A little about Will

Let me say right up front that I’m no writer. I’m just a guy with a story to tell. I’ve often been lucky by being in the right place at the right time.

These stories are about the four and a half years I spent in the Alvin Group working for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

I remember all this like it was yesterday because of the big impact it had on me. It took my life and career on a track that I had never imagined before.

That was over 30 years ago and it’s been a wild ride sometimes. There’s the old question; “Do you know the difference between a fairy tale and a sea story?” A fairy tale starts out “Once upon a time” and a sea story starts out “This is no shit!”

Well read on because this is no shit!

Sunday, June 26, 2016

On the wall



In the first floor bathroom of my house hangs an 8x10 photo, matted and framed, of the bow of the Titanic. Caked with rust that gives it a predominantly orange color, the sharp edge of the ship meets the flat muddy ocean floor. 
When I get a comment about it from a visitor I tell them the story of how I had lunch there. I parked Alvin right there in front of the wreck a few feet away. We sat there for about an hour while Martin Bowen flew the little Jason Jr. vehicle around the anchors looking for the printed name: Titanic. 
Every time I look at that picture I remember that moment. It was late in the day so it was getting cold,
down into the 50's, the walls of the sub dripping with the condensation from our breath. I had been driving all day so this was my first chance to have lunch. There I was 2 1/2 miles down looking
out the window eating an apple with no more concern than looking out the living room window into the yard.
Sometimes I look back to that time and it seems so surreal. did I really do that? Would I do it again? Yes, I'm certain of that but alas that job exacts too high a price. Nine months a year away from home,
that I will pass on. But I will always have that picture to remind me.

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