Back underway

MFT: Collecting interesting CHIRP data
LFP: Feeling nauseous for 20 hours

Hallo! So today we left for Nuku Hiva. It’s going to be about a 5 day boat trip (about 580 nm). We started back up with our regular watches. The captain was very kind and agreed to do some transects of CHIRP (subbottom profiler) on the outer edge of atoll (ocean side). It’s amazing how quickly and STEEPLY these atolls drop off into the ocean. So less than half a kilometer off shore the water depth is already more than 500 m! We did get some interesting data tracking the slope and bottom profile of the ocean along the edge of Fakarava. Hopefully that will be of some interest to Jeff & Rob.

We were on morning watch and we had an interesting time of it. The seas were pretty rough again outside the lagoon. Sadly I got hit badly this time. It all started with the CHIRP. Staring at a computer screen inside while the boat is moving up quite a bit with swell (8 ft. waves) is NOT conducive to a happy stomach/seasickness. My problem is that I never throw up. I just feel nauseous and tired and have a bad headache. I didn’t dare take any medicine because the last thing I wanted to do was feel drugged/exhausted all day. Because yesterday was Sunday, we had field day. Fieldday is a fancy name for even MORE cleaning of the boat. Every Sunday the ENTIRE boat is cleaned (walls, ceilings, cracks, floors, etc.). This is not so fun in rough seas (especially if you are cleaning inside). We actually take everything out of the galley and clean all the pots and pans, lids, storage containers, etc. on deck. It’s pretty wild. I hope to take some pictures next time of field day. It was cute though because we got to put some music on (rare occurrence) and everyone picked one or two songs for the playlist. We even got some candy for Sayzie (too bad I was feeling so icky).


After field day I tried to sleep but due to the sea-sickness I had to nap in the main salon on a bench. We also had mid watch (2300-0300) last night. This was NOT fun when feeling nauseous. I managed it and then took half a seasick pill and went to bed. Half a pill hits me less than a whole pill but it still knocks me out enough that I daren’t take it during work hours. Anyways, yesterday was less than fun but hopefully I’ll be done with feeling icky soon. We’ve another 3-4 days of sailing until we get to Nuku Hiva.

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