Jaybo Update

My little bro, Jaybo, has been on an Antarctic expedition the past 6 weeks. It has been an interesting journey from the start. They flew down to Santiago, Chile, and took out of Puerta Arenas. They headed off on the blue line path below, until they were forced to turn around and head back to port after their Captain was found dead one morning. Jay's computer then crashed with all his research and thesis data and info on it, but they did manage to get that back up. Not a good start to their trip, especially for superstitious sailors. After dropping the poor Captain's body off, they headed back out, following the black line path below. The weather and seas were more precarious, with the waves reaching 20 feet at some times. Then, a few days ago, one of their two propellers went out ... Jay, fortunately, has the seafaring Hooper gene, and was immune to seasickness, but said you couldn't get much done when the contents of your room were shifting around so much. He is working the night shift on the ship, and assisting whatever professors need help. One of his jobs actually resembled the King Crab fishing show, The Deadliest Catch, as they had to hoist a large scientific pod (i.e. the large "contraption" pictured below) over the deck and drop it to collect research. Later, then had to come back by and hook it, reel it in, and collect the data. I had no idea Jay would be out on deck doing such hands on stuff. He's had minimal internet access while out there, so we are excited any time we get an email from him or see a post on his blog: http://jamesahooperv.blogspot.com/.

You can imagine my slight panic last weekend when the earthquake hit Chile and there was talk of a tsunami with Jaybo and his ship with one propeller not far off the coast. I immediately called Daddy, who reassured me that being onboard a ship in the open ocean is the safest place to be during an earthquake/tsunami. They would have barely noticed it if it happened right under them. We heard from Jay the next morning and he confirmed he was fine. I will be very happy to have him home safe and sound on Monday, and can't wait to hear the rest of his adventure. We've been watching his puppy, Bourbon the Ridgeback, while he's away, so I know they will be excited to be reunited as well.