Life at sea is the life for me! Living on a sailboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean definitely had more ups than downs which made it an overall amazing experience. There were beautiful sunrises and sunsets, breathtaking moon glances and shooting star shows, tons of flying fish and mischievous marlins, Bob Marlin to be exact; /.a 250lb marlin that stole three of our lures. Nature’s bounty surrounded us and I loved every minute of it. We were not passengers on this vessel but actual crew responsible for running the boat. With 14 crew members on deck we split up into three different teams of 5, 5, and 4 known as watch crews. Each crew worked different shifts around the clock; working 3 hours on and having 6 hours off and then picking up the schedule again.
While a crew was on they were responsible for running the ship. This included driving, manoeuvring sails, setting trawls, looking out for ships, keeping an eye out for bad weather, cooking and cleaning. It was literally smooth sailing being a crew member! Work never seemed too strenuous or overwhelming and we actually found that we had lots of down time. Whenever we were not working, we all enjoyed meals together along with different presentations held every night by different crew members.
Before we hit the half way mark and headed north for Japan we were experiencing some drastic heat, I mean it was scorching! I guess I got a little cocky with myself and underestimated the amount of sun my skin could actually take. Aside from getting 12 shades darker........well maybe 6......or 4, I got really sunburnt. That’s what I get for not wearing sunscreen and letting the melanin in my skin get to my head. It was almost impossible to wear clothing on board the boat, especially down below in the cabin. The hull of the 72 foot sailboat is made of steel, so days and nights without the generator on powering the air condition often left us feeling like we were residing in an industrial sized sardine can.
All in all living life as a sailing researcher was truly a blessing. I learned so many new things about the ocean, seabirds, cetaceans, sailing, plastic of course and most of all myself. I’ve realized that I am capable of doing much more than I think I can.
Jessie dropping anchor Credit: H. Carson
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