Day ten on the Ka’imimoana and the plan of the day is starting to imply the transit to Apia is occurring after the next buoy ops is completed. The buoy team deployed one at five south and 155 west today. It was an all day project and completed a little after four and then the fly by afterwards. Earlier in the day I called the office in Seattle to confirm some administrative issues. The Supe asked how I like the ship. I relieved him back in 2003 when he transferred from this ship to the Rainier. I told him I forgot how isolated the tour was as compared to other NOAA ships. He laughed in agreement and said the same. You know you have been doing one thing for a long time when you can talk like that with a colleague.
I need to complete the presentation I promised the CO. I made one two years ago from Power Point, however I deleted it thinking it would never be used again. I am starting from scratch but seem to have lost the knack of putting together a good and informative presentation. So that will have to be done before the weekend is over. Fortunately most of the crew has been there before so this is not a new port call.
Today was slow and getting caught up before we pull into Apia. This whole trip has been one of feeling of doubt. My stay at home until I arrived here was brief and it was more like a dream than reality. I knew I was going to Samoa but in disbelief that it was happening. Somewhere there was no reality check. I did not believe that I was sailing on the KA. Despite having “orders” written up, reality hit when I walked into the stateroom, set my suitcase down and unpacked. It may be the same that I will not believe it is for real until I see Apia in the distance on Thursday morning and settle in the room that “L” and I lived in. But in the past she always met me at the wharf or the airport and this is the first time I am here alone. I almost turned down this trip and wanted to stay another month home. However, if I was not on this ship I would have been on the Hi’ialakai due to my colleague’s health.
I am going to hit the rack as I need sleep. I probably will not get sleep until I am back on the Hi’ialakai. I know in the village the darn roosters will keep me up as well as the buzzing mosquitoes and of course the cascades of barking dogs. I will have my laptop with me so I can update the blog. However, access to the Internet is another problem. Since I will not rent a car, it may be updated two to three days a week while I am there. It is going to be a two hour bus ride into town. By car, 45 minutes the most. Another reason I probably will not get much sleep is the kids will probably want to sleep with Uncle “Roz” as I still seem to be a novelty with them. In the past, when I showed up I had plenty of young volunteers who wanted to ride a car. For some of them, it was the only time they rode a car.
I need to complete the presentation I promised the CO. I made one two years ago from Power Point, however I deleted it thinking it would never be used again. I am starting from scratch but seem to have lost the knack of putting together a good and informative presentation. So that will have to be done before the weekend is over. Fortunately most of the crew has been there before so this is not a new port call.
Today was slow and getting caught up before we pull into Apia. This whole trip has been one of feeling of doubt. My stay at home until I arrived here was brief and it was more like a dream than reality. I knew I was going to Samoa but in disbelief that it was happening. Somewhere there was no reality check. I did not believe that I was sailing on the KA. Despite having “orders” written up, reality hit when I walked into the stateroom, set my suitcase down and unpacked. It may be the same that I will not believe it is for real until I see Apia in the distance on Thursday morning and settle in the room that “L” and I lived in. But in the past she always met me at the wharf or the airport and this is the first time I am here alone. I almost turned down this trip and wanted to stay another month home. However, if I was not on this ship I would have been on the Hi’ialakai due to my colleague’s health.
I am going to hit the rack as I need sleep. I probably will not get sleep until I am back on the Hi’ialakai. I know in the village the darn roosters will keep me up as well as the buzzing mosquitoes and of course the cascades of barking dogs. I will have my laptop with me so I can update the blog. However, access to the Internet is another problem. Since I will not rent a car, it may be updated two to three days a week while I am there. It is going to be a two hour bus ride into town. By car, 45 minutes the most. Another reason I probably will not get much sleep is the kids will probably want to sleep with Uncle “Roz” as I still seem to be a novelty with them. In the past, when I showed up I had plenty of young volunteers who wanted to ride a car. For some of them, it was the only time they rode a car.
Take care and good night from the equatorial Pacific.
No comments:
Post a Comment