Programs Blog

02 September 2025

Location (Lat and Long): 43° 22.041’N, 140° 19.757’ W

Ship Heading: 055

Ship Speed: 6.6 knots

Log (nm): 2030 nm

Weather/Wind/Sail Plan: Motor sailing on a port tack under a single-reefed main, both staysails, and the jib. Decently cloudy, 23°C, winds force 3 out of the north-east.

We’re motor sailing because the wind is a) from the north which is where we want to go and b) not enough wind to sail with in any case. And so we motor.

Before we flipped on the motor this morning, we did our daily morning science deployment where we throw a little square net over the side (and pull it back, I feel I ought to mention) to capture the sea/air interface (named the Neuston layer, hence the net name). I think the Neuston net looks like the world’s silliest whale shark, bobbing along after the ship with its mouth wide open catching things for us. In the past we’ve caught Halobates (ocean going water striders) and copepods (omnipresent tiny shrimp looking things), and this morning we caught some inch long blue and silver fish, a lot of red-brown goo (fascinating for biologists I’m sure), and some plastic. The plastic counts have varied a lot over this trip; at the beginning of the trip there were 1-2 pieces per tow, then up to the low hundreds, then a few days ago there were 2422 pieces. Thankfully the counts from the last few days are back down, if only for our poor scientists counting those pieces by hand. There’s been less large visible plastic as well, only a few buoys and no giant swathes of netting that might tangle the prop.

We’ve been at sea now for almost exactly two weeks, and we have another two weeks until we anchor in Seattle, so we’ve had enough time to settle into a routine and for it all to feel almost normal. It’s easy to forget what stationary land felt like or what trees look like when the only thing that’s around is endless waving water.

It is nice to be back in the home latitudes again, if not the right longitude; the weather is finally getting cold. I’ve put on long pants and a long sleeved shirt and it’s delightful. It doesn’t feel like fall yet, but it is only early September, and a lot what I associate with fall is tree behavior anyway, of which I currently have a limited supply. Also, I miss fresh apples.

There’s been no shortage of other things to look at though; there was an albatross winging around yesterday, and a small cloud of petrels off the stern before sunset. The starkest difference between this and land however, is that on land I’m never awoken with a cry of, “Whales off the port quarter”, and along with half the ship come swarming out of our bunks to see whales breach before breakfast.

For Mom, Dad, and Aerin: thanks for keeping up with my silly little newsletter when I’m abroad. Love you all.  

-Alice Hough, Deckhand, B-watch