----------painting: On the Gould

It is amazing to float out at sea, working 12 hour watches, fishing, learning to splice, mend nets and generally support science aboard a boat. Our workdays are broken into two main shifts, noon to midnight and midnight to noon. I have worked both. When there is work to be done, however, it is not uncommon to work 17 hours in a day while at sea. Sleep is pretty much the only activity I regularly take part in, though I have been able to read a fair amount and play a little guitar during breaks in action. We have stopped at Palmer twice now, first to unload cargo and people from Punta Arenas, second to unload fish we caught to be studied by scientists in the Palmer Station labs.

The waves of pancake ice in 5 ft rolling swells look surreal and beautiful. At night time the Gould's lights light them up as we cruise a path through a rolling sea of white. Yesterday we spent a good part of the day at Santa Clause Island, a remote island with a now defunct weather
station, investigating whether or not we could install some equipment on a tower that is rumored to still stand there. We were unable to locate it and the surge was wild, preventing an exploratory party (of which I was part of) from heading out.

Today we are heading back to Palmer Station, after a full night of fishing. We have had a successful haul, dredging up ice fish of all types, a Dumbo octopus as big as my head, eels, squids, rays and a number of other interesting species. We have lost two nets, to the icy drink. One, named Business Time, is a net created by my fellow Marine Technicians, Dan, Jamee and I. It wasn't Business Time that failed however. The 3/8 inch stainless steel cable is what broke, leaving Business Time likely full of fish, in perfect form, at the bottom of the ocean.

That's about all I have to report. We will have a night at Palmer, unload our fish and head back out tomorrow. There will be time to see some loved ones, have a beer and buy a new toothbrush.