into town to have some lunch and a bit of vino. I love the Seattle area because it’s the only place I can find Moscato d’Asti. Mom, do you remember that bottle we brought back from Seattle, Heavenly. Stayed in on Saturday night to try to just catch up on myself and the week. It was nice to just feel normal again and get the sense of there are other people on this island. Sunday was spent doing my proposal for the majority of the day and ended with all the Beam Reachers watching Charlie & the Chocolate Family. It was nice with the popcorn and everything. Bob Francis & his wife got here on Monday and we had a great talk about sustainability yesterday and today. Really got me searching to what I really felt on the subject. We visited the Center for Whale Research today. They are the people who ID all the whales and have a pretty extensive catalog of all the whales. I must say this probably would have been good to see on Day 1 or Day 2. Also, I have still not seen this thing we are studying….what-cha-ma-call-it….orca? I here they look like a police car in the water and something about some alphabet letters, A,B,C or J,K,L or something like that. Just kidding we see them all over the island like the islands personal mascot. We do have the pager that sits in our cottage to alert us where they are. We get a bit giddy when we are able to track them. It’s just a shame that there are so many boats. Well you are probably sick of reading or your eyes are hurting by now. So if I can remember I will talk about my thoughts about policy next time.
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Well today was the day and we all new it was coming: The Swim Test. We first learned how totie some knots, which let me add I am not so good. I got only one of the four or five down pack. Erin is great since she was living on a sail boat for a semester. I think I will stay around her when it’s time to learn again. We then had a little rowing adventure by the dock’s side. Out to a piling and back was the extent of our adventure. Colleen was my partner in the boat and I felt bad for her because I was no good at that either. I didn’t suck, but rather needed a huge improvement. Ok here it comes the swim test. I had first walked out there with my heavy Monterey Bay reversible fleece jacket so I could get nice and hot, then the water would look inviting. Nah! The water still looked cold.
After walking around the dock trying to find a good place to jump off of we found some ladders we could swim to and get out of the freezing cold water. Val and Leslie had joined us and we were very excited to see that Val was going to get in with us. Then I was shocked to see him jump in first. Jason was second to jump in and they were floating around acting like the water was anything but cold (Val was more convincing than Jason). We eventually all went in. Donna and i were the last ones and she suggested we go in at the same time. I had to do it or else I was going to just stand there and stare and the water. Well no one screamed after they jumped in except me. No one heard me since it was underwater and I swallowed a whole chunk of salty sea water and probably some oil from the boats docked there. I raced Donna to the ladder so to get out of the freezing cold waterfirst. Luckily it was a nice 78 degrees and once we climbed the ladder it was warm. Leslie got some pretty get pictures and I can’t wait to see them up on the blogbook.
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here are a quick glimpse into the area I am at, now can you see how beautiful it is. I hope to add great orca pics real soon.
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I just got here to Friday Harbor and it is beautiful. I hope all would be able to have the experience I am about to embark but realize they cannot, so I am to describe what I learn and feel and hope I do it justice. This has been my first access to the internet so I will keep it short. I saw my first wild orca today through binoculars. They were so far away and I can’t wait to get a safe closer look.
I would like to quote our presidente Scott Viers who wrote in his blog:
“How much does an ecosystem have to change before we alter our values to restore it? To answer the question, one really has to do two difficult things: understand the ecosystem well enough to determine which human actions are driving the change; and discern what changes in human behavior will benefit the ecosystem at least cost”
I hope to get more than just the tip of the iceberg to those two difficult things and even more to do it in ten weeks.
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