(Thursday, January 06, 2011)The craziest things happened yesterday on my day watch! As I was eating lunch, the 2nd mate came into the galley and asked me to come outside when I was ready. I was figuring that they needed my help, but when I went outside, it turned out that there was a bird … Continue reading Local fauna →

(Sunday, January 2, 2011)Yesterday I used an oxyacetylene torch for the first time to cut a link of chain off our towing gear because it had rusted too much to be safe for use. I'm kind of a pyro - that was fun and now I think I'd like to cut and weld all the … Continue reading torch it →

Jaime captured me on our last night in Seattle as I worked on a chart for a simulator excercise the next day. I told her that for possibly the first time in my academic career, I felt that sufficient preparation for the upcoming "exam" trumped my need for sleep that night. Why did I waste … Continue reading Plotting →

(journal entry Friday, January 14, 2011)We spent the 12th working cargo in Sitka from 0700 to 1500. The weather was terrible – freezing cold and super windy, and the mud on the barge was frozen solid but the top layer was dry and dust devils were spinning all around us, filling our eyes and ears … Continue reading Ice! →

How I love the three states that comprise the Western US. This beautiful picture of Mount Shuksan (near Bellingham, WA) was taken a month ago, at the halfway point of an eight-week stretch of nautical studies in Seattle. I happily concluded this latest "shore phase" with a solo transit of the Shetland Islands in the … Continue reading the Left Coast →