This morning we started bright and early with our first trawl of the voyage, entering the water around 8:20 am. Maneuvering the multi-level trawl went surprisingly well. All the practice we did on Saturday was to great use. After about an hour with the trawl in the water, we assumed our designated positions to hoist the apparatus and retrieve the samples. The process of deploying, trawling, and retrieving the net was done once again, resulting in one set of data for each of the respective trawls.
Early observations of the samples show that most of the plastic and debris was being found in the top three nets, so approximately the first meter of the water column. Julia, the scientist spearheading this project, has her work cut out for her as she analyses the information collected. Once the two trawls were completed for the day, it was time for lunch – quesadillas or Casey-dillas, as they were renamed by Casey.
Weather conditions have been optimal for sailing, so we’ve hoisted the main sail and released the yankee, allowing for, excuse the pun, some smooth sailing. We were also provided with a crash course in sailing and the points of sail courtesy by Captain Eric. The swell has been very minimal, allowing for us to examine the horizon quite a bit, as there was not much else going on. We came to the conclusion that it was no surprise – and perfectly acceptable – for Christopher Columbus to think the earth was flat! Kate took some of this down time to brush up on her Dutch, thanks to Max and Bart. She learned, “Koop een boot, werk je dood,” which translates to, “Buy a boat, and you’ll get worked to death.” Sounds like a pretty good lesson learned, if you ask me.
Just as predicted, everyone has become a lot more adjusted to life at sea and is feeling a lot better in regards to boat movements. We’ve even drastically reduced the amount of times we are bumping our heads coming up from below deck! I suppose it’s safe to say we are a bit hard headed when it comes to learning the ins and out of the Sea Dragon. Many of us also took advantage of taking showers, as it was starting to feel a little overdue. Thanks to the large number of women on board the cabins have “a sweet scent of flowers and butterflies.”
Max, Beatrice and Winston took advantage of the great weather to patch a few holes in the net. Tomorrow is looking like quite a busier day, with us potentially increasing the number of trawls from 2 to 4 in order to increase the number of samples obtained. Hopefully the weather will be on our side once again! We will have to let you know how we make out.
– Winston Godwin, May 19, 2014