Back Where I Started

It's been a great and much needed vacation, but now I am back where I started last April. I just finished my 4 day briefing here in Seattle, which was highly reminiscent of my 3 week training, but far less intense. It was a refresher course for those of us who hadn’t been in the Observing world for some time. I now, however, look at my training through a new lens, one that has been improved by experience that I have gained in the field observing on Kodiak Rockfish and Flatfish trawlers, as well as Cod on a pot boat out of Dutch Harbor. The material is less intimidating, and I can look at it more critically, and even offer the trainers advice in how to improve the manual and convey certain topics to us. On my most difficult assignment, I discovered that trying to go by the book was in my specific scenario, quite impossible. I recommended that a corollary detailing what to do in that case be added so that future observers will at least be more immediately aware of other options aside from what is currently shown.

Training aside, I am now almost a level 3 (of 7) and because of the experience I have gained on my pot vessel, I am now Lead Certified to work on longliners, which as the name implies, use long lines with hundreds of baited hooks to catch their fish. This comes with new experience, as well as a nice pay raise which I am quite pleased with. It is a very different sampling method compared to what I am used to. It requires me to be standing in one place exposed on deck for long periods of time tallying all of the species as they come up, and periodically collecting weight and specimen samples. It should be interesting this time of year, as the Bering is at its coldest. I am excited and nervous once again, as I was fresh out of training.

When the apartment is pretty empty, the list of things to do is short, and you are in wait mode for deployment, it can be a very de-motivating and even semi depressing environment. Sleeping in too late, eating breakfast at noon, buying some groceries, taking care of some business/job related things, eating dinner, then watching movies or reading until it’s time to go back to bed. Repeat. It puts you in a less than positive state of mind, at least for me. Some are just fine with it. I have in more recent years, added seeking out good places to hike to my list of hobbies, and have found it to be very satisfying. I did one of the only such hikes nearby today (Valentine’s Day), and it was just enough to lift my spirits and bring back some level of motivation. I am a firm believer in maximizing on my time and space, and when I feel that I am not accomplishing anything, it is a real downer for me. These hikes alleviate that feeling and take me back into my element, even if the trails are in an urban setting and are a little more traveled than I prefer.

On a different note, Seattle is a very wet place. I think our minds are wired to love water, aside from the fact that we need it to survive. Especially the sound of moving water in the many forms it takes; from the sound of the ocean repeatedly approaching and receding against a sand or pebble beach, the roar of a raging waterfall or river, trickle of a brook, lapping against the hull of a boat, or even the more familiar sound of it rushing through the plumbing pipes of our homes and hitting the walls of the shower. Few things, at least to me, are more soothing.