When I arrive in Seattle, I find the city in full bloom. It is sunny and clear and warm, the opposite of what usually comes to mind when I think of the Pacific Northwest. It seems that I am here at the best time of the year.
I have been given directions to the dock, and a phone number to call when I get there. Liz finds me when I pull up to the gate and brings me over to the boat. Aora was initially a fishing vessel from Scotland that was refitted for research a number of years ago. When University of Washington purchased her, a donor fronted the funds on the single condition that she be renamed in honor of their favorite ecological hero. The R/V Rachel Carson is painted on the bow in large black letters, although I can still make out the name Aora above it. At 19 meters long, she is the smallest research vessel I will have been on; Liz calls her adorable.
Others call her The Metric Wonder, a title that has come to describe the bane of the crews’ and techs’ existence. As a European boat, RC is outfitted with European power and hardware, rendering our knowledge and hardware incompatible. As a result, some things that should be simple become complicated: the coffee maker had to be custom ordered to fit the power supply, the crew hoard pipes from the boat for their fittings, when I ask Brian, the ship’s mate, about the foreign outlets he throws me a converter and remarks, “we’ve been giving these out like popcorn”.
I spend most of my first week getting the lay of the land. I am quickly figuring out where things are, and who to go to when I am unable to find something. I am settling in quickly, and looking forward to being back out at sea.