04 Aug 2012 - The Crew

Since we have been doing the same thing every day for a week now, I figured you might be tired of all the titration business… So I’m going to introduce you to some of the crew here on the Oceanus!! Since we have the night shift it is mostly always quiet and lonely because everyone else is sleeping (except tonight, tonight the lab is hoppin’ with scientists measuring myctophids!), we had the pleasure of getting to know some of the crew since there are always people up on watch on the boat. First thing we do when we wake up is head for food… obvious.

In the kitchen are two of my favourite people! Kris and Taylor! Kris probably takes the cake for my most favorite person on the ship, not just because he makes the best food ever, but because he really cares about us! Every single meal there is a “gluten-free” option for myself since I am intolerant. But it is so much more than that! He gets up around 11pm every night and makes us a midnight snack, and by snack I mean delicious meal! Last night there was pizza and it was fantastic. Now for my favorite part of the day, BREAKFAST. Seriously every single day there is a fantastic breakfast ready for us when we’re done working. We’ve even been given the choice for breakfast since we’re pretty much the only ones who ever come to breakfast… and our favorite breakfast is French toast. Seriously, I don’t know how he does it but it is the best breakfast I have ever eaten, and he even takes the time to bring it over to us at the table where we are eagerly waiting and giggling (as soon as the sky turns blue we get really really hyper and excited for breakfast), he even brings over the maple syrup! REALLY? He is awesome. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with him a while too during breaks and what not and he is such a down to earth person who also happens to love Zac Brown Band! We really appreciate everything he does for us out here; the cruise would not be the same without him!

Kris and I hanging in the kitchen.

Now Taylor, AKA Taylor Swift, his partner in crime also works in the kitchen helping him cook and clean and such, he’s a good guy. Taylor is trying to learn Spanish, so what do we do? Speak to him in Spanish… or try to since we’re a little rusty, Kaylyn is much better than I am but it is still fun.

Now when we are titrating for hours on end we always are greeted by visitors passing through as they make their rounds about the boat. A few I have had the pleasure of getting to know. First, there is Marc, he is one of the crew I’m not sure really what his job is [Ed: Marc's an AB (able-bodied seaman) meaning he does a little bit of everything on the ship.], but he can be found fixing things on the boat and making the rounds to see that everything is a o k! Marc has two beautiful 6 month old twins and he always has pictures of them to show us, they are seriously the cutest little things ever! Makenna and Caleb, Caleb always smiling and laughing in every single picture Marc shows us and the little girl is known as “miss moody” she is quite the character, and is always dressed in the cutest little outfits! Marc is also really helpful when we have questions or want to go out on the bow of the boat in 8 ft seas. He is always there when you need him!

Marc!

Another frequent visitor is Jay he’s the engineer (pronunciation of engineer: ang –in- eer), he was in the Navy for a while and is a very entertaining part of the crew he always makes me laugh! He loves Jimmy Buffet as much as I do and amphi-amphi-amphi-amphipods! When you’re feeling down he will always bring a smile to your face no matter what.

Then there is the Captain, Jeff, he is usually hidden away in the bridge or somewhere but when he is about he is really funny! Kaylyn and I went up to the bridge one night to check it out and he gave us the rundown on some of the equipment, but then we saw on the camera that they caught a squid so we hurried downstairs to see the catch. But anyways, he is a great guy.

Well that’s it for now! I will report back with more later.

Steph