So, now that we have sailed back to Alaska, what's the status of our sailing life?
Well, we're back to the dreaming stage.
As a part of our move back to Alaska, I've taken a research faculty job at the University of Alaska, based in Kodiak.
One of the things that I hope to do in this new job is field research from the decks of Galactic. For years and years, Alisa and I have shared a daydream that goes something like, "We're two marine biologists who operate their own boat. Surely there's some niche of useful research that we would be poised to fill?"
Well, I'm happy to note that we have taken our first tentative step in that direction. We have four days of sampling scheduled from Galactic over this week and next, supporting a study of the dynamics affecting juvenile cod survival.
It's a funny place to be back in, dreaming about our next sailing step, rather than living it. So I'm very happy that we have a little biology work from the boat so soon after we returned.
Details to follow!
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| A beach seine, used for sampling the rich nearshore piscifauna. It should fit nicely on Galactic! |
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteA few years back I came up with the idea that an expedition style retractable keel 70-80' sailboat (of which there were several available) would make a cost-effective platform for small research teams to do grant funded research that didn't fit in the megabucks NOA model. At 400-800k, the capital cost is only a few days fuel burn for the NOA Antarctic research ship. I wasn't able to put it together, but if the idea is viable it might be a longer term option for you.
Cheers,
Richard
Hi Richard - Yep, we've thought about a bigger boat, as well, but I'm a little leery of being married to a big vessel - the people I know who run one of those don't seem to have time to do much else! We'll see how this model of two biologists with their own boat pans out...
DeleteHi Mike,
DeleteYes, the bigger the boat the bigger the headache. Although the 120 footers I once built had their own headaches in the form of their owners!
Have you met Kate and Hamish Laird in your travels? Seems that they are in Alaska thru 2018 after working out of Patagonia for many years. Always thought that Seal was the perfect small expedition boat.
if we had a thousand dollars for every time someone asked us if we knew Seal! We'll have to sail up to Cordova and meet them. We have some friends in South Africa who had a sister ship built - a very very nice boat...
DeleteFrom this step...North From Patagonia. Mike, send me an email when you get this.
ReplyDeletehmmm...I thought I had your email address somewhere!
Delete