As all good things must come to an end, so has my trip aboard the Maersk Launcher ended. Though the trip was not without it's stresses and bad weather and bouts of sea sickness, I found it amazingly hard to leave the comfort and familiarity of the ship behind. In almost a two-month voyage, the crew of The Ocean Cleanup and the Maersk crew felt more like family than anything else, and it was more difficult than I would have imagined to pack up all my stuff and leave! For the record, I did not cry upon seeing my first tree on land, though I definitely paused and had to touch a palm tree to make sure I wasn't dreaming! The craziest part of all of this is that I am ON OAHU NOW! There are birds and dogs and OTHER PEOPLE and ocean that meets land, which is NUTS!!! Adjusting to non-rolling ground underneath me has been a struggle as well - I tripped going up the stairs on the Launcher while we were in port...the first time I tripped going UP the stairs and naturally we weren't moving. Another awesome aspect of being on solid ground is that when putting say shoes on you don't have to THROW YOUR WEIGHT against any forces of the waves moving the ship...so needless to say I've almost fallen over while getting dressed more than a couple times...even since actually moving into Airbnb's and not even being in the ENVIRONMENT that the ground underneath me was rolling but I guess it'll be fine... I am wishing Wilson the best and am looking forward to seeing the results of the trial in the GPGP, but for now I'm gonna go enjoy the salt and sand and waves at the beach - the first beaches I've seen in nearly TWO WHOLE MONTHS!!! Goodbye Launcher, it's been a real pleasure and adventure and I know you'll have a place in my heart forever, but aloha Hawaii, I think we're gonna get along just fine.
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AuthorBree Gibbs, here. I'm a recent Master's Grad just trying to share what it's like to be a trash scientist (for those who aren't in the know, I'm a marine biologist). Categories
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March 2021
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