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class="page-title">Tag: <span>exploration</span></h1> </header> <article id="post-7264" class="post-7264 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-brain-food category-delights tag-annual-ritual tag-emotion tag-exploration tag-handwriting tag-journaling tag-new-years tag-ongoingness tag-personal-development tag-personal-work tag-practice tag-sarah-manguso tag-susannah-conway tag-tracking tag-unravel-your-year tag-word-of-the-year tag-workbook tag-workbooks tag-writing tag-year-compass tag-year-end"> <div class="hentry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header" > <div class="entry-header-wrapper"> <div class="entry-meta"><span class="cat-links"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/category/blog/brain-food/" rel="category tag">Brain Food</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/category/blog/delights/" rel="category tag">Delights</a></span></div><h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/annual-workbooks/" rel="bookmark">Annual Workbooks</a></h2> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Susannah Conway just released her 2022 <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.susannahconway.com/unravel/" target="_blank">Unravel Your Year</a> workbook. I’ve been doing these since…christ, 2015? Yeah, that sounds right. A long time. I love them. (There’s also <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://yearcompass.com" target="_blank">Year Compass</a>, which asks a lot of the same questions in a slightly less woo way.) </p> <p>I take and leave bits of this workbook every time I sit down to do it, usually over several days between Christmas and New Year’s, but I’m always left with a satisfying stack of reflective pages that anchor me during the year to come.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="1024" height="755" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Workbooks-1024x755.jpg" alt='A collection of printed workbooks with creative covers on a purple bedsheet, each labeled with "Unravel Your Year" and then a date stretching from 2015 to 2021.' class="wp-image-7272" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Workbooks-1024x755.jpg 1024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Workbooks-300x221.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Workbooks-768x566.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Workbooks-1536x1132.jpg 1536w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Workbooks-2048x1510.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></figure> <p>Things I’ve noticed over the last seven years of doing this:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"><li>In the first few years, it was easy for me to fill out the Year in Review portion, but nearly <em>impossible</em> to fill out the second half of the workbook—the part about dreaming and planning for the year to come. I had a lot of fear around predicting anything. I worried about getting it “wrong,” or about setting goals and then failing to reach them and then judging myself harshly for that failure. The truth is that I <em>have</em> listed things I want to do, books I want to read, places I want to visit, and then just…not done them. Sometimes for multiple years at a stretch! But one of two things tends to happen: either I realize down the line that I’m just not that fussed about the goal in question, or I get it done eventually and have to admit that a single year, while long, isn’t the only possible timeline for accomplishing a project.</li><li>The words I’ve chosen to anchor and guide myself each year seem to be moving toward more abstract or intuitive territory. (Ask -> Tell -> Trust -> Choose -> Cultivate -> Yield -> Flow) Some definitely worked better than others, but they all brought certain kinds of gifts. Absolutely a more effective and rewarding framework for me than specific resolutions.</li><li>I don’t usually refer back to previous workbooks unless I’m in major pattern-seeking mode, often due to some kind of emotional upheaval or major life change. The exception is the ritual of reading through the most recent workbook in July, which is both halfway(ish) through the year and also my birthday. I try not to spend too much time with it otherwise.</li><li>The letters I write to Lucy in The Present while pretending to be Lucy in December of Next Year never fail to make me cry. They also tend to be shockingly accurate in ways I cannot predict.</li></ul> <p>I used to have a really robust journaling practice—pages and pages of dense prose every day, each one compulsively smushed into the corners so no blank space remained. I’m sitting under a shelf full of these books, stretching all the way back to high school. They’re a valuable record, but also sort of…exhausting.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="768" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-1024x768.jpg" alt="A dense spread of handwritten text in black and white, photographed from a journal." class="wp-image-7273" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-300x225.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-768x576.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/DenseJournal-2000x1500.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></figure> <p>I was so driven to write everything down in this breathless rush, as if writing could save me.</p> <p>But over the last few years I’ve moved away from that practice. Now there’s the annual workbook, which gives me a view of the year from 10,000 feet, and then a collection of larger, unruled notebooks where I doodle and take messy notes and connect ideas. I started out telling myself those were just “feelings notebooks” (I think the first one started out exclusively as a space to grapple with the dissolution of a major relationship), but they’ve gradually become all-purpose repositories of emotion. Many of the Visual Dispatches I’ve posted here come from their pages. </p> <p>Sarah Manguso’s <em>Ongoingness</em> explores her own attachment to keeping a compulsive written record of everything in her life, and how the practice has waxed and waned over time. She writes:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>Now I consider the diary a compilation of moments I’ll forget, their record finished in language as well as I could finish it—which is to say imperfectly. Someday I might read about some of the moments I’ve forgotten, moments I’ve allowed myself to forget, that my brain was designed to forget, that I’ll be glad to have forgotten and be glad to rediscover as writing. The experience is no longer experience. It is writing. I am still writing. And I’m forgetting everything. My goal now is to forget it all so that I’m clean for death. Just the vaguest memory of love, of participation in the great unity.</p></blockquote> <p>Yes.</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/annual-workbooks/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2021-12-22T11:22:10-08:00">December 22, 2021</time></a></span><span class="tags-links"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/annual-ritual/" rel="tag">annual ritual</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/emotion/" rel="tag">emotion</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/exploration/" rel="tag">exploration</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/handwriting/" rel="tag">handwriting</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/journaling/" rel="tag">journaling</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/new-years/" rel="tag">new year's</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/ongoingness/" rel="tag">ongoingness</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/personal-development/" rel="tag">personal development</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/personal-work/" rel="tag">personal work</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/practice/" rel="tag">practice</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/sarah-manguso/" rel="tag">sarah manguso</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/susannah-conway/" rel="tag">Susannah Conway</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/tracking/" rel="tag">Tracking</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/unravel-your-year/" rel="tag">Unravel Your Year</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/word-of-the-year/" rel="tag">word of the year</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/workbook/" rel="tag">workbook</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/workbooks/" rel="tag">workbooks</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/writing/" rel="tag">writing</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/year-compass/" rel="tag">year compass</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/year-end/" rel="tag">year end</a></span> </footer> </div> </article> <article id="post-5345" class="post-5345 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-conventions-2 tag-100-demon-dialogues tag-100ddtour tag-appearances tag-comics-convention tag-england tag-exploration tag-thought-bubble-festival tag-thought-bubble-uk tag-travel tag-uk tag-watercolor"> <div class="hentry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header" style="background-image: url('https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0039-2000x1350.jpg');"> <div class="entry-header-wrapper"> <div class="entry-meta"><span class="cat-links"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/category/news/conventions-2/" rel="category tag">Conventions</a></span></div><h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/thought-bubble-2018/" rel="bookmark">Thought Bubble This Weekend</a></h2> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Greetings from England, everyone!</p> <p>I’m back in the UK for my biennial pilgrimage to table at <a href="http://thoughtbubblefestival.com">Thought Bubble</a> (and catch up with English friends and family in the process). Since I was last in the country they’ve changed the date of the festival to September, which has been an enormous improvement so far. The weather is just beginning to turn autumnal, with a good few sunny days still in reserve.</p> <p>If you’re planning on heading to Thought Bubble in Leeds this weekend, you can find me in the <strong>Ask for Mercy Marquee</strong> at <strong>Table 43</strong>. Thanks to some cunning distribution work, I’ve got a TON of <em>100 Demon Dialogues</em> books and plushies already in the country, plus copies of <em>Baggywrinkles</em> and fresh sets of watercolor skyline postcards!</p> <p><figure id="attachment_5348" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5348" style="width: 3024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7026.jpg" class="wp-image-5348 aligncenter size-full" height="3024" alt="A selection of vibrant postcards featuring watercolor paintings of sunrises and sunsets with silhouettes of trees, tall ships, mountains, and other organic shapes in the foreground." width="3024" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7026.jpg 3024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7026-150x150.jpg 150w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7026-300x300.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7026-768x768.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7026-1024x1024.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 3024px) 100vw, 3024px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5348" class="wp-caption-text">A third of the new postcard designs I’ll have with me. There are 18 new cards total!</figcaption></figure></p> <p>As per usual I’ve made a goofy graphic to help you locate me at the event. Here’s a map:</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0026.jpg" class="wp-image-5349 size-full" height="1710" alt="Map of Thought Bubble venue including table location. Lucy’s Demon screams “It’ll be awful!” From the lower right-hand corner." width="1824" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0026.jpg 1824w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0026-300x281.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0026-768x720.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0026-1024x960.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1824px) 100vw, 1824px"></p> <p>Being in the country a week early has left a lot of room for acclimatization and a bit of exploration. I’ve been going on six-mile rambles near Egham with my current host, cartoonist <a href="https://www.beholder.uk/about">Dave Whiteland</a>. We’re not far from Runnymede, site of the signing of the Magna Carta. Interestingly, it’s a landmark more beloved by Americans, who tend to view the Magna Carta as the precursor to our written constitution, but there are also a number of beautiful memorials and installations by local artists scattered throughout the open meadows.</p> <p><figure id="attachment_5347" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5347" style="width: 3024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7073-1.jpg" class="wp-image-5347 aligncenter size-large" width="3024" height="4032" alt="A circular space with a pond in the center and an open circle in the roof. Text written upside down around the rim of the pool is reflected right-side up in the water. The walls are pale and rough, the sky is blue." srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7073-1.jpg 3024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7073-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_7073-1-768x1024.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3024px) 100vw, 3024px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5347" class="wp-caption-text">Writ in Water by Mark Wallinger</figcaption></figure></p> <p>I have so many childhood memories of England coming into view out a plane window. It’s a patchwork quilt in hundreds of shades of green. Each border is picked out in dark hedgerows like raised lines of embroidery. After the rigid grids and circles of American crops seen from the sky, it confirms this sense of being somewhere <em>other</em>.</p> <p>England is walking through fields and turnstiles and picking up fossils from beds of flint. It’s the particular smell of petrol and peat and cold air and river water. It’s tea and <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/encyclopedia/smoot/" target="_self" title="n. (Britain) A small opening built into a dry-stone wall to allow sheep (and hares) to pass through (humorous, chiefly Greater Boston) A unit of length defined as exactly sixty-seven inches (approximately 1.70 meters), based upon the height of Oliver R. Smoot, who lay on the Harvard Bridge to measure it as an MIT fraternity…" class="encyclopedia">smoot</a>h wood floors and the familiarity of gentleness. It’s not perfect here, but it brings me back to a part of myself that feels foundational and true.</p> <p><figure id="attachment_5350" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5350" style="width: 2050px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0034.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-5350" height="1536" alt="An imposing brick building under a blue sky. It has many chimneys and turrets." width="2050" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0034.jpg 2050w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0034-300x225.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0034-768x575.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0034-1024x767.jpg 1024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/img_0034-2000x1500.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 2050px) 100vw, 2050px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-5350" class="wp-caption-text">Royal Holloway</figcaption></figure></p> <p>After the chaos of touring all summer, I decided to forego scheduling a separate last-minute event in London or Cambridge. It’s enough to be here, and to see friends, and to have the festival to look forward to. I hope to see many of you there in a few days.</p> <p>Be well,</p> <p>Lucy</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/thought-bubble-2018/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2018-09-18T09:25:48-07:00">September 18, 2018</time><time class="updated" datetime="2018-09-16T02:11:25-07:00">September 16, 2018</time></a></span><span class="tags-links"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/100-demon-dialogues/" rel="tag">100 Demon Dialogues</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/100ddtour/" rel="tag">100DDTour</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/appearances/" rel="tag">appearances</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/comics-convention/" rel="tag">comics convention</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/england/" rel="tag">England</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/exploration/" rel="tag">exploration</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/thought-bubble-festival/" rel="tag">thought bubble festival</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/thought-bubble-uk/" rel="tag">thought bubble uk</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/travel/" rel="tag">travel</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/uk/" rel="tag">UK</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/watercolor/" rel="tag">watercolor</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/thought-bubble-2018/#respond">Leave a comment</a></span> </footer> </div> </article> <article id="post-4445" class="post-4445 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-news tag-adventure tag-adventure-cartoonist tag-ama tag-blog tag-exploration tag-guam tag-lucy-bellwood tag-mappinthefloor tag-marine-research tag-maritime tag-multibeam-mapping tag-qa tag-rv-falkor tag-research-at-sea tag-schmidt-ocean-institute tag-science tag-travel"> <div class="hentry-wrapper"> <header class="entry-header" style="background-image: url('https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/15747549_1331013120277536_7827730880517682896_n.jpg');"> <div class="entry-header-wrapper"> <div class="entry-meta"><span class="cat-links"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/category/news/" rel="category tag">News</a></span></div><h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/life-at-sea-with-rv-falkor/" rel="bookmark">Life at Sea with R/V Falkor</a></h2> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content"> <p>Happy New Year from the Pacific Ocean!</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4463" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/15747549_1331013120277536_7827730880517682896_n.jpg" alt="15747549_1331013120277536_7827730880517682896_n" width="960" height="640" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/15747549_1331013120277536_7827730880517682896_n.jpg 960w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/15747549_1331013120277536_7827730880517682896_n-300x200.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/15747549_1331013120277536_7827730880517682896_n-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px"></p> <p>I’m writing today from the outer lounge of <a href="https://schmidtocean.org/rv-falkor/">R/V Falkor</a>, the research vessel I’m currently working on as an artist-in-residence. At this very moment we’re motoring through the middle of nowhere, but thanks to our Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) there’s <a href="https://schmidtocean.org/technology/internet-connectivity/">satellite Internet on board</a>!</p> <p><figure id="attachment_4559" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4559" style="width: 1536px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4559" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-30.jpg" alt="lubellwoo_2016-dec-30" width="1536" height="2048" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-30.jpg 1536w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-30-225x300.jpg 225w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-30-768x1024.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4559" class="wp-caption-text">One of two fiberglass domes on Falkor’s main deck. These domes protect the satellite dishes within from ocean conditions, while still allowing them the mobility necessary to maintain a connection.</figcaption></figure></p> <p>The science team on board are surveying the ocean floor using <a href="https://schmidtocean.org/technology/seafloor-mapping/">multibeam mapping</a>, and I’m doing my darndest to learn all I can about their methods and draw a summary comic for the Schmidt Ocean Institute during our 3-week transit from Guam to Honolulu.</p> <p>We’re collecting data all the way, but our specific area of focus is the seafloor around the Johnston Atoll, which has never been mapped using this particular technology.</p> <p><figure id="attachment_4472" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4472" style="width: 590px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4472" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/johnstonmap.jpg" alt="johnstonmap" width="590" height="443" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/johnstonmap.jpg 590w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/johnstonmap-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4472" class="wp-caption-text">(This is a map from a previous research expedition with NOAA, but it gives a helpful idea of location relative to our eventual port of call.)</figcaption></figure></p> <p>So far the trip has carried us across hundreds of miles of the Pacific, with roaring trade winds tossing the spray into white crests around the ship. I’ve never done an open-ocean crossing like this one before, so it’s been even more of a thrill than usual to scramble up the companionway every morning to drink in the view.</p> <p><figure id="attachment_4481" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4481" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4481" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-31.jpg" alt="lubellwoo_2016-dec-31" width="1024" height="1024" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-31.jpg 1024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-31-150x150.jpg 150w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-31-300x300.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2016-dec-31-768x768.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4481" class="wp-caption-text">The surf kicked up around the ship is never the same twice.</figcaption></figure></p> <p>The crew are very welcoming and ready to assist with the science operations, and we’ve been having daily lectures on subjects like the Mariana Trench and its surrounding islands, the history of sonar, and the intricacies of multibeam data.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4490" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/crewportraits.jpg" alt="crewportraits" width="1200" height="922" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/crewportraits.jpg 1200w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/crewportraits-300x231.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/crewportraits-768x590.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/crewportraits-1024x787.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></p> <p>Since it’s not every day you find yourself on a state-of-the-art research vessel, I thought I’d answer some general questions from Twitter! Here’s what everyone was curious to know:</p> <blockquote><p>How loud are the engines?</p></blockquote> <p>Quite loud on deck! My berth is two decks down, so it’s fairly insulated from the noise when I’m sleeping at night, but there’s a general rumble at all times. Between the rush of the wind and sea and the roar of the engines, you have to speak up to be heard when you’re outside.</p> <blockquote><p>How are day-to-day tasks different here than on a sailing ship?</p></blockquote> <p>Unlike previous trips where I’ve been embedded with a tall ship crew, there’s not much for me to do here from a vessel maintenance perspective. There are no lines to haul or sails to furl—the crew generally keep themselves occupied with navigation, engineering work, and watchkeeping duties. There’s still lots for them to do, but a lot of it is outside my area of expertise, so I’m getting on with the drawing work.</p> <p>The science team is monitoring the control room as we map the ocean floor to get a sense of what we’re passing over, the marine technicians are processing data and making sure the systems and sensors stay online (you can even follow live cruise data <a href="https://schmidtocean.org/rv-falkor/status/">here</a>), and the housekeeping staff do an amazing job of keeping everything spick and span. The vessel is more of a floating research station than anything, so there are more departments with greater specialization, rather than a collective team who all take turns handing various tasks.</p> <p>This leaves me somewhat at loose ends—I’m used to being more active—but I’ve got my work cut out for me when it comes to creating this comic, so I’m taking all the time I can to draft blog posts, work on outreach projects, and script the story that will explain our time here to the outside world.</p> <blockquote><p>How does the vessel handle?</p></blockquote> <p>Given that we’re motoring against the trade winds, the ride has been a little choppy. We did adjust our course to a lower latitude so that the wind is coming at us aslant rather than right on the nose, which means we’re not being slowed down quite as much. In the next few days we’ll turn north toward the Johnston Atoll.</p> <p>There are stabilizers on board, which help keep things relatively level, but we still make liberal use of Non-Slip Shelf Liner—just like I do back home on my angled drawing board!</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4506" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/shelfliner.jpg" alt="shelfliner" width="900" height="855" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/shelfliner.jpg 900w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/shelfliner-300x285.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/shelfliner-768x730.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px"></p> <blockquote><p>How are you getting along with the scientists? Was there any friction to start?</p></blockquote> <p>The science team are fantastic! We have a wide range of specialties, so I’m learning a lot about the terrain we’re covering from various angles (oceanographic, geologic, etc.). They’ve all been very patient with my barrage of questions about how things work and the lengthy time it takes for me to work out anything mathematical.</p> <blockquote><p>Is there a lot of turnover in the research crew?</p></blockquote> <p>Different research teams join Falkor every time there’s a new cruise. This particular trip is unique in that it’s a hybrid Transit Cruise. The ship needed to get back from Guam to Hawai’i, and John Smith (our lead scientist) applied to piggyback some of his mapping research on top of the already-scheduled travel days. All three of the science crew have been aboard Falkor before for various other research trips, so while there’s a high turnover from trip to trip, the overall pool of people associated with the vessel is pretty well-connected.</p> <p>There are five of us “outreach” crew members: myself, Andrew (Graduate Student from Guam), Brocks Jr. and Sr. (Ambassadors from 11th Hour Racing, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation, and Sail Martha’s Vineyard, a maritime training program benefitting underserved populations on the island of Martha’s Vineyard), and Jena (High School Teacher from Hawai’i).</p> <p><figure id="attachment_4527" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-4527" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4527" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/schmidtocean_2016-dec-31.jpg" alt="schmidtocean_2016-dec-31" width="2048" height="1365" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/schmidtocean_2016-dec-31.jpg 2048w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/schmidtocean_2016-dec-31-300x200.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/schmidtocean_2016-dec-31-768x512.jpg 768w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/schmidtocean_2016-dec-31-1024x683.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-4527" class="wp-caption-text">The Outreach Team! Photo by Mónika Naranjo González.</figcaption></figure></p> <blockquote><p>Is there an initiation rite for new crew?</p></blockquote> <p>I’ll get back to you. So far nobody’s covered me in krill.</p> <blockquote><p>What’s the best part? What’s the worst part?</p></blockquote> <p>Best: Working on deck with the whole world swaying and the air whipping around like warm silk—especially after months of Pacific Northwest winter.</p> <p>Worst: Trying to draw straight lines in a rough seaway.</p> <blockquote><p>What’s everyone eating?</p></blockquote> <p>Our chefs, Peter and Greg, are magnificent. Before I arrived a lot of the shoreside support team were cooing about how lucky I was to be going aboard because of the food, and now I see what they were talking about. In addition to a steady supply of snacks and treats, we get really magnificent meals three times a day (with an extra late-night meal for those standing watch). I mean, just look at this New Year’s Day feast:</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4526" src="http://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2017-jan-01.jpg" alt="lubellwoo_2017-jan-01" width="1024" height="1024" srcset="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2017-jan-01.jpg 1024w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2017-jan-01-150x150.jpg 150w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2017-jan-01-300x300.jpg 300w, https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lubellwoo_2017-jan-01-768x768.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></p> <blockquote><p>Wait, I thought pigs were bad luck on boats?</p></blockquote> <p>I hadn’t heard that one before! (Most of my interest in pigs has been around <a href="https://nauticry.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/bw2_04web.jpg">their history as a <em>good luck</em> tattoo</a>.) A cursory Google suggests that pigs are considered bad luck <em>specifically</em> on fishing vessels, which might explain why I hadn’t heard of the notion before. If anyone has anecdotal evidence: leave a comment!</p> <blockquote><p>What are the bathrooms like?</p></blockquote> <p>Ahh, the perennial question. Like everything else on the vessel: SUPER NICE. I’m so impressed by the standards of cleanliness and design everywhere on this ship. The heads (that’s what they’re usually called on board) are relatively small, but well cared-for, clean, and modern. I’m used to the old torture-chamber-type pump action heads, but these ones flush with the touch of a button like a standard toilet.</p> <p>The major restriction: only toilet paper can go down them—absolutely <em>no </em>chemical cleaners—because the waste system is biological! The bacterial colonies responsible for breaking down waste in the blackwater tanks are very sensitive, so we can only use a special cleaning solution for the toilet bowls. I’ll see if I can’t snag the chief mate and find out a little more about how this specific system works, since I’m curious myself.</p> <p>—</p> <p>That’s probably enough for today, so I’ll get back to sketching this very complicated-looking hydraulic sea crane. If you have more questions about life at sea, drop me a line in the comments or on Twitter at @LuBellWoo! You can also read up on the rest of the cruise outreach by following #MappinTheFloor on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.</p> </div> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/life-at-sea-with-rv-falkor/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published updated" datetime="2017-01-01T17:56:38-08:00">January 1, 2017</time></a></span><span class="tags-links"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/adventure/" rel="tag">adventure</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/adventure-cartoonist/" rel="tag">adventure cartoonist</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/ama/" rel="tag">AMA</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/blog/" rel="tag">blog</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/exploration/" rel="tag">exploration</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/guam/" rel="tag">Guam</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/lucy-bellwood/" rel="tag">lucy bellwood</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/mappinthefloor/" rel="tag">MappinTheFloor</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/marine-research/" rel="tag">marine research</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/maritime/" rel="tag">maritime</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/multibeam-mapping/" rel="tag">multibeam mapping</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/qa/" rel="tag">Q&A</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/rv-falkor/" rel="tag">R/V Falkor</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/research-at-sea/" rel="tag">Research at Sea</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/schmidt-ocean-institute/" rel="tag">Schmidt Ocean Institute</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/science/" rel="tag">science</a>, <a href="https://lucybellwood.com/tag/travel/" rel="tag">travel</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/life-at-sea-with-rv-falkor/#comments">2 Comments</a></span> </footer> </div> </article> </main> </div> </div> <aside id="tertiary" class="widget-area widget-footer" role="complementary"> <div class="widget-footer-area widget-footer-top-area column-1"> <div class="widget-area-wrapper"> <section id="block-3" class="widget widget_block widget_text"> <p></p> </section> </div> </div> <div class="widget-footer-area widget-footer-bottom-area column-1"> <div class="widget-area-wrapper"> <section id="block-2" class="widget widget-small widget_block"> <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex"> <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Upcoming Appearances</h3> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><a href="https://bartsbooksojai.com/courtyardevents/2efw372lr6pd6w0gozcsrn62x6aun4"><strong>Interviewing Carson Ellis</strong></a> - 6pm-7pm, Saturday, October 12th at Bart's Books in Ojai, CA</li> </ul> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Past Appearances</h3> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong><a href="https://www.annarborartcenter.org/drawing-worlds/"><em>Drawing Worlds</em></a> Opening Reception</strong> - Friday, June 14th at the Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI</li> <li><a href="https://a2caf.com/"><strong>Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival (A2CAF)</strong></a> - Free admission Saturday & Sunday, June 15th-16th at the Ann Arbor District Library, Ann Arbor, MI</li> <li><a href="https://lucybellwood.com/a-rare-appearance/"><strong>Interviewing Tessa Hulls</strong></a> - 6pm-7pm, Thursday, March 21st at Bart's Books in Ojai, CA</li> </ul> </div> </div> </section> </div> </div> </aside> </div> <footer id="colophon" class="site-footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="site-footer-wrapper"> <div class="site-info"> <a href="https://wordpress.org/">Proudly powered by WordPress</a> <span class="sep">/</span> Theme: Shoreditch by <a href="https://wordpress.com/themes/" rel="designer">Automattic</a>. </div> </div> </footer> </div> <style id='core-block-supports-inline-css' type='text/css'> .wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1{flex-wrap:nowrap;} </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/plugins/content-views-query-and-display-post-page/assets/ie-fix/html5shiv.min.js?ver=3.7.0" id="pt-cv-html5shiv-script-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-content/plugins/content-views-query-and-display-post-page/assets/ie-fix/respond.js?ver=1.4.2" id="pt-cv-respond-script-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-includes/js/dist/hooks.min.js?ver=2810c76e705dd1a53b18" id="wp-hooks-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://lucybellwood.com/wp-includes/js/dist/i18n.min.js?ver=5e580eb46a90c2b997e6" id="wp-i18n-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="wp-i18n-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ wp.i18n.setLocaleData( { 'text direction\u0004ltr': [ 'ltr' ] } ); 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