Day 199 - Feb. 20, 2011

life guard tower 26 - Ocean Park, Santa Monica CA

trash collected for 20 minutes

8 pounds 

755.6 pounds total

COMMUNITY COUNT DAY - 112 - DR. HEATHER LOUNSBURY

trash collected for 20 minutes

4 pounds 

695.8 pounds total

The Daily Ocean combined total - 1,451.4 pounds

There's only 17 days left until we fly to Chile to meet the boat to take off with the 5 Gyres Institute to sail to Easter Island, and then on to Tahiti. As you can imagine, this is taking a lot of my mental energy. SO...I thought I would share with you what the last bit of preparation looks like for us. 

- We found a house sitter last week! Jacob will be living here for two and a half months with our cat Meera. He was a member of Team Marine last year and took Garen's Marine Biology class last fall at SMC, so it feels great that we both know him. This was a big thing off of our minds. 

Garen has been talking to GUMP Station - a marine lab run by UC Berkley in Tahiti - about shipping our water samples to the lab in the US to be tested for nitrate levels. Apparently, we can find dry ice in Papeete, and we should just take the samples home on the plane. Another big thing crossed off of our list. 

Garen tested this prescription for Sea Sickness medication from his doctor yesterday to see if it makes him too drowsy. I have to try it out tomorrow. I'm doing too much driving today to mess with my level of alertness. This RX works for Garen, making him drowsy but functional. I am crossing fingers that it is the same for me. This would be another HUGE thing taken care of for us. 

We are waiting for a check from the Santa Monica College Foundation so that we can buy our plane tickets home from Tahiti in May. MAY! I think we found a flight that will allow us to have an 8 hour lay over in Oahu, which would enable us to see Garen's friends Angel and Judy. Angel married us. That would be cool. Cross fingers that the flight is still open in a few days when we pay our credit card down and can book the tickets.

Today I am waiting to hear from my dad in New York City who should be going into his Oncologist's office in about 30 minutes to go over his MRI, bone scan and another test whose name I don't remember.   
Hopefully, I will get good news that he can come out for a visit before he starts radiation. This is occupying the most space in my brain. He may be here Sat. of Sun. or he may not be able to make it....we'll see. Glad I get to distract myself with lunch at Thyme Cafe with Siel. 


This was a more personal entry than most, but I thought it might be an interesting perspective to read what two people are going through to cross most of the South Pacific. My hope was to make something that feels abstract and far away, tangible and relatable.