Holiday Cheer

Today I woke up finally feeling the holiday spirit. It must be the imminent arrival of family and all the baking I've been doing: toffee bars, coconut bars and cookies galore!


CD hanging the festivus lights outside:

Tinsel!

Oceanography in Action!

Here I am doing the uctd measurement:

Halloween at sea: Watch out for pirates!

Lady pirates, Arrrgh!


Here's the artwork we inspired:


Bruce, the artist at work on another project:


Derek with tattooed arms?


Dan with the Jack o'Lantern balloon:


Dave, our fearless leader, scars and all!


Sword fighting


Our tattoos:


Alan's costume was his seatainer/ working van with motion compensation and everything!

Buoys are cool

It's been a while since I updated on the latest happenings at sea.
I finally got to observe the deployment and recovery of the Stratus buoys by the Woods Hole group. It was amazing to watch the organization that is involved in such a large project and it was fun to help for us non-oceanographers. This cruise is different from others that I have participated in because there are biologists and oceanographers doing sea water measurements; usually we just sniff the air and see what that tells us. The air is pretty clean in this no man's land (or ocean, as it were) and that means we sample less and for longer periods of time. Some of this free time has gone into helping do UCTD (underway conductivity, temperature and depth) measurements. There was also a team on board to service one of the Dart buoys which is part of the tsunami warning system. Here are some pics.

Road Trips and Visitors

For Halloween, Robyn and Craig invited me up to Portland for a costume party that was bound to be fun. I intended to fly, but due to typical Northwest weather, I made the 7 hour drive. It was worth it! Some Seattle folks and other out-of-state friends arrived to make the weekend off the hook! Here we are getting ready to head out to Alex and Anya's: Unicorn, Julia Child, Yeti-thing, St. Pauli Girl, and Papa Smurf.


Alex and Robyn


The following weekend my old friend J visited from Chicago. We caught up and made an overnight trip to Sonoma wine country.


We hit a few tasting rooms, explored greater Healdsburg, and celebrated our new president-elect!


Sonoma looks so much like Italy - pretty!

The Dust Settles...

Sheet rock dust that is! Since having the garage re-roofed and adding new wiring, I've been finishing up the insulation and drywall. It actually stays somewhat warm now!



And of course there is the new utility sink - ready to wash some homebrew carboys!

A little clean-up, plaster, shelving, and a dart board will make it almost livable!

Panama

After crossing the canal, we stopped in Panama City to refuel and change some of the members of the science party. We went into town to see the rainforest park, the old town and we visited the causeway that connects 3 islands: Naos, Pericos and Flamingo.
We hired a driver for the day, Tomas. He was very friendly and knowledgeable. Our first stop was the crafts market where they sold tagua carvings, weaved baskets, painted cloths, molas and Panama hats, of course.
Next, we spent about 3 hours walking around the Metropolitan National Park. We saw leaf-cutter ants, cuati, butterflies and turtles, but no sloths. Lelia had hoped to spot a sloth and was slightly disappointed. It was hot and humid, but it was nice to see trees and take a nature walk.
Here is the fun!

Meanwhile, back in Humboldt County....

While Catherine is at sea I've been putting some miles on the Piper with Dave, the co-owner. Redding is a 3 and a half hour drive - or an hour by air! We had to have a minor radio glitch checked out at the avionics shop.


We took a second trip to Shelter Cove, a small community a few hours (by car) south of here. It was a beautiful, sunny California day! Shelter Cove is on the point across the bay.


Final approach!

A quick delicious lunch and spot o' tea at the only open restaurant in town.

'til next time, Shelter Cove!

I've also been working on turning our garage into a "Man Room"/possible band practice area. Pictures soon!

If you love clouds...

Here's those pics I promised.

Sailed the Caribbean, now on through the Panama canal

We enjoyed smooth sailing south of Florida. We went on the west side of Cuba and then straight south. I will post some great sunset and cloud shots, in the coming days.
We've turned left and are sitting outside of Panama city waiting to cross the canal this evening/night. It takes quite a few hours and I'm not sure when we will actually cross, but if any of you want to watch in real time, there's several live cameras. Look for the white ship with a big grey ball on top, that's the Ron Brown. It might happen in the next few hours!! Sorry this is so last minute.

Ships

Tugboats




Coast Guard




Dredging


Shipping containers


Track the ship:
Ron Brown

And now for something completely different...

I don't really consider myself a writer (I guess I am since I blog), but I sure do love reading.
826 is a nonprofit that helps young people appreciate and learn how to write. It cultivates burgeoning minds to create something which you or I may someday read.

The Seattle chapter is hosting an unusual fundraiser and I invite you all to contribute if you can, preferably by growing a mustache!

And now for a quick laugh, here's me:

Charleston, SC

I finally got to Charleston, South Carolina last Wednesday and started all the preparations for the next two months of work. I met my new colleague Lelia and reunited with co-workers Jim and Derek. In addition, there were quite a few familiar faces from NOAA in Boulder.
Saturday, the ship (with crew and scientists aboard) did a sea trial to make sure everything was in working order. We sailed out and back in about 3 hours. It was a beautiful sunny (and muggy) day. Even though we weren't sailing until noon, it was requested that we arrive by 7 am.





Charleston Bridge:

Before leaving

CD and I have tried to spend a lot of time together since we'll be apart for quite a bit.

He took me flying on a gloriously beautiful day:


This is Humboldt Bay. Woodley Island is connected by bridges to Eureka (right) and Samoa (the spit). You can sort of see the Samoa pulp mill on the bottom left- when the wind blows inland it can be a somewhat unpleasant smell


We then flew north to Trinidad; this is (appropriately named) Trinidad Head. There is a marine laboratory there. The aerosol group in Seattle samples the clean air here about 3 months out of the year. Can you spot the sampling station?



One of the big things I miss while being at sea is my passion for cooking. Chilean Independence day was a couple of weeks ago and I was still craving something traditionally Chilean. Here I am attempting to make 'Pastel de Choclo' (literally corn cake). I forgot a few ingredients, substited others and just sort of made it up as I went along (my typical cooking style)

Also on the menu a delicious salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, avocadoes, arugula and green goddess dressing:

Car update: Shelby experienced her first flat tire; mmmmm, donut



And lastly, we have been countering the pulp mill smell with the fragrant blossoms from our jasmines. When we first visited this house, it was the same time of year as now and the bushes were in full bloom, as they are now. It was the selling point for me. At times they seem invasive (they are taking over the gutters), but all is forgiven with one whiff of sweetness.

UPDATE: Delayed...

I flew to Salt Lake City today and after some phone calls, I decided to get on the next plane back to Eureka. The ship is without power due to a fire in the engine room (Carey, did you say something about the electricity??) Without power I can't do anything for set-up, plus that means no water nor sanitation.
So, I'm back home again. For how long, I'm not sure, up to a week's time.
After some frustration (my bags did not turn around with me, but decided to go all the way to Charleston!), I've calmed down now (it did involve lunch and a nap).
Tonight I will be enjoying the presidential debate in the comfort of my own couch with my favorite person next to me and maybe even a cold beer in my hand.
Cheers! Here's to a good weekend!

No Time for spreading roots...

I was lucky enough to sail on the research vessel RH Brown back in 2006. I look forward to starting my next journey aboard next week.

Here she is off the coast of Florida, by the Dry Tortugas National Park: