First sight is the cross trees. The Sailing School Vessel Corwith Cramer peers over dockside restaurants and into the ferry parking lot where the Bonanza Bus has left me. A few strides past tourists and young men in foulies and I'm on the dock, adjacent to Alvin's home, and crossing the gang plank onto a new home.
My initial immersion is fast. Whit kindly welcomes me aboard and completes a whirlwind overview just in time for dinner. Sarah and Matthew cap the meal with strawberry pies! Many names rocket past, leaving me unsure of who's coming and who's outbound.
I wash dishes and assume the 8-8 watch as the ship vacates --
all hands to the campus for video relaxations, and the like. I'm
left feeling a mix of exhilaration and ambivalence. It's odd to be
floating upon what I anticipate to be an ideal mix of education and
research while looking across the water 30 meters to the WHOI dock:
the epitome of pure research aspirations. Would I be more content
on that dock? Settling into the easy dip of the Cramer's midships,
admiring the boggling array of lines and equipment, I'm comfortable
and excited, but unsure of an answer.
This is my chance to find out.
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