Programs Blog

Author: Lev Janicki, Hamilton College

Ship’s Log

17 December 2023
Current Position: 35′ 17.2’5 S x 176’10.2′ E
Ship’s Heading and Speed: 4.4 kts and 260 HDG
Weather: Wind NWxN, light. Clouds: cirrocumulus, sunny.

There are a lot of things about being at sea that I really love. The endless
horizon, beautiful ocean color, even the rocking of the ship became
comforting after I had enough time to get used to it. The sleep schedule is
not included. I had night watch last night, which was pretty beautiful from
the sundog we saw to the totally clear night of stars after. Orion lined up
perfectly with the rigging, which made it easy to steer true. I saw a couple
meteors, but some of my watchmates claim they did not witness any. Either I
am much luckier than I thought or much more sleep deprived.

Based on how I felt at the end of night watch I have to wager on the second
option. I have gotten into a routine of passing out after night watch,
waking up for 7am breakfast, then going back to bed for 3 more hours till
watch meeting, which is exactly the kind of nap schedule ingenuity it takes
to be a functional human at  sea. During our Napier port stop, I told my
friends the watch schedule was 6 hours on 12 hours off and they found it
difficult to understand why sleep is so difficult. 12 hours sounds like
plenty until you have to eat all your meals, do all your homework, and take
care of all your personal needs. Plus the off time only conveniently ends up
with a full night of sleep on afternoon watch nights. The most interesting
thing that happened during watch today was during our deck wash, when I lost
a brush over the side of the ship. I was scrubbing, I was scrubbing, and
then suddenly I was not scrubbing. The head of the brush flew right off the
handle into the ocean.

Ship slang for Afternoon watch is Local Apparent Friday, because you have
the night off to party. Since I just finished my afternoon watch, my LAF has
begun, but I do not feel like I have much party time between a science
project, journal work, this blog post, and our final mission beginning
tomorrow. Speaking of final mission, all the watches receive the guidelines
for it at class today. Fairly simple in principle: plot a course to a
location, do a neuston tow and process it, reach another location by the end
of watch. The catch is that our watch officers are no longer guiding us. A
Watch is not worried – we’re on top of it. People are going aloft more than
ever with the end of our trip looming. I am not because it is so tall and
scary, but the students with less respect for their lives are having a great
time. Midrats have just become available to eat which is my cue to finish
this blog. Excited for mission tomorrow!

Lev Janicki
Hamilton College
A Watch