atlastrekker.com

So, my luck must be changing for the better. It’s been a while now since I’ve been on a rough trip either up or down the coast, and this one has been no different. We have encountered no more than 10 foot seas the whole way, and for the last 24 hours actually had less than 5 foot seas. On a trip where the final destination is a whole lot of work this is a huge blessing. We are headed to shipyard, and have made an enormous amount of progress. We will have a better start this year than ever before, which is great considering we will have more work done to the ship than ever before.

In the next few weeks I’ll try and document all the crazy things we do to keep the ship afloat, so you can see just how much effort it takes.

For now, I’m anxious and excited. Ready to get on with this huge task and see it through to the end.

This picture is of the last lock my ship will go through his year. It was a great year aboard the Sea Bird, so it’s a fitting ending. I’m glad that I was here for it.

So, now we are cruising on back to Portland where we will drop off the last load of guests this year and prepare ourselves to head south. Tomorrow we make the journey, heading on to the San Francisco bay area for about two months of what promises to be the gnarliest shipyard this boat has seen to date.

The weather forecast is looking a little bit rough for the start of our trip, but it’s supposed to get nice as we go. All this was determined of course by the good luck brought on by the annual “last lock toss of the season” ceremony, and of course the bosun made it and we are all good.

I’ll talk more later about the trip south, but for now I have to go get ship ready for the open sea…

I find it semi-humorous and very interesting just how strange it feels to transition between “boat” life and “real” life. I’m sitting here in the Seattle airport with a 3 hour layover and I’ve got nothing better to do but contemplate life, so here goes….

I spend a little less than two months living in a bubble where everything has it’s place. I could randomly open a calendar to any page and put my finger on whatever date, then within minutes I could tell you just about everything that would happen that day. Not that I’m saying I would know the minute details, but for the most part it’s very predictable.

Then I head home to a life with little or no organization what so ever. I do have to get my daughter to school, but other than that, I just do as I please, or as needed. It’s about as opposite of boat life as it gets.

So what have I been contemplating?

Why I like it so much. I’m not exactly the type of guy that needs to have his hand held all through life. Ironically, I don’t mind it nearly as much as I thought I would when started a life at sea. Maybe it’s because I have my place on the ship and so does everyone else, making it less like I’m being given welfare or something.

It also might be that it’s such a contrast from my everyday life, that it makes me appreciate my freedom even more when I have it. I can’t even begin to explain how nice it is to cook a good meal my first night home or to not have to explain to five people why I did something.

In the end, I’m hooked for life. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to live life any other way now. Life at sea is the life for me.

The above picture was used in the daily expedition report for yesterday, so it’s going to be viewed by hundreds of people. Thanks to my good friend Linda Burback for using it and making me feel pretty good about it.

So, what’s a lock toss? It’s somewhat of a game we play here, but it is serious work as well. Essentially what happens is that as the ship goes up or down in a lock it has to be tied to a floating cleat called a bollard in just one spot. So as the ship enters the lock the deck hand has to get a line around the cleat and tie the ship up.

Sometimes this is hard and other times it’s not, based on varying degrees of distance or other factors. Where it becomes a game is seeing who can get the line on the cleat from farthest away without missing. There’s an art form to the action of tossing the line, so it gets pretty interesting to watch.

So, how am I at it? Pretty good now, if I do say so myself. There’s others that are better, but it’s a fun part of shipboard life and I’m glad to be a part of it.

Just a few days left till I head home for vacation, and boy am I ready. I’ve been missing my babies quite a bit lately, so that means its time to head out.

Oddly enough I haven’t really made any big plans for this vacation. I’m thinking about a trip up to the desert now that’s it’s cooled off a bit, but nothing is catching my eye too much. I think it’ll be a matter of seeing how things go, mixed in with a bit of spontaneity.

T-minus 7 days to freedom!

This one is my favorite of the river season so far:

So, life has been pretty interesting here on the Sea Bird. Right now the boat is being pretty kind to me in many ways, and being six weeks into a rotation that’s a really nice bonus. We have a really solid group of folks on board as crew right now, which makes things oh so much better. Everyone has a great attitude and is willing to help each other out. On top of that there’s a woman who has caught my eye and is helping me pass the time with a smile and a laugh. A little love in the air never hurt ones attitude, I’d guess.

The weather has been really nice as well. We’ve had some really awesome light to work with for photos lately, so it makes the beautiful country even more picturesque.

I’ve only got about 8 more days to photograph this place, so I’ll make a real effort to capture as much as I can during that time.

We are a day into our first trip now and all is well. The weather is amazing, especially after our last few weeks up in Alaska. It’s about 65 degrees with some scattered clouds, what a huge difference it is!

It’s really nice to be on a different itinerary in a different place seeing different things. Hitting the “refresh” button on life every once in a while is a good thing!

Tomorrow we will be in Clarkston, WA all day, so I should be able to get the rest of my Alaska pictures uploaded and the start of my river season pictures going. Stay tuned for that…..

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it down and on to the Columbia river with no problems.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Just wanted to say that we are heading down the coast from Seattle to Portland now…… I hope for calm seas and no wind and the forecast looks good.

I’ll post up again when we make it to Portland.