Leaving Honolulu and on to Wake Island

The 2009 Research Season has started and I am currently three days out of Honolulu on the NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai. We are heading towards Wake Island for 5 days of dive ops before continuing on to Guam, Saipan and the Northern Marianas Islands. We started the cruise with 15-25 mph winds out of the north and 12-15 foot waves while we were heading west. I soon found that this translates into a very rolling ride - as in bracing yourself in your bunk so you don’t roll into the wall, standing in the shower holding on with one hand, both feet sliding with the waves and noticing how everything around you is stainless steel and hard, pointy or both. I can only imagine what it’s like for ships that really go out in rough seas. But today brought slightly calmer weather and some sunshine. People are either getting their sea legs or are sufficiently dosed with the proper meds so that the dry lab (where most of the computer work goes on) was slightly more boisterous than it has been. As for me, I am very excited that I made it through the day without having to crawl back in my bunk. I spent a good bit of time catching up on computer work, enjoying the very blustery weather on the bow (I said the weather was better, not great), and my first ever games of ping pong while on a rolling ship. The first Ping Pong tournament started today and Kaylynn (a fish biologist) and I battled it out in the first round. Well, battled is probably too strong a word. We more volleyed the ball a couple of times while trying to keep score, keep our balance and not laugh too much to hit the ball. There were lots of do-overs and without many bystanders to interfere with pesky rules, we had a lot of fun. Kaylynn won and will go on to the next round while I may now be hooked on this game. But for now I will say good night and head off to a few hours dreaming of crazy waves, roller coasters, and what is for breakfast. I hope this finds you well and that you are likewise having either an exciting day or soon to have a wonderful night’s sleep. Take care, Cristi