Programs Blog
Sleep and Other Fantasies
December 17, 2023
Paparazzi (Davi) ambushed me.
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 WatchRecent Posts from the Ships
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- Undergraduate
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- Oceans and Climate
- Pacific Reef Expedition
- S-299 Summer Session
- The Global Ocean: Hawai'i
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