Working, Eating, Sleeping and Feeling Sick

Aren't those the 4 basics of life?

As for work, this cruise has 12 hour watches (compared to the 8 hour watches from my last cruise). While this is very doable (remember, I spend no time cooking, cleaning, commuting), it is curtailing my ability to power through the ambitious stack of books I brought on board. Initially, I was told I'd be on the 3pm to 3am watch (either 3-to-3 watch is equally rough, as 3am is usually squarely within my sleeping time), but do to some staffing changes I was granted a reprieve and given an odd watch - 9am to 9pm - much more civilized. On watch, I help with CTD casts (lowering a suite of instruments overboard, helping get them back on board, and then moving some water that was collected from the large bottles in to little sampling bottles), take care of meteorological observations, and sample some water that's piped into the ship.

The food is good, and I always find it fascinating to be fed well and not have to do any cooking or dishes. Last night there was a huge chocolate cheese cake, and while I was saying I wanted a small piece, the huge slices were pre-cut so I downed about a half a radian of cake (well, I'd hate to see it go to waste!)

While I also spent the previous night on board, last night's sleep was my first that happened when science was being done, and I discovered that I need earplugs. The large winch that raises and lowers gear is just outside my window, and there seem to be many associated sounds: a high pitched whirring, a low rumble, and some unpredictable banging - all three startlingly loud. (That banging - is something broken?) You may know I'm a very good sleeper, but even I'll be needing earplugs tonight.

On my last trip, I didn't experience any motion sickness, but yesterday I did. It's an unsettling feeling, and the worst of it is probably the fear that it will get worse. But I used some medication, which took perhaps 2 or 3 hours to set in, and I've felt fine since. Wish me luck!

More Later,
Patricia