We’re still cruising up and down the Hudson and my third 12 hour shift is nearing its end. I was just thinking how neat it is that I can say I’ve slept on a boat for 4 nights. And this is my second time! Not everyone gets to have these experiences and this is just a reminder to myself to not take this for granted, even when it might be tiring or boring or difficult.
This week, I met up with my lab group from UMass Boston for a research cruise in the New York City area. We met the boat in Staten Island on Tuesday and loaded all of our equipment onto the boat. I managed to get the midnight to noon shift, so I slept for a few hours Tuesday night and then worked for 12 hours. My job is to help operate a piece of equipment called the EcoShuttle that gets towed behind the boat. The EcoShuttle has several instruments on it that send information back to our lab computers about the water it is being towed through. Right now, we’re heading up the Hudson River toward West Point, NY. I’ll try to share a map with our cruise track once we reach shore again. I’ll also be posting pictures as we go!