T-minus 4 days...

In less than a week, I'll be boarding a plane to fly to Barbados to meet the R/V Atlantis for the third cruise supporting the ANACONDAS research project (www.amazoncontinuum.org).  This is a special cruise, in that it wasn't in the original plan, but through the efforts of our Chief Scientist and others, we may (finally) get to go see the mouth of the Amazon River, collect vital samples from the 'river end' of the river plume, and cross the equator!   We will be sailing out for 17 days to collect samples from the Amazon River Plume, this time focusing mainly on the river mouth itself.

As the day of departure approaches, people have been asking me, "are you excited?" and the honest answer? I'm not really sure.  I think so, but I'm not really letting myself be excited. I think a lot of this is due to the fact that we still don't have 'official' clearance from Brazil to enter their territorial waters to take samples.  If we don't have that clearance by next Thursday when we're scheduled to leave port, the cruise won't happen.  I think I'm subconsciously trying to not get my hopes up (unlike the last two cruises).  Well, fingers crossed that we'll get to go.  ;)

Since I'm entering my last year of my PhD program, this is my last big foray into the field before huddling down with my laptop in a cave (a cave filled with lots of red wine) for the next several months.   This will be my 6th 'long' research cruise since I started working in the Ocean Sciences back in 2006.  When I return in August, I'll have spent 134 days at sea, not including the day trips that I've done here and there during my time at USC. That's a pretty long time for most people, though I know plenty of people who've sailed for far longer.


Getting down to business (so to speak)... this blog is going to be a vehicle to show my family and friends what exactly it is I'm doing on these boats on a more 'regular' basis.  I've been on all these cruises, and shown people pictures of various things, but it doesn't quite capture life on a research boat. (though it certainly captures the more 'random' things that can happen) So that's what I intend to do, in my copious spare time (Ha!), we'll see if I can hold to it, internet access permitting.


Next Stop: Barbados!