Sunset over the Pacific

We are two days away from Japan! Enjoyed a gorgeous sunset tonight. 

The Bridge

My friend Tricia and I got a tour of the bridge today. It was a great view of the ocean open ahead of us. We learned from the 3rd officer and deckhand about their responsibilities on the ship and daily life. Fun fact, we burned about $70,000 worth of fuel on our first day at sea! Due to the storm we went approximately 400-500 miles extra, that's a lot of money burned! But we are lucky we did so, as these were the second largest waves the 3rd officer had ever experienced at sea. They were 6 meters high. It was interesting to see the many charts, flags, and technology that are helping us navigate the globe. 

Storms

Our captain has changed the route of our voyage to Japan to avoid a storm. We are traveling around it as much as possible. The center of the storm has waves of 50 feet, luckily we will only experience 20 foot waves. But it will still be the worst weather we have had by far and should be quite an experience. Especially due to the fact that I had a reaction to the seasickness patch and cannot wear it until my vision is back to normal which could be another 2 days. It is 12:30 PM here now and the weather should start sometime this afternoon and continue through tomorrow.  Wish us luck! 

International Date Line

We are continuing on our stretch to Japan. Classes are taking place everyday and keeping us all busy with the work load. We have been gaining about an hour each day, but today we passed the international date line. Therefore January 19th did not exist! We passed right over it pushing our clocks forward a full 24 hours. 
 

Hawaii 2

We then took a three hour hike through Kilauea Iki Crater, located right next to the Caldera, it used to be the site of a lava lake. The black ash that lined the inside of the massive crater showed the massive area that the lava lake used to encompass. It was a fascinating hike, beginning through the rain forest and then out into this barren empty space of a volcano. Once we passed over the crater we had a steep climb up the other side on hiking trails that led up back out to the main road.

Hawaii

After our first stretch at sea we landed in Hilo, Hawaii!

My Geohazards and Natural Disasters class traveled together as part of the course to Kilauea Volcano. The big Island is made up of 5 volcanoes. Kilauea is the only one that is active today and is currently threatening a small town with its lava flow. 

First we stopped at Kilauea Visitor Center to hear from two scientists who monitor the Hawaiian volcanoes on a day to day basis to watch for changes. They gave us a brief overview and history of the area as well as showed us the latest monitor technology in use. We were able to see the vast expanse of land that makes up the Kilauea Caldera. Inside we were able to see the Halema'uma'u Crater where gas was flowing heavily upward. This gas contained dangerous amounts of sulfur dioxide and therefore the area anywhere closer than where we were standing was closed off. Deep inside the crater, beneath the gas was the bright red lava, unable to be seen during the daytime.



 

 

Not a bad day at "school"