My first day of this incredible journey began at 4:30 PST as I set out for the San Francisco airport for a series of flights that would end 12 hours later in the tiny fishing port of Dutch Harbor, which is located on the Aleutian Island of Unalaska, Alaska. During WW ll, Dutch Harbor was one of the only locations on US territory to be bombed by the Japanese. Today, it is the largest fishery port in the United States and transfers huge harvests of king crab, pollock and cod from the continental shelf in the Bering Sea. Dutch Harbor is beautiful with sweeping vistas that include its resident active volcano Mount Makushin. I wish I had more time to explore the island but at 8:00 on the morning of my second day, I “reported for duty” on the USCG Healy.

The USCG Healy is nothing less than impressive. When I arrived on the boat for the first time, it was still dark in Dutch Harbor, so all I saw towering above me were the lights of the small, highly efficient city and community I was about to become a part of. Commissioned in 1999, the USCG Healy is currently the only active large icebreaker in the Coast Guard’s fleet. It is designed to break 4.5 ft. of ice continuously at 3 knots and can operate in temperatures as low as −50 °F. It was named in honor of Michael A. Healy, a highly influential captain in the US Cutter Service (which preceded the Coast Guard) during the last half of the 19th century. Healy spent many years in the Alaskan waters acting as a judge, doctor and policeman to the Alaskan natives, merchant seamen and whaling crews. Also a pioneer in arctic navigation, he made science a key part of each of his missions, attracting the attention of renowned naturalist John Muir, who accompanied him on several expeditions. As a legacy to Healy, the Cutter Healy is designed to conduct a wide range of research activities in addition to its search and rescue, and resupply services.

Within the first ten minutes of boarding the ship, I had already been lost three times, overwhelmed by the maze of hallways that all look the same. A good portion of the first day was spent in safety training, which included all of us donning the very unfashionable, terribly cumbersome “gumby suit,” which is a special type of waterproof dry suit that is designed to protect the wearer from hypothermia from immersion in cold water, after abandoning a sinking or capsized vessel, especially in the open ocean. The exercise provided high entertainment for all and, hopefully, we will never need to put the suits to real use. The rest of the day was spent getting my sea legs, gazing at the spectacular scenery and exploring the ship, which includes more than 4,200 square feet of scientific laboratory space, numerous electronic sensor systems, and oceanographic winches. Whether it was watching bald eagles fight on shore, witnessing the efficiency and skill of the Coast Guard crew, or learning about the science being conducted on board, I must have said, “that is the coolest thing I have ever seen” at least three times every hour. I, however, still continue to get lost and need to find new ways to get to where I need to be. Hopefully, in the next 24 hours I will become comfortable enough to get around without asking for directions from every person I see. If you would like to know where I am at all hours of the day the ships progress can be followed at: http://mapserver.healy.polarscience.net/ Tonight we will start to head North to our intended destination in the Beaufort Sea with promises of science, whales, northern lights and ice!