9-15-08

9-15-08

Today I saw the sun. For the first time since leaving Anchorage I saw the sun and it saw me. Everyone on deck instantly turned at looked at it like we all forgot what it was. The water was as calm as a lake, and everyone started taking off all but the necessary rain gear. Working in only sweats and bibs. It was first day on the boat that I was singing again to myself. I had been singing songs and dancing the whole time in Anchorage, probably to the annoyance of my roommates. I had been so busy in making sure I wasn't stepping on toes, doing my job correctly, and making sure that I stayed on the boat and out of the water, that I forgot to look around and smile for no reason.

That clear blue sky made the calm water a deep blue. It felt as if someone should be skiing behind the boat, or jumping off the stern to swim. Working under the clear blue sky and the sun I got really excited for the night. My thought was that tonight I'll get my first glimpse at the stars in the middle of the Bering. But as the night rolled in, and the sun set, a thin layer of clouds began to roll in as well. They covered the sunset and rising of the moon. I did not see one star. But, there was a full moon and it was able to find breaks within the clouds periodically and shine. Needless to say I found some time to stare at it for awhile as well. I worked until the cloud cover got too thick to see it anymore, 4 am, then took a good three hour nap before getting back out on deck to do some more sampling. Tonight wasn't the night for lazy star gazing at sea.

I got orders from my company through the Captain, that I may step right on to a long lining boat directly from this boat with no chance to get to a place to communicate in between. Right now I'm on a boat which fishes using Pots, just like the boats on the Deadliest Catch. A long lining boat stretches a line that runs along the bottom of the Sea with hook attached so many feet apart, with bait on each hook. The line can stretch for a really long distance depending on the boats capacity to store the fish it catches, and storage capacity of the equipment. These boats are notorious for being out at Sea for a tremendous amount of time at once. A good chance it will be 40 - 60 days. Straight from this boat to that one, with no chance to grab a beer, or a cot, or a newspaper on dry land. I was hoping for at least a night in Dutch Harbor to relax, meet some other observers, and go for a hike in the mountains around there. But maybe that'll be for another day. Complete isolation is what I signed up for, and that's close to what I'm receiving.

- Casey