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Our first full day on the Endeavor began with breakfast at 8 am which is a lot earlier than I’m used to. I found it a lot easier to get up and out of my bunk on the Endeavor than it is getting up and ready for class back at home. Of course there’s a much greater risk of banging my head on the bottom of my bunk mates bed while scrambling to make it to breakfast on time.
After breakfast and a brief oceanography review by Steve, preparations began to ensure that the ship, crew and equipment aboard were ready to set sail by 16:00. Students began making themselves useful by helping to secure equipment susceptible to the movement of the vessel.
My bunkmate, Nathan, and I aided the STEMseas TA, Drake, in strapping down empty coolers with the most peculiar labels. We also helped to make sure various research instruments didn’t slide around on the tables by power drilling wooden blocks to the tables, tightly around the equipment. A couple of my peers got hands on carpeting training from Steve.
Steve mentioned that this was going to be an easy day but we are definitely getting put to work. I can’t help but share the conflicting emotions of excitement and dread of the potentially impending sea sickness with my peers as we anticipate setting sail on the Endeavor later in the day.
