One of the amazing things about living on a research vessel is that your mode of transportation is also your house, work, gym, and outdoor space! Everything you need is confined to one 300 ft long boat. At the maximum speed, the boat travels at 12 knots which is almost 14 miles per hour which is like the speed of a power walk. The ship is often going slower than its maximum speed. When there is ice in the water, the ship slows down to avoid hitting pieces of ice. The RV Investigator has scientific instruments underneath the ship which could be damaged if a piece of ice is pushed under the ship, so the master (the term used for captain) of the ship has to make careful choices on the route we take.
For the most part, the ship takes us where we want to go. Getting around the ship itself is a task too, though! The ship is about 300ft long. It has to include bedrooms for about 60 people, scientific labs, a full kitchen and the mess (which is the cafeteria), gyms, lounges for when you are not working, the engine room, and more. There wasn’t enough room for everything on one level, so they had to build up! There are six levels on the ship. My bedroom is on a different floor than the labs which are on a different floor than the mess which is on a different floor than our instruments.
