September 12th - 16th

Dr T's Log Supplemental

September 12th, the last full day in St Petersburg:

Our visit to the university, and the presentation by the professor was worthwhile, although - truthfully - his reflections on the 'Russia of today' were no more revealing than what I had gleaned from The Economist over the past several months. He did speak with surprising candor of the corruption - 'the most dangerous enemy of Russia today, the emphasis on restoration of basic infrastructure - St Petersburg's
streets, building facades, sewer and water lines, seem to be being replaced all at once (it is Putin's home town), the depopulation of the country (partially through immigration but principally because of low birth rates), the relative prosperity of the cities and the decline of the hinterland, the widespread ambivalence the Russian
people have toward the new economic way versus a return to the command economy, and the great popularity of President Putin and the constitutional difficulty arising as he finishes his second of two terms. (In question period I asked, in my way, whether Mrs. Putin harboured any political ambitions, thinking that perhaps we could have
a 'Hillary follows Bill' possibility in Moscow too. He didn't seem to catch on to the parallel I was drawing - I've seen looks of disapproval like that before (KKO) but the student audience warmed to it.

Thursday, September 13th, (Jim Dewar's birthday) 'ship out' at 9:00 AM
for Mariehamn, Finland.

We were all tired out after several days in port - I'm guessing I walked 10 km a day about the city. The departure from the dock proceeded without incident (the cat which had adopted us stayed behind). As soon as we rounded the headland at the port entrance we met with strong headwinds and choppy seas (power only, no sail). The
wind freshened as the Bay of Finland widened out and we had a lot of uncomfortable sailors. You probably are familiar with the old line "What would you do with a one armed economist?" for he wouldn't be able to say 'on the one hand', and 'on the other'. Well, I managed to teach my three hours yesterday while hanging on to the desk or any other fixed object near to hand. In all my days in Acadia classrooms I
had never had anyone respond to my pearls of wisdom via a public display of stomach sickness. Well it happened twice yesterday! By dinner time (6:30 PM) I wasn't feeling on the top of my game either. The wind, if anything, had picked up a couple of notches, and the deck was plenty wet on the windward side (the 'chuckers' were
populating the leeward rail). The seas were splashing up on the cabin portholes, which don't open for obvious reasons. When I reached the mess I knew I was being personally tested - the entree was sauerkraut and pork bits on a bed of rice. Now Claudia will attest to the fact that I have been know to eat sauerkraut on (rare) occasions, and am somewhat partial to sauerkraut chocolate cake, so this is not meant as a cheap shot over the marital table so to speak. I was sitting next to Shelly the MO (medical officer) and she recommended a bit of rice and a couple of glasses of water, and to bed. That is what I did, and slept right through to fitness this morning without 'losing it' as it were. And I feel great, and very hungry!

Friday, September 14th, a beautiful sunny day with light winds, and
moderate seas

We had the usual dry cereal choices for breakfast and fresh fruit cup as an added bonus. One of the announcements at Colours was the looming shortage of bathroom tissue! We're two days out of Finland and we have a shortage of this nature - fortunately, Richard and I had squirreled away an extra roll - we are taking turns standing guard over it! My classes this afternoon will be the ninth in each of the courses (out of 34 or so); remember I am teaching two terms between now and Christmas. The first term ends when we arrive in Dublin. Currently I have Principles of Economics, Micro and Introduction to Business (which I am facilitating for Don Bureaux, the DCE instructor of record). After Dublin my scholars and I take up Principles of Economics, Macro and Environmental Economics. The class sizes for
these four courses are (approximately and respectively) 17, 9, 9, and 8. (The inflated enrolment in 'Micro' is explained in part by the requirement of it as a prerequisite for my second year environment course.)

The ship has a limited number of places to hang out. I am in the seminar room just now with my laptop. This is a 10 by 10 space with seating for 8 in a pinch. It is right next door to my cabin, the stairs to the mess is across the companion way, and the stairs down to the laundry room is around the corner. The mess doubles as a
classroom, with the real classroom at the stern. Cabin #123, Richard and me, is well forward from mid ships, and in weather you can feel it!

Later Friday, 4:00 PM through the night and into Saturday, September
15th

Following a pattern known to Baltic sailors I am told, a nasty little wind storm arrived late afternoon. The wind, light throughout the day, shifted around to be directly from the west, in our face, at speeds gusting to 35 knots. The waves increased to 5-8 metres, and conditions were generally uncomfortable. All sail was taken down, storm safety lines were strung all round on deck, and (lock in) safety harness was mandatory.

I took supper, with some reluctance - the mess wasn't crowded - and retired to my bunk early. I slept through the night (with my supper) but was aware of being lifted off my mattress on a number of occasions, especially when the bow sprit was (temporarily) submerged. (Once I heard the prop wine as it came out of the water.) There is a wide board that is attached to the bunk which one can put in a vertical position in rough seas. It was the only thing that kept me from falling out!

Classes are on today as is the case every day while at sea, but with the winds still strong the learning environment is severely compromised. My Econ 1013 students have a test this afternoon. As several of them are suffering severe seasickness I have amended the evaluative scheme to count the best 2/3 tests.

The wind came up further in the late afternoon hitting 45 knots on a couple of occasions. We were sliding all over the mess benches at dinner time (i.e., supper), and it was early to bed once more. I woke early and marked the tests from yesterday.

Sunday, September 16th, arrival in Finland

We arrive in Marienham about lunch time, so this morning is a regular class schedule. The winds are much reduced and we are in the lea of the land as we approach port. I'll open the bank at 11 AM - the Finns use the Euro - after my double Business class, and should have some free time in port this afternoon and evening. So I'll send this blog entry along.