The time in between - Part 2 (Activities and Kitties)

Besides all the main events, there was also recreation. In Fall I didn't get much chance to go surfing, as the swells were absent most of the time and when they were up, the crowds were too. So, computer games and netflix were nice refuges. The cat provided endless hours of entertainment as well, though not always pleasant. Despite our best attempts to train her, she keeps jumping up on the counters, desks, window ledges, etc. I have lost four glasses to her game of "knock everything off the counter." She is also learning to open cabinets to paw at her food containers... its a match of patience and I think she is winning. Good thing she is cute or she would have been eaten back in July.

But I did get out surfing some in December. Yes, its very cold, but the water is cold all year round so it doesn't make much difference. I finally convinced Bhodi one day to come down and take a few shots of me on a wave. You might look at that and say that's pretty small, but that's ok, I'm still a beginner.
















Besides surfing, a favorite past time is climbing. Bhodi and Iboth have memberships for the gym that is two blocks from our apartment, and tried to go as often as we could encourage ourselves to. We also worked there alot during the last month, pulling small kids up the walls, when I was out of school for break and the sailing season was slow for Bhodi.
















To bring it up to date, as of today, Jan 3, Bhodi is on the Schooner Lynx as Chief Mate under Christopher Trandell as captain. He is very excited about it, the sailing, the boat, the position, and working with Christopher again. We drove down together (hoping to take the 1 but turned inland due to gale force winds) just after Christmas and I stayed a few days but left before New Years. They are in San Pedro now and after doing several loops to ports in the San Diego/LA area, they will transit up to Morro Bay, Monterey, Half Moon Bay, and then SF before the end of April. Personally I'm really happy and excited for him, but of course will miss my bedwarmer... he's in the same state though... and overall, I miss sailing with him. In the future however, there's a lot to look forward to.








For Christmas, we had a quiet one at home. And since we didn't want to get a tree, we used one of the cat's neglected toys to light up and put presents under. Of course, this means she was suddenly interested in it again... But we lit candles and listened to songs, Bhodi cooked dinner and all the good stuff of our first personal Christmas together. Hope you all had a good one and that I bump into you in the near future.

Cheers, Erin

The time in between (the Bay and beyond)

Good evening and happy new years!

Lagging time between posts seems to be a trend and this time instead if excuses, I'm just going to ask for acceptance since it won't likely change in the future.

We last left off with starting school and Bhodi working for Pacific Yachting and Sailing with both of us moving into a new apartment. What happened in the months of October, November, and December were lots of reading of scientific papers at school and Bhodi alternating between Santa Cruz and San Francisco, where he acted as relief Captain and Mate on the schooner Seaward. The shots on the left are from one of the Seaward's overnight trips to the Farallones.


As for my schooling, like I said, it was a lot of reading and discussing tactics with my advisor on how to approach the problem set before us. In a quick summary, what we are working on is the physical and chemical effect of tidal unloading (not ocean tides, but planet sized gravity tides) on hot compressed rock deep in the interior when planets pass each other in a near miss "collision." The effects of this can be tremendous, as the pressure is released the world could turn into an explosive volcano, or not, thats what we are testing. This isn't related to today, but to answer questions of how planets and metorites were formed long ago. Starting this winter is when the experiments will begin...


Bhodi and I celebrated Halloween by sitting out on the sidewalk in front of our apartment, watching Lost Boys and handing out candy.

For Thanksgiving, Mom and two of my aunts came for a week long visit. During which we all went into the city and to my first visit to Alcatraz. Very cool, highly recommend spending a lot of time there to see all the exhibits. As it was, we only got to do the main tour before catching the ferry back. Thanksgiving is definately one of my most favorite holidays, and I won;t kid ya, its for the food. My mom cooks a mean Thanksgiving meal and it was a very welcome change from the sailor's/grad student's diet of spagetti and pizza. Thanks Mom and Aunts!



















































Some more beautiful shots of San Francisco from the Seaward.