{"id":1469,"date":"2019-03-03T04:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-03-03T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/?p=1469"},"modified":"2019-03-10T23:34:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T06:34:23","slug":"life-aboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/2019\/03\/life-aboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Aboard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>I first heard of the SEA Semester ships from crewmates on another boat I worked on around Puget Sound. They regaled me with stories that can only be had on the vastness of the open ocean: the coral reefs, the mysterious engine room, the 1AM ramen in the galley. As I listened, they set about naming the stars, one by one. I knew it was something I had to see for myself. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Pacific islands are jewels, rent from the Earth\u2019s breast and scattered across the ocean. The particular set we visited, the Phoenix Islands, rest in the middle of the Pacific along the equator. They are protected by their remoteness and status as a Marine Protected Area; by the same token, we know little about this patch of ocean. Our vessel, the Robert C. Seamans, went to collect oceanographic data to further to the protected area\u2019s management plan and our understanding of the ocean. In time, we furthered our understanding of ourselves. We learned, we struggled, and we danced with one another, from 35 strangers to a family made fast. I can\u2019t wait to go sailing again.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>A shipmate wrote me soon after our voyage across the Pacific.<br \/>\n\u201cI miss the ground moving beneath me,\u201d she said \u2013<br \/>\nand I already feel it.<br \/>\nBare feet, tanned legs moving across salt-bleached, sun-stained teak.<br \/>\nWe stumbled, the ship heaving with the waves,<br \/>\nGrasping for the rail as our life rolls beneath us.<\/p>\n<p>I wake with a start as a swell strikes the hull with a thunderclap<br \/>\nThe same waves that rocked me to sleep in my bunk.<br \/>\nAs we drift, the ocean is many things, as many moods<br \/>\nAs shades of blue.<br \/>\nI turn over to sleep.<br \/>\nMy shipmates on deck keep watch for me<br \/>\nAnd in a few hours, I for them<br \/>\nWe will the ship forward, a glimmering, steady heartbeat<br \/>\nAs the grey squally sea gives way to the soft shadows of sunrise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI miss the ground moving beneath me \u2013<br \/>\nand I miss the sureness I could catch myself\u201d<br \/>\nMy friend continued,<br \/>\nStanding on the bow as I lean against my chest harness<br \/>\nSinging a peaceful song for my friends<br \/>\nStaring at an endless horizon<br \/>\nSwaying with the waves as our life rolls beneath us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I first heard of the SEA Semester ships from crewmates on another boat I worked on around Puget Sound. They regaled me with stories that can only be had on the vastness of the open ocean: the coral reefs, the mysterious engine room, the 1AM ramen in the galley. As I listened, they set about [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[115],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1473,"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1469\/revisions\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/chidint\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}