I majored in biology at C. W. Post for a year before transferring to the New York Maritime College at Fort Schuyler (Bronx, NY). I really wanted to be a meteorologist, but got a job working in the Merchant Marines a week after graduating (1969). There was a war on (Vietnam), and because of my background in meteorology, I could have taken a commission in the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Air Force, or the Merchant Marines. If I didn't choose one of those, I'd have been drafted into the Army. So, I chose to go to sea.

I worked for several years for Exxon on oil tankers. That was a tough job. It's dirty, there's gas and oil fumes all the time wherever you go on the boat, and there wasn't much time in port. You pretty much went from one ship to another with very little contact with others. It was three months on and six weeks off.

Well, I got married and stayed on shore for a few years, but I couldn't stay away. I just couldn't. I took a few jobs and went back to sea full-time in 1976. I came aboard my first Woods Hole Oceanographic vessel in 1979.

I became permanent crew with WHOI full time in 1983.

I really like having the science crews come on board. The cruises that are two to three weeks are the best. They're long enough to get the work done. One-week cruises are too busy, and the worst are 40-day cruises. Those are the worst. People start getting on each other's nerves. Part of my job is to keep things interesting and keep people from fighting. I like to keep things running smoothly on board.

It's tough to be away from my family. I miss a lot of things. My 16-year-old daughter is playing soccer this fall, and I've missed every game she's played. She also got her driver's license this fall, and I missed that. I've been out here since August, but I'll be home for Christmas and make up for lost time.

When I was Captain of the R/V Knorr (another WHOI vessel), I took a science research group to the Antarctic. While we were working, the temperature of the water around the vessel dropped below 28.5°F. (Salt water freezes below this temperature.) We didn't see any icebergs, but the water started turning to slush around the boat, and I was worried that the ship would become beset (caught in the ice). Once that happens, you're stuck. The science group was all out on the deck taking pictures — they thought it was great — but I was a little worried. Getting caught in ice is not good.

Another time we lost both propulsion motors and had only the bow thrusters. We made it to a sea buoy and had to get towed in from there.

Tofu — how can anyone can eat that stuff? There's nothing to it. It should be called "No-Fu."