Boat Band-Aids and Getting Ship Shape

Adam Young, Deckhand for C Watch (Quach), Graduate of Emory University

April 23, 2022

Boat Bandaids for a Leaky Pipe (Amy and Abby) Ahoy! The weather and seas have finally calmed enough in the past two days for us to begin making headway again. I think the entire crew is relieved about this because we were all getting a bit of cabin fever just being hove-to in the large swells. Plus, science has started back again, meaning that we can sift through sargassum, hydroids, and other funky critters in lab again.

Also, for all readers who have been wondering, we were heading south because the winds had been due North (we would need to tack repeatedly) and to avoid the worst of the cold front. It really is such a wonderful feeling to cross the seas with a steady breeze. Plus, we also received a strange AIS alert yesterday which led us to multiple strange buoys, one of which was suspiciously pineapple shaped and colored. However, we should be turning around and finally heading north towards Woods Hole tomorrow.

Shadowing under our skilled engineers.

In other news, I was able to shadow under our skilled engineers Abby and Amy today during watch. They took me through multiple odd jobs and bits of routine maintenance, including lubricating the ventilation for the main generator, doing a fuel sounding with a weighted measuring tape and magical pink paste, manipulating the fire and bilge pumps, and putting special silicon tape on leaky pipes (boat bandaids). It always amazes me just how much work there is to do for these engineers and the graciousness with which they perform their jobs. Their skill is eternally impressive.

The other big thing that happened today was… field day! Our once a week deep clean of Mama Cramer. It’s a great opportunity to give back to the ship which houses and transports us daily without complaint. Many people probably don’t love it, but I personally love how it brings the crew together with their individual tasks into a seamless whole. Plus, it’s always great to get rid of some of the stench.

To the family and friends (Mom, Dad, Grace, Paul, Tristan, the Dogs, Kat, Jess, Celia, everyone from S301) I love y’all so much and think about you every day. To Rida, I can’t wait to see you and tell you about this incredible voyage.

Adam Young, Deckhand for C Watch (Quach), Graduate of Emory University