When last I left you, I mentioned that the scientists had a little more free time than they had during the dive series. Not ones to let idle time go to waste, the scientists have been watching DVDs, reading books, playing Ping-Pong and foosball, and even coordinating a ship-wide game, designed to bring the scientists and crew closer together.

Despite all these activities to choose from, I'd like to highlight two for you. Earlier in the cruise, as Karen and I began to hear about people's special talents and passions, we started to schedule activities that would be fun and (you guessed it) "educational."

Our first activity was boxing with Ordinary Seaman Kevin Threadgold. Kevin has both a quick 'jab' and a quick mind. He's always cracking jokes. "Some of the finest athletes on the face of the planet are boxers," he began. "Tonight I'm going to teach you the basics."

Kevin's been involved in boxing for more than 30 years. He starts our tutorial with a run-down of the ship's boxing facility. "We have a heavy bag, a speed bag, and a double-end bag."

He showed us his usual workout routine, highlighting two punches: the "jab" and the "right" (or in Dr. Barbara Campbell's case the "left"). After Kevin demonstrated how to use each piece of equipment, he then gave all of the scientists and crew a chance to practice.

First up was Dr. Alison Murray, and let's just say that after her performance with the boxing gloves, her lab mates will think twice before upsetting her. Others who showed a lot of promise were Craig Cary, Barb Campbell, Kevin Portune, Shannon Williamson, Ky Hacker, Charles Lee, Mihailo Kaplarevic, Joe Grzymski, Frank Stewart, Ian McDonald, Kazumi Baba, and Jennifer Hickey.

Kevin was a great teacher, providing good explanations and showing a lot of patience. After we had all had a turn trying out the combinations and ducking Kevin's mock swings, we all decided that it was a lot tougher than Kevin made it look!

After we worked up a sweat from boxing, it was off to the fantail, where Dr. Craig Cary was teaching everyone to swing dance. Craig and Ky Hacker are pros when it comes to swing dancing and they showed the rest of the gang some really impressive moves.

"The fantail is certainly not an ideal dance floor, but it'll do in a pinch," said Craig. First, Craig showed everyone the basics of "West Coast Swing." Once everyone had that, it was time to incorporate the more difficult steps called "the turns." The turns are what make swing dancing interesting and fun.

"The first turn I'm going to teach you is the underarm turn," began Craig. After that it was on to the cross-chest turn and finally onto the "The Pretzel." Since it looked like everyone was having a good time swinging to "The Stray Cats" on the CD player, Craig took the opportunity to teach everyone a move he invented. Man, it was too cool for words. To catch a glimpse of Craig swinging with Dr. Alison Murray, check out today's video clip on the Neat Stuff page.

As we danced the night away, I couldn't help but begin to think how different everything will feel when we get back to shore. I don't think this experience will ever fade from my memory, but I think I'm going to miss the little things: the people, the motion of the boat, the sound of the water hitting the hull at night, the smell of salt in the air, the regular meal times, the friendly "hellos" in the passageway.

I can certainly see how one can leave a life behind on the shore, for a life on the sea but ask any mariner, and they'll tell you that it is a life of sacrifice. As for all of us aboard Atlantis, we're happy to be heading back to shore right now.

We've "turned the corner" around the point of Isla Cedros, the crew says. I can tell you the moment it happened -- or one of the moments when it was happening. It was midnight, and I ventured through the pitch dark toward the bow for a little star gazing and whale watching. Watching for whales, I should say -- not watching whales -- because personally all I've done is keep an eye out for them so far. Others have been more lucky. I was on the main deck, stumbling along hanging onto the rail, when it hit me: a giant rogue wave that burst up over the deck and right over my head, soaking me to the skin all along one side. Wow! It had been a few hours since the glassy seas had given way to bigger swells and now -- well, something had changed, and for the next several hours we bounced along. I took a shower and went to bed, having figured out that the best way to be under such conditions is horizontal. Other than a few dips in the swimming pool, which is fed with fresh seawater every day (and which has now been taken down due to the cooler weather), I haven't been in this ocean we've been out in the middle of. Suddenly to find myself drinking it was quite a surprise!

Every drop of this water has incredible amounts of information in it, it turns out. Charles Lee let me in on just what kind of information they're getting from the samples taken at the hydrothermal vents. Every ten milliliters (ml) of water from the Sipper gets split up into a dozen smaller samples. Here's the breakdown of what happens to them.

First of all, some of the water is filtered through a mesh with 0.02 micrometer openings to remove particles of bacteria and minerals. Charles noted for me which samples were filtered and which unfiltered. Then different tests are conducted on each sample, and different processing occurs depending on the desired measurement -- the outcome.

Another interesting thing that happened today was a seminar by Dr. Monika Bright about the baby traps and what she has learned from them. Monika began placing baby traps at the hydrothermal vents in 2001 and brought them up to analyze them for the first time in 2002. Up to that point, nobody had observed baby Riftia pachyptila at the stage at which they pick up the bacteria that will live inside them and become their metabolic system. Monika placed the baby traps in hope that when she returned, the organisms inside them would include Riftia at just the right stage. It worked!

The big puzzle concerning many organisms with symbionts is to figure out exactly when and how they take up their symbionts. Monika knew when it hadn't happened yet -- in fertilized eggs and in early larval forms. She knew when it had already happened -- by the early juvenile stage. Somewhere in between were the transforming animals she wanted to look at. "They like to hide," she told us.

As with many things at the hydrothermal vents, a device had to be invented that could do what she wanted. She designed it, and gave it the scientific name Vestimentiferan Artificial Settlement Devices (VASD, for short) but she calls them "baby traps." (For more on the baby traps, see my journal from December 2.) From the traps she retrieved in November 2002 and December 2003, she got enough small giant tubeworms for her study to determine that the babies take up their symbiotic bacteria when they are about 250 to 350 micrometers in size.

More samples are needed for Monika to continue her study. When Alvin dove this year looking for the baby traps set in 2003, someone had moved them from the chimney area onto the basalt, ruining the deployment. With the help of Alvin Pilot Bruce Strickrott, Monika came up with a different design for the traps, and they were placed on the ocean floor again.

No, our science doesn't stop when the cruise stops, when we pull up to the dock in San Diego on Monday afternoon. For Charles, Monika, and the rest of the Extreme 2004 scientists, much of the work -- and many of the discoveries -- are yet to come.