Here I sit comfortably in Boston Massachusetts basically half way through this six month internship. It has been one of the single most difficult, yet rewarding things I have ever undertaken. I have been fortunate enough to quite literally have gone half way around the world. I started in Cape Town South Africa, and then headed east to Uruguay before flying up to Miami Florida. I can say quite confidently that living out of a suitcase is definitely not a lot of fun. The constant going 7 days a week has definitely taken a toll on me mentally. This career path is difficult, yet highly rewarding in that you get to assist with some extremely ground breaking science, and you get to travel A LOT.
Sitting at the precipice of this internship I am getting ready to board the R/V Atlantis. This ship is the home of the deep sea submersibles ALVIN and JASON. Ever since I was a child and ALVIN sent back the first videos of hydrothermal vents and the life they found there I have wanted to see this amazing creation of human ingenuity and science. I am an avid diver, so I do know quite a bit about the difficulties of diving just shallow depths, I cannot say I have much knowledge about the physical demands on instrumentation that can go to the depths ALVIN and JASON both can go. I look forward very much to working with the crew and pilots of these ROVs and learning anything they are willing to teach me. This is definitely a once in a life time chance.
Leaving the WALTON SMITH for the unknown again has been a bit of a challenge. I tend to be the type of person that likes having a rhythm to my life. A certain order of every day and every week occurrences. This has completely been blown out of the water up to this point. Nothing is the same day in and day out. Nothing is constant other than the horizon and being surrounded by water. Half the time the horizon isn’t even constant when you take into account some of the horrible weather I have encountered. Not every day do you get to be on a ship as it is torn away from a dock and hearing the dock lines creak and moan under extreme stress. The ship broke free and we were sitting ducks in the middle of the harbor hoping the two barges that also broke free didn’t collide with our small ship. I also got to see a storm in the Agulhas Current that had waves higher than anything I have ever seen. There were cresting waves higher than the A-Frame on the KNORR. Needless to say the horizon those days looked very different than it normally does.
So yes I am nervous to get onto another ship full of no one I really know. But I am getting much more comfortable with constant change. I have grown so much as a person that it is almost frightening. I have never travelled much, let alone going somewhere by myself, yeah that never happened. EVER. Now I can honestly say I am much more comfortable spending time alone, of being the only person I know in a city, of figuring out how to best pack 6 month’s worth of clothes and sundries in to two suitcases, well one suitcase and one old sea bag that is usually just a laundry bag. My advice is don’t pack anything that can’t do double duty. Make sure you have enough of the important things like hair conditioner, because the salt air will take a toll on your hair, have PLENTY of sunscreen, you will get sun burnt at some point make sure it isn’t as bad as it could have been by re-applying the sunscreen every couple hours if you work on a deck with no shade. Be prepared for some boring times. Though the boring times, usually only last maybe a day or two at the most, those days drag on like nothing you have probably ever experienced. You have been on a small ship for two months working day in and day out, and then suddenly nothing is going on. Relish that day. Embrace the down time, because it really is rather rare.
So here I go again off into the wild blue; me and my two bags and a backpack for my laptop on more adventures and learning in the most unique learning environment ever. I am tired, by body aches, and I am slightly nervous about meeting a whole new crew, but would not trade this experience. It is truly unique.