Seattle Press on Line - Green Lake Seaman Charts Course for Antarctic

Green Lake Seaman Charts Course for Antarctic

By Cynthia Jones

Fulmer checks the position of the ship using an alidade.

Nov 15, 2000 -- Charles Fulmer left his Green Lake home last June for a solo kayaking trip to the San Juan Islands, and ended up in a New Jersey Coast Guard boot camp. Now, six months later, the 20-year-old Fulmer is on a ship headed for the Antarctic.

Aboard the Polar Sea, a Coast Guard cutter that departed from Seattle's Pier 36 on Saturday, November 4, Fulmer is one of the 130 crew members on a mission. Their primary task during the six-month trip is to reach McMurdo Station, Antarctica, breaking a channel through the ice to allow supply vessels to reach the base there.

For Fulmer, being on the water comes quite naturally. His grandmother, Carol Fulmer, explained that her grandson was "raised on the water." Growing up, he spent his summers between his grandparents' two vacation homes on Vashon Island and Whidbey Island.

After high school, Fulmer attended North Seattle Community College. "He did very well but he didn't find what he was looking for," his grandmother said.

After school ended last June, Fulmer bought a kayak and took off on the solo journey that would land him in the U.S. Coast Guard. When he reached the waters off Canada where the waves were high and dangerous, the Canadian Coast Guard spotted him.

"They asked me to come with them because the storm was coming," explained Fulmer, who was then taken to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he called his dad for a ride home.

Charles Fulmer, on the bridge of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker, Polar Sea, charts a course for Antarctica.

The short time spent with the Canadian Coast Guard was a powerful experience, according to Fulmer.

"I think that's what influenced me the most," he explained when talking about his decision to enlist.

The next thing Carol Fulmer remembers is a phone call from her grandson; he was joining the U.S. Coast Guard. Immediately, he was sent to Cape May, New Jersey, for basic training and afterward, to Yorktown, Virginia, for specialized training in navigation. While in training, Fulmer completed his "dream sheet." The Polar Sea mission was his number-one hope, his first choice.One month before the Polar Sea was scheduled to depart Seattle, Fulmer got the official word that he would be assigned to the ship for the six-month mission to the Antarctic. He arrived here four days before departure. As Seaman Quartermaster, Fulmer will assist with navigation.

"Up there on the bridge we look at the charts and we do the necessary calculations [for navigation]," he said. "I'm a little bit nervous."

As he stood on the deck of the Polar Sea, he reflected on his decision to join the U.S. Coast Guard.

"I thought it would be an adventure," he said.

Cynthia Jones is a student in the University of Washington School of Communications News Laboratory.

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