May 7, 2006 – All Aboard!, The Healy Sets Sail Options

[Patricia_Janes]

May 7, 2006 – The Healy

At 900 hours (9:00 AM), the big moment arrived: I boarded the Healy. All of my gear was packed into two large duffles—each weighing about 35 pounds—plus a camera bag and a computer bag. As I was packing, that didn’t seem like a lot, considering that I would be on the ship for a month. But when I saw the stairs that I would have to climb to get to the room where I would bunk, I regretted every extra pound of gear that I’d crammed into those bags.

But the sea was waiting, and so I slipped my arms through the duffle bag’s handles one bag at a time, loaded it onto my back, and made the backbreaking trip to the “02 Deck” where my stateroom is. Feeling like I was going to topple backward, I reached for the handrail and began to climb upward. And so my journey onboard the Healy began!


The stairs here are called ladders. Not a good sign when you have to climb them with a load of gear piled on your back.

Once I’d gotten all of my gear onboard, one of the first things I did was unpack my camera so you could see what my room is like. There are two bunk beds: one for me, and the other for my roommate, Marj, who I will write about in a future posting.


The ship’s bunk beds have rails so that if the seas get rough, no one will fall out of bed. Curtains help to shut out any light.

I unpacked my clothes and other gear and made sure that everything was safely stowed. When you are onboard a ship, it is important that nothing is out in the open. Otherwise, when the boat hits rough waters, things will fly all over the place.

I peeked out of my porthole and saw the beautiful mountains of Unalaska. It will be approximately 30 days before they will welcome me once again upon my return.


My room has a porthole that is about 1 foot in diameter. You can look through it here to see Unalaska’s mountains.

Next I headed up to the bridge, the area from which the captain and crew navigate the Healy. The time to leave port was nearing.


Bundled up in several layers, I went to the bridge to watch the ship push off from port.