From The Scientist Johanna Johnson 6-18/03/06

As my 2 weeks on the Pelican draws to a close, I can reflect on how quickly it has gone and yet how much we have achieved. I must admit that the idea of doing research from a sailing vessel was romantic but I wasn't convinced we would reach all of our sites and do all the monitoring we needed to. However, here we are on our last morning in the Whitsundays, in a beautiful calm bay of Hook Island having just had a morning swim and breakfast, and we did reach all the sites that weather would permit. In fact, being on a sailing vessel has allowed us to reach more sites than we could have in a powerboat. There's been rough days (literally) and smooth sailing, but I've enjoyed it all and been repeatedly impressed by the fortitude and smiling faces of the crew and trainees. I think the trainees have all adjusted really well to life on a boat, and are not only learning new things, but have been generous enough to share with us their own knowledge and culture. This is certainly a research trip I will remember for some time to come!