Wednesday, March 3, 2004

Gulf of Papua, New Guinea

I'm sitting in the galley - currently full of wet people on the night watch, just in from working out on deck in the rain. They are descending upon leftovers like vultures, eating various concoctions such as cereal, a cheese sandwich, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, broccoli and bread with peanut butter. There's even Vegemite for those who like that kind of thing. For most this midnight snack is breakfast or lunch and breakfast is dinner...if you stay awake that long.

A couple of hours ago a squall arrived. Torrential rains have been coming down and water is gushing from the upper decks like waterfalls to the main deck. Imagine, a dark, warm night, with rolling swells and rain coming down horizontally, in buckets; flying fish were suspended in mid-air by the wind and large schools of fish were seen swimming in a wild frenzy.

Rather than seeking refuge inside, the work must continue - day and night - despite the rain. The workers don yellow raingear, boots and hoods to stay somewhat dry. The squall has energized both the weather and the mood of those on deck. People are talking louder over the rain and the wind, and laughing and enjoying the change in the nightly routine. The work is harder; trying to write information on the core liner such as the section and core number becomes difficult on wet PVC piping. Trying to keep things dry in order to secure caps on the ends of the cores with tape isn't easy either, yet it is a change and fun despite the extra work. The rains give the ship a good cleaning, mud and dirt are swept away and eventually... although it may several hours, the sun will come out.