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August 14, 2014

Big Waves, Big Plans

© OCEANA / Carlos Suárez

 

On Sunday morning, we left Sandhamn and sailed northwest to the Gulf of Bothnia where we will carry out more research on marine litter in the Baltic Sea. On board, we are divided into watch teams. This way, everyone takes their turn to work and carry out daily tasks, despite being as inexperienced in sailing as I am.

We are learning all the time. So far, we have all put up the main sail, worked night shifts, and even steered the boat, which is quite an awesome feeling.  The weather has been a bit mixed so far; sunny, calm and windy, and the sea has been quite wavy. Today, we experienced waves of up to 2 meters tall!

To get some sleep for the night, we have anchored near the Swedish coast for shelter from the wind, but this morning at 4am we will sail out again, to carry on with more fieldwork. Fieldwork at the sea is very dependent on the weather, something we also experienced during our earlier Baltic Sea expeditions. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day. I will keep you updated on our findings!