Pitch and Roll

As I wrote yesterday, we were expecting some heavy seas on our trip from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico.   It was quite an experience.  Nancy and I took a stroll out on the deck just before bedtime to watch the MV Explorer leave the San Diego Harbor. Then we headed back to our cabin for a good night's sleep. And then the ship started its "pitch and roll". Pitch refers to the up and down from the bow to the stern (front to the back). Roll refers to the side by side rocking. Sleep was just a few minutes away when things started to fall off the tables and tip over in the bathroom.  The noise from things hitting the floor made sleep impossible.

This interesting phenomena continued, so I put away some things like cameras and laptops and then just rode with it. Sleep came and went, but fortunately, I didn't feel any sea sickness--possibly because I was lying down in the dark. Nancy had on her motion-sickness bracelet, so she didn't suffer any "ill" effects either.

I awoke at 5:30 California time, and we went out to watch the sun rise over the Mexico coast, then went to the fitness center for a little workout.

I took a quick stroll by the library to find that some of the books that I had unloaded the previous night had fallen off the counter.  No damage, thank goodness.  After a healthy omlete and fruit, we started a day of meetings and training.  These Semester at Sea folks know what they are doing.  It is all about a positive experience and safety.  The faculty for this voyage were hand-picked by Dean Mark White, and they complement each other quite well.

Lunch allowed us a chance to watch a pod?? of sea lions off the stern. 

More meetings in the afternoon helped us bond as a team and get to know each other even better. We planned for field trips and interport lectures and set up some evening seminars and activities.  Then we had a little time to load the reserve books on the shelves. Thanks to Nancy and asst. librarian, Theresa Pepin and Physics Prof. Lee Riedinger, we got them up in short order.  That was good, because faculty have been anxious to make sure their reserves got on the ship.  In fact, several of them needed the books to complete some lesson plans.  We felt downright useful.  That's good, because some of the faculty had sailed on previous voyages and sang the praises of the librarians who have gone before me.  In the eyes of the Thomases, Beth is a gooddess.  Such high expectations to live up to.

Dinner was with Hanna Kim and James Lee from Charlottesville.  James is the IT coordinator, and that promises to be a good relationship.  I've got to prepare for a presentation to the faculty tomorrow on library services, so I'll say goodnight.