Hi my name is Tom Wilson, I am a postgraduate geophysics student at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). Early this year I received an email recruiting a kiwi postgraduate geophysics student to help out with the HOBITSS project. I instantly replied expressing my interest, and to my delight I was accepted. I was stoked, its not everyday you get news you get to be involved with a collabrative multi-national research project!
Sailing day, the 20th June, came around quickly and it was time to set sail. I was all stocked up with seasickness medicine and a sunny optimism that I wasn’t going to need it. A few hours before setting sail I took them as a precaution anyway. I’m glad that I did. It was on the very first night that I had my first proper encounter with sea sickness. Needless to say it wasn’t fun. I found that motion sickness quietly creeps up and takes hold. All you can really do when it hits is wait it out and try and keep your fluid intake up. I also found that keeping busy helps a lot! It is now day 4 and I am feeling adjusted to life on the sea. I am glad to say that you do adjust to the constant rocking and rolling of the boat!
As the night went on the waves got higher…