The eve of my departure is finally here, yet I am feeling less sanguine than expected. More than likely, it has something to do with the length of these upcoming travels and the scale from which I see them. besides, I’ve never found the easy uncertainty and the foreshadowing calm very easy or calming, I’d rather get into the thick of it already.
This cruise will take three weeks, and following fresh on its heels comes another cruise. For the first one I’ll be measuring carbon export across a frequently sampled study region consisting of 73 stations and covering nearly 200,000 square kilometers. It’s also my first solo cruise (and second over all), so it is sure to be an interesting and exciting experience.
The following cruise is through the UNOLS’ Chief Scientist Training Program and will consist of 4-5 days of classroom time and then approximately 2 weeks of ship time. The purpose of this cruise is to gain experience and training to allow my future proposals to include requests for ship time. So far I’m not too sure what to expect from it, but it should make for some well conceived adventuring.
Enough of this, it is time to pack.