A close match

The good news is the weather has let up considerably! Yesterday swells were only ~15 ft. Still not ideal for recovery conditions, but much better than sustained 50 knot winds. I don't think we'll see those glassy calm seas again, and there seem to be depressions popping up everywhere (middle of typhoon season), but we'll hope for the best.

We are supposed to reach our first recovery location in about 30 hours or so! I don't know whether to be excited or nervous, a little bit of both I guess. It will be fun to finally be seeing some action on the cruise, but nerve racking hoping that all goes well for the sake of my thesis. This morning and tomorrow Julia and I are working half shifts. We were given the option to take a day off and alternate, but we decided since we're already in our schedules that working two hours in stead of four for two days would be just as rewarding. So, I may not have to work another full midnight to 4 am shift as we are shuffling to the 8-12 on Thursday (bearing in mind it is Tuesday here right now). The end is in sight!

McCall and I had an epic Quoits match yesterday against L-CHEAPO (the two OBS techs from Scripps). We sadly lost in a close match 21-20. I will have to give you a brief break down of the rules for you to understand how close this was. So one team member from each team throws three quoits (rings) per turn. Only one team can score at a time, one ring within a ring's diameter of the pole gets you 1 point, a ring leaning on the pole gets you 2 points, and a ringer over the pole gets you 3 points. So, if there are no ringers or leaners, who ever throws the ring closest to the pole gets a point (or if no one throws a ring within a ring of the pole, no one gets points). It was close the whole way through the match, changing who was in the lead. Finally it came down to 20-17, L-CHEAPO in the lead. Ernie and I were tossing for the potential game point. As Ernie threw his last ring, he was the closest to the poll and I had one shot left to get closer or else they would get the 1 point to make it 21. And I throw a ringer! Making it 20-20. So it came down to McCall and Mark for the game point, but Mark got it. So close!!

Lunch yesterday was heavy, beef lasagna and cheese ravioli with a pesto cream sauce, so I stuck with the chicken and lentil soup which was still delicious. Dinner was Cajun catfish and chicken with tomato and capers with some yummy roast vegetables and rice pilaf. They also made these cream cheese brownies, but the cream cheese was mixed in the batter so you couldn't see it. It made for a more subtle flavor and less intense chocolate taste. Yum.