Afternoon Adventure- Dutch Island Lighthouse

So yesterday and today the heat is literally unbearable. The conference room that we sit in to do work does not have air conditioning. You’d think that by being right on Narragansett Bay it’d be pretty cool but NO. It’s a million degrees. So, today turned into “bring your fan to work day,” and I’m much happier. For some reason my ability to tolerate heat just isn’t there- I think like my dad. 

So yesterday I did something adventurous and crazy- something that was definitely on my list of things to do before I leave Rhode Island. 

There’s a little lighthouse on Dutch Point, an island between here and Jamestown. I look out my window at it every single day. My friend Jess heard one of the professors talk about how him and one of his students swum out to the lighthouse for exercise. Yesterday, Chris (my old roommate) was here, and we decided to go swimming at the little beach here after work. I jokingly told him about the swim out to the lighthouse, and he’s like “let’s do it!” Keep in mind- Chris is a lifeguard and a really good swimmer. I’m a decent enough swimmer with a really determined attitude- when I want to do something there’s no stopping me until I do it. 

So, regardless of the fact that the water was pretty chilly, it felt great after being hot ALL day. We were probably also dehydrated when we started from the heat. So, we started swimming out. It’s REALLY far. It’s really hard to judge distance on the surface of the water. 

It started out calm, in the shallows of the beach, but as we made our way out into the deeper water there was more wind, waves, and boat traffic (of which we were very aware, very cautious, and even if a boat was hundreds of yards away we made our way towards lobster pot buoys so we would be extra noticeable). Also, the further into the channel, the stronger the current. I looked up the tides before we went out- flood tide, which would mean we’d end up swept upriver and not out to sea. Plus, at the beginning you couldn’t feel any sort of current at all. It took us probably about an hour to get out there- nice leisurely swim, lots of laughs, etc. About a hundred feet from the shore of the lighthouse, my right calf muscle cramped- I’m talking really bad spasm, to the point where your muscle goes from concave (pointing outwards) to convex (pointing inwards). At this point though, we really couldn’t stop, so I pushed through the pain! We touched the rocks by the lighthouse (which are barnacle covered and not super fun to climb up) and then turned around. At this point, we’re swimming against the current (due to the angle at which we had to swim back), so I definitely swallowed some salt water. My left leg cramps- but again, we have to make it back, so I stop for a second but then just keep swimming. It was funny because my legs were bothering me and Chris’ armpit hair was chafing his armpits- we definitely had a few laughs!! Combined we made up one full able-bodied swimmer. 

So we’re swimming back, getting colder, more tired, and the sun is setting…  As a result of the current, we ended up way further upriver than we intended, hauled ourselves out of the water on somebody’s beachfront property (albeit at this time I could barely walk), and walked up their driveway. I stopped a really nice lady to ask her for directions back via the road, but she offered to drive us. If she hadn’t, it would have been probably about 2 miles walk back, at 8:30 at night, in our bathing suits, without shoes. 

Needless to say, it was awesome and there’s nobody I would have rather done it with. I’d never do it again- I realize that it was pretty dangerous and could have turned into a really bad situation. What's that expression? All's well that ends well! Next time maybe on a kayak….

Altogether it was just over 2 miles swimming if I mapped it correctly, which took us three hours, because most of it was against the current on the way back. 

(you can click on the pictures to see them bigger- and the picture of the lighthouse is from a website, I didn't have my camera with me. And the picture off the end of a dock is what my view of the lighthouse looks like from the lab window)

... from fish to food

Things are going well! I’ve learned to accept the fact that everything I try to do will take about six times longer than I expect it to, and I’m okay with it. Last week and this week are a bit slower, more time for researching parts to a new filter we’re ordering, taking the time to get the boat from North Carolina back up here (I guess the tuna are biting up here nowadays!), and making sure the system is as-perfect-as-we-can-make-it before we get fish again. I’m still putting in way more hours than I actually get paid for, but the work is fun and I like the project and the people I’m with.

I dove on Saturday with my friend Mike at Fort Wetherill again-Jamestown is so beautiful. I saw a keeper sized fluke (which is fuelling my desire to learn how to spearfish), a couple keeper sized blue crabs, and four clams! Shhh the clams are currently in the freezer. I’m trying to decide if it’s worth it to get a resident clamming license. I also got to teach Mike’s friend Rich, as this was his first time diving in the ocean. Mike is an instructor, and I’m working towards getting my divemaster, so I led the dive and worked on skills with Rich. Rich told me I make a great instructor! I was looking at my logbook- I’ve dove over 65 times in just about two years! (look for a few dive pictures below)

Saturday night I babysat for five of the greatest kids ever-relatives on my dad’s side (my dad’s cousins’s kids). We painted toenails and played with some sort of a pet lizard, colored, and watched a movie, among other things. What a great way to get away from work stress, make a little extra cash, and get to watch them all grow up. I absolutely LOVE babysitting.

Sunday I went with mom to Stop and Shop in Colchester- apparently they were reopening the store so I walked out with a couple reusable bags, free chips, a balloon and a $10 gift card. Probably the best shopping experience ever, glad to spend it with my mom. Oh and we got lobsters for my dad for father’s day. (Last night and tonight I had leftover lobster alfredo for dinner- SO yummy!)

I decided I want to become a fisherman and a gardener. I want to be a fisherman because living in “the ocean state,” there’s awesome seafood just off the beach. If I can catch my own fish, gather my own clams, etc. I can enjoy a lot of nice dinners and feel good about harvesting it myself. So on father’s day afternoon, Dad sorted out some old surf casting gear for me and talked me through a couple of knots. Pretty cool to learn about fishing from the best fisherman I know.

Last week I went fishing with my friend Donald, he caught a keeper porgie but my fish was only about two inches long- pretty impressive that I caught him on a normal sized hook (see picture below).

Along the same lines of fishing, I’ve decided to grow some of my own veggies. I got a cherry tomato plant from a local nursery, which has already given me 6 tomatoes in the week that I’ve had it. I also planted a bunch of cucumber seeds in a planter with mom- it’ll be awhile before they come up.

Tank striping

Updates on my life…

I’ve settled in nicely to my new home! My room is perfectly comfortable, I love the people I work with, the project we’re working on, and how every day is something new. Because some of the lab is fishing in North Carolina tomorrow (Monday), we had A TON of work to do last week. I love this job because there’s absolutely no “typical” day.

Some of the people from my lab went down to North Carolina to go tuna fishing, to hopefully transport some up the coast to fill the tank. I’m not in North Carolina this week because I haven’t learned to drive standard yet, I’m the newest student in the lab, and there’s still a lot to do up here to get ready if they bring fish back from North Carolina.

So before they come back, we had to essentially redo a 20,000 gallon tank. That required draining it (Wednesday), scrubbing it and scraping vertical strips off the walls (Thursday), sanding down and taping around where wanted to repaint the new vertical stripes (Friday), and then figuring out what to do when we were unable to use paint. We decided to use boat lettering, as that’s waterproof and should last quite a while. So after wiping away all the dust from the sanding that I did by hand on Friday, the boat lettering strips arrived at about 8:00 on Friday night. Because we had to get things done, we started applying them right then. To stick them on, you first have to wipe the fiberglass with rubbing alcohol, and then stick the strip to the wall, scrape out any air bubbles, use a heat gun to get it to adhere to the wall better, and then peel off the backing. It took SO long to do. The purpose of these vertical stripes is so that the fish doesn’t run into the walls of the tank. If there are markings on the walls then they realize there’s a boundary there and they won’t hit it.

Also on Friday, I was drilling, siliconing, installing tubing, transporting tanks between the lab and the box truck…. I absolutely love what I’m doing because I’m constantly working with my hands, problem solving when something we build isn’t quite right, and it challenges me. I don’t think I could ever be bored.

Cross your fingers that they catch some fish this week!

Saturday my friend Mike came up from Groton to go diving. We went diving out at Fort Wetherill, a state park in Jamestown. It used to take about an hour to get to, but it only took me about ten minutes. Even though the visibility was bad (only about 6 feet), the dives were good! I got tangled up in some fishing line on the second dive but Mike cut the line and I untangled myself. I was trying to pick it up so that divers wouldn’t get caught up in it, because it’s a really popular dive spot. I even saw another Mike from Seaview Scuba teaching a class there. At night we tried Gregg’s Place, an awesome restaurant with both good food and amazing desserts (there’s a separate bakery at the front of the store). I’m really liking figuring out some of these local places!

Onto the start of another week…

A New Chapter

So a lot’s happened since I posted last. I’ll just skip to this past weekend for the sake of time.

Friday, June 1^st I handed in my honors thesis, a really important paper that was the key to graduating with honors. It’s a paper based on a whole bunch of research that a student does on the topic of their choosing. Mine was on “Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas across a Latitudinal Gradient,” which means how closed areas of the ocean (like areas where activities are limited like you can’t fish, dredge for shellfish, or even drive through) actually affect the animals that live there. My finished copy was 57 pages long with tables and everything, but the actual written part was 14 pages! I rewrote it countless times (one draft was 30 pages of writing!) and owe a big THANK YOU to my advisor, Dr. Auster. He’s the single biggest influence on my undergraduate career and someone I have a ton of respect for and really look up to. Friday night I babysat for one of our neighbors. I’ve watched these kids for like seven years now and love spending time with them. It was the Mom’s surprise birthday party, so I ended up watching four kids (which was SO much fun!!) and snacked on prime rib and shrimp cocktail. Talk about a good job! Saturday I spent all day packing.

Sunday, me, Mom, Dad, Josh, and Uncle Steven all headed east with a huge trailer full of my stuff. My room is absolutely perfect- it’s so comfortable and cozy and I absolutely love it. We ended up at Monahan’s, tried some fried clams, and then headed over to Iggy’s for doughboys! Doughboys are like small fried doughs that are absolutely incredible. They were amazing- one of the reasons I know my family will have to come out this way to visit me!

I started work in the lab Monday morning. I work with two other students, Donald and Taylor. Donald was showing me around this week because Taylor is stuck in New Jersey with car trouble. Yesterday was really slow and I was kinda bored, but today was crazy because I might be flying down to North Carolina to go fishing as early as next Monday!! We have a ton to do before then, like figure out what new filter to buy, repaint part of our huge tank, I have to learn to drive standard…..

I even got to see Shelby, Monday night, because she goes to URI. I had dinner with her and her friend Meg at Rhody Joe’s. It was decent, albeit the raw insides of the clam fritters. Yes, we sent them back and managed to get free desert out of the manager.

Also, does anybody know where I can find 4-5 of those blue plastic 55 gallon barrels? I need some ASAP for a project.

So in the midst of all of this, a great wave of calmness and peace has washed over me. It’s hard to explain but I’m feeling more adult- I actually live on my own in the next state over, I have a real job, I rent my own place (without the help of UConn), and I’m trying to meet new people. I’m completely at peace because all of the craziness has left- in that currently, working in the lab is my only responsibility. While I might put in long hours, I don’t have to race from there to class (I won’t start class until the fall), to a job, to volunteer, to babysit, etc. My job in the lab is something I’m super interested in, so why wouldn’t I want to spend a lot of time there?

Also, I’m really happy for my parents. They ended up with two awesome kids that are both doing amazing things with their lives, wanting more, and actually going after it. I’m super happy that I chose a grad school so close to home because for some reason I can’t get enough of my family.

So here I sit, typing this blog, unbelievably relaxed, sipping some strawberry wine and mentally patting myself on the back for being brave and starting a new chapter in life.