科考南北极的女驾驶

上海外高桥的中国极地考察专用码头，“雪龙”号即将起锚启航。船们跟亲人告别的人群中，有位年轻的女孩特别显眼，高挑的个子，身材匀称，长相娇美，因为依依不舍，她一直拉着身边男人的手，满眼深情。这是一次充满了艰辛探险的远航，时间长达半年。大家原以为女孩是来给出征的恋人送行的，可没想到，过了一会，她从男人的手中接过行李，一个人上船了，原来她才是那个出海的女驾驶，男人是她的家属。

为了航海

这个登上“雪龙”号科考船的女孩名叫谢洁瑛，1982年出生，是“雪龙”号自1994年首航以来第一位女驾驶，任三副。三副属于船舶驾驶的一个证书认证，按照级别往上还有二副和大副。谢洁瑛在“雪龙”号上的任务就是和其他三个同伴轮流开船，驾驶4个小时，休息12个小时，没有休假日。万吨巨轮竟然会掌握在一个年轻女孩的手里……连谢洁瑛也没有想到会有这一天。10年前的她连海都没有见过。

那时的谢洁瑛是上海曹杨中学高三学生，正在积极备考。有一天，班主任告诉大家一个消息，上海海事大学的航海技术专业要报名面试了，而且第一次计划招女生。“这个专业是培养船舶驾驶的，有兴趣的同学可以去报名试试。”同学们听了都很兴奋，抢着围上去看招生细则。上面说这个专业是要培养具备驾驶和管理海洋船舶能力的高级航海技术人才。学生毕业后，主要从事海洋船舶驾驶工作，也可从事航运管理、海事监督、船舶保险、船舶检验、科研和教学等工作……谢洁瑛的脑海里马上浮现出这样的画面：一个船站在甲板上，望着蓝色无边的大海，任海风吹拂面颊。想起来就有点心动，这正是她向往的生活啊!

回家后，谢洁瑛同父母商量报名的事。“不行，哪有女孩子去当船的?你不知道跑船有多辛苦，常常回不了家，大风大浪又危险。”父亲坚决反对。“现在不是以前了，开船都是靠高科技，不会有危险。再说这个专业出来也不是都要上船工作的，还可以从事管理工作的嘛。”谢洁瑛用从招生细则里看来的那些信息，说服父母的老观念，可是父亲仍然不同意，他总觉得女孩子做这份工作不合适，再说女儿的学习成绩向来很好，老师也说了她考个复旦、交大没问题。谢洁瑛看实在说不通父母，只能耍计谋：“人家只招18个，你们也别着急，还不一定轮得上我呢！”果然母亲上当了，走过来打圆场说：“好吧好吧，那就先试试看。”

谢洁瑛性格开朗，独立自主，很有上进心，这一试就成功了。两个月后，录取通知书来了，她顺利地进入了上海海事大学的航海技术专业，成为18个女生中的一个。大学前两年上的都是理论课，包括力学、气象学、无线电通讯、船舶机械、海商法等等，大部分都是理工课程。

大三那年，学校组织大家进行航海实习，跑的是东南亚航线。第一次出海，同学们都有点兴奋，但是外海的风浪大，不一会就有人晕船躺下了，连平时体力很好的男生都连连说吃不消。船一直以20度左右摇摆，谢洁瑛自始至终都没有晕船的反应。她笑着说：“我大概就是天生的船。”

女驾驶在全国都是凤毛麟角，少之又少。谢洁瑛参加长江航行的时候，附近的轮船很多，都是男驾驶，他们用无线电保持通讯，喊喊话聊聊天。有几次，船长联系不上对方的时候，就说：“小谢，你来喊两句。”果然，当听到谢洁瑛的声音时，那些男驾驶就一个个兴奋起来。“怎么会是个女驾驶呢?头一次碰到女驾驶。”这时候，谢洁瑛就觉得自己特别风光。

勇往直前

“雪龙”号在茫茫无际的大海里航行，谢洁瑛一个人站在甲板上，海上看到的日出和日落每天都不一样。她喜欢拿着相机拍下每个美丽多变的瞬间。其实，这次出海对谢洁瑛来说是一个特别难得的机会。

想当初快要毕业的时候，好多招聘单位还是拒绝女船。谢洁瑛就直升研究生，2007年毕业后留校当了老师，教航海英语。

那段时间，谢洁瑛周一到周五上课，放寒暑假就和同事出去旅游，偶尔有那么几个星期的时间带着学生上船去做航海实习……这样的船上工作当然不是父母最初认为的那种跑船，一来航行的时间不长，二来船上都是老师和学生，一点都不会觉得枯燥。渐渐的，也没什么人知道谢洁瑛会开船的事情。

在一次初中同学的聚会上，谢洁瑛和现在的老公谈了朋友。他是个朝九晚五的上班族。第一次拜见公公婆婆的时候，老公介绍说谢洁瑛是大学的英语老师，婆婆听了很开心，微笑着点头说：“教师工作蛮好的，女孩子就是要安稳点。”

梦想总是藏在人们内心的某个角落，并不会轻易地就消逝。2009年夏天，中国第26次南极科学考察队向上海海事大学申请要一个驾驶，驾驶他们的“雪龙”号极地科学考察船去南极。学校把报名的通知书发到各个办公室，老师们在一起讨论这件事。“谢洁瑛突然来了一句：“我有三副证书，应该可以胜任的。”谢洁瑛的三副证书是通过无数次的考试，积攒了12个月的实践时间，好不容易才拿到手的。

之前，学校也曾经派老师参加极地科考，但这是第一次有女老师报名，所以领导也很重视，特意安排谢洁瑛上学校的“育锋”轮实习。谢洁瑛心中暗喜，估计这回被选中的可能性很大。可是几天后，领导突然打电话来，说是要给她打个招呼：“小谢，估计他们还是要一个男驾驶。”谢洁瑛听了很失望。同事们劝她别放在心上：“反正你也是试试看，成不成到时候再说。”

有个成语叫喜出望外。过了一段时间，谢洁瑛就接到了南极科考队的正式通知，说她已经被选中了，将作为“雪龙”号的三副，去南极考察181天。得到这个消息，谢洁瑛激动得赶紧打电话给老公，其实就在这之前他们刚刚办了喜酒，搬进新家才两周。挂了电话，她马上觉得有点不对劲，这次的航行她要离开半年，老公的心里会不会不高兴呢?

回家的路上，谢洁瑛就一直在想这个问题，怪不得人家说船辛苦，一出海就要和家人分离这么久，这可真不是件容易的事。何况，她和老公现在还是新婚期，如果老公不同意的话，那还是算了吧。晚上，谢洁瑛对老公说了自己的想法，征求他的意见：“你说我到底要不要去?”老公马上接口说：“去啊，为什么不去?如果我有这么好的机会，辞职也要去。”得到了这样的支持，谢洁瑛的心里很甜蜜。

接下来要说服的就是双方的长辈，公婆听说这个消息以后很吃惊：“大学老师还会开船吗?”谢洁瑛跟他们解释说，自己原来学的就是航海技术专业，而且有“驾驶执照”，让他们放心……最难搞定的是谢洁瑛的父亲，他一直不赞成女儿跑船，以前带学生实习也就算了，可这次是远航，他一听就不答应。谢洁瑛只得骗他说：“也不过就是两个月而已，很快就能回来的。”父亲勉为其难地同意了。可是没多久，考察团出征的新闻就在媒体上报道了，父亲一看才知道，原来女儿这次要6个月之后才能回来，掐指一算，连春节都回不来了。

科考南北极

开头上船的两个月有新鲜感，这里看看，那里兜兜，谢洁瑛第一次看到企鹅的时候，欢呼雀跃，给它们拍了很多照。

接下去的行程，一望无际的大海里只有他们这条船在航行，一路向南，什么风景也没有，离家也越来越远。好不容易熬到90天的时候，有人就迫不及待地做了一张倒计时牌，开始计算回家的日子。

女人感性，更容易想家。在船上打电话是件特别奢侈的事情，一分钟要好几元美金，而且通信质量很差，常常“喂”了半天都听不到对方的声音。谢洁瑛只能靠发邮件跟家里联系，每天写一篇航海日记给老公看，希望他也能知道在船上发生的一些事。可是父亲不会用电脑，他总是心急地等待女儿的电话。有一次在打电话的时候，信号突然断了，父亲急死了，以为船上出了什么事情，赶紧联络女婿问情况，还一刻不停地守着电视机看新闻，生怕说到“雪龙”号发生什么意外。后来这样的“意外”发生次数多了，他也慢慢适应了，不再那么着急。

这两年，女人开飞机的越来越多，可是开船的还是少有耳闻。开船一直都是男性的职业，偶尔有个女人出现在船上生活会很不方便。“雪龙”号是一条科考船，这次出征有100多个人，其中有12位女性，谢洁瑛是4位驾驶中唯一的女性。试航的时候发制服，谢洁瑛拿到手一看，衣服、袜子、护肤品全是男式的，人家根本就没想到会有女驾驶。在船上，每次洗澡只能控制在3分钟内，所以大家都把头发剪得很短，很多男船都是光头。谢洁瑛也没办法，只得把心爱的长发剪短。船上没有发型师，大家都是相互理发，无奈没人会剪女式发型，结果就给谢洁瑛剪了一个男人头，弄得她哭笑不得。船们还开玩笑地说：“我们船上有4个男驾驶。”

2010年4月，“雪龙”号要回上海了。那几天的心情对谢洁瑛来说是极其复杂的，既有归心似箭想见家人的感觉，又有对船上生活恋恋不舍的感觉。吃散伙饭的那天，她对其他科考队说：“过两个月你们启航去北极的时候，我一定来欢送你们。”船上的队笑着说：“我们舍不得你下船，还是和我们一起去北极吧。”

没想到这玩笑在两个月后竟然变成真的了。2010年6月份，领导找到谢洁瑛，问她还想不想再去趟北极，因为考察团很想让她跑个全程：“他们觉得你的表现很好，而且你对‘雪龙’号也比较熟悉。你自己考虑一下吧。”这下，谢洁瑛又为难了。虽然她的内心是比较想去的，毕竟能够一下子去南极和北极对一个普通人来说，是绝无仅有的机会。但是，她才刚刚回来两个月，又要去跑船，家里人会不会答应啊？

好在老公对谢洁瑛还是很支持的，他说：“你跑完这圈，就成了中国第一个既去过南极、又去过北极的女驾驶，说起来我脸上也有光啊。”

北极之行，这回谢洁瑛已经有经验了，船上什么东西都有，她只要轻装上阵，带两件替换的内衣，再带几部喜欢看的电影就可以了。

北极的行程是两个月，2010年9月底，谢洁瑛圆满完成任务回来了。谢洁瑛和老公新婚一年，却有8个月是分别的，对彼此的思念之情真是说也说不完。老公搂着谢洁瑛问：“下次你还上船么？”谢洁瑛想了想：“如果有好的机会还是会去的。”“那下次带上我吧。”“真的？”“人家是带着妻子出海，你是带着老公出海，多牛啊！”听了老公的玩笑话，谢洁瑛的心里甜滋滋的。

在谢洁瑛家中的桌子上，有一幅未完成的拼图，是前不久朋友送给她的。她打算利用业余时间拼好这幅由2000块拼板的世界地图。因为地图上有南极和北极。谢洁瑛说，现在在给学生上课时，她的南极之行、北极之旅已成为必不可少的一课。

Only Helmswoman Steers Xue Long Expedition to Antarctic Waters

By Shan Shan Lu Qing

Xie Jieying, born in 1982, was the only helmswoman on Xue Long Science Research Ship in China’s 26th expedition to the Antarctic waters from October, 2009 to April, 2010. As a matter of fact, she has been the only helmswoman since China’s first Antarctic expedition in 1984.

Xie was the third officer on Xue Long to the Antarctic, working with three other male colleagues to steer the huge vessel. When the ship sailed, each worked for four hours and took the next 12 hours off and came back on duty again. They did not have days off.

Ten years before, Xie Jieying has been a senior student at Caoyang Middle School in Shanghai, preparing for the upcoming national college entrance examination. She had even never seen the sea. One day, she learned that Shanghai Maritime University was recruiting female students for maritime navigation for the first time in its history. After studying the enrollment announcement, Xie was excited. Steering a big ship on the sea was a future that appealed a great deal to her.

She talked to her parents about the opportunity and her wish. Her father tried to change his daughter’s mind, stating “No woman should work on an ocean-going ship, for she wouldn’t be able to come home for months and even years. What is more, waves and winds on the sea are most hazardous.” Her father pointed out that she was so brilliant academically that she could go to better universities. The daughter said very probably she would not get recruited even if she qualified because the university was going to enroll only 18 girls. Her mother believed applying to the university was all right, thinking the daughter wouldn’t make it but the experience would be valuable.

But Xie Jieying passed the examination and got enrolled as one of the 18 female students for the major of maritime navigation. After intensive studies of theories and essentials for two years, they began to intern on ships. The student sailors took their first ocean-going trip on a huge ship bound for the Southeast Asian. During the first few days, most of her classmates got seasick seriously. She did not feel a thing. She joked that she was probably predestined to be a sailor.

While working on a ship that navigated the Yangtze River, the longest and most busy inland river of China, Xie Jieying often caused sensations among fellow helmsmen on other ships. River helmsmen chat with each other on radio and sometimes they do not respond to calls for capricious reasons. Whenever this happened to the ship where Xie was on duty, the captain would ask Xie to call out. Helmsmen would most gladly respond, for they had never met a helmswoman on radio before. This made Xie very proud and satisfied.

After graduation, however, she failed to land a job on any ship. Her applications for a steering job were all turned down. None of the other seventeen female graduates got employed to steer ships. Most male classmates got very good job offers even before their graduation. So Xie went on to take a postgraduate course. After the completion of the postgraduate program in 2007, she became a teacher of English at her alma mater.

As a teacher of English she worked normal hours on weekdays. In winter or summer vacations, she traveled and did sightseeing. She sometimes worked as a team leader to accompany students to intern on ships. Her national helmswoman’s certificate was even forgotten by her colleagues.

In the summer of 2009, China’s 26th Antarctic expedition team sent a request to Shanghai Maritime University for a qualified helmsman. The application notice was distributed to all the staff offices and it became a topic among teachers. The person to be chosen would go away for 180 days. While in a discussion, Xie said, to everyone’s surprise, that she had a third officer’s certificate that qualified her for application. She had worked as an intern for 12 months and passed all the tests before she managed to get the certificate. She believed she must use her certificate at least once in her lifetime.

The university had sent male teachers as helmsmen to the Antarctic expeditions before. But this time a woman teacher sent in application. The university paid attention and gladly made special arrangements for Xie to work on the university’s ship for intensive training. She was happy, believing that the odds were in her favor. However, she later learned through a grapevine that the team might prefer a man. The rumor hugely disappointed her. But her colleagues encouraged her to hang on, saying she should not give up hoping since the matter had not been decided yet.

Then Xie Jieying was officially notified that she was chosen as the third officer of Xue Long and she would work on the ship for 181 days. Electrified by the gratifying news, she called her husband immediately. However, she became worried after the call. Their wedding had just taken place two weeks before. She was still in her honeymoon. What would her husband think of her choice? Her husband backed her up, saying he would have resigned to take the job offer if he had qualified. Her parents-in-law were astounded to hear the news. They were mostly perplexed: how come a university teacher of English could steer a huge ship? It was not until then that it came to their knowledge that the English teacher married to their son had studied navigation as her major at the university and had a “driving license”. Her father objected again. But what could he do this time with his daughter’s determination? He most reluctantly said yes before he found that her daughter would be away for six months and would not be home for Spring Festival in 2010.

So Xie went off on the trip to the Antarctic. The first two months were exciting. Then she saw no land at all. The ship sailed southward in the endless ocean. Some colleagues even made a countdown chart when they were 90 days on the sea.

Xie Jieying kept in contact with her husband through email. Telephone call was out of the question, for signal was extremely poor and international phone calls were too expensive. She sent a daily log to her husband, so the families would know what was going on. But her father was computer illiterate. His way to keep contact with his daughter was to wait for his daughter to call home. One day an ongoing telephone call between the father and the daughter went dead and the father panicked thinking something terrible had just happened to Xue Long. He immediately called his son-in-law and switched on television for news. Nothing bad had happened. Poor telephone signals happened frequently. The senior gradually got used to it and stopped worrying.

The experience was unique for the girl born in 1982. Of the 100-plus-person team, there were altogether 12 women. Xie was the only woman of the four steering officers. When she first got the uniforms and other supplies, they were all for males. The supply officer had not expected to see a helmswoman. On the ship, the bath time was three minutes. Most men on the ship had crew cut and some had their heads shaved. Xie Jieying had her hair cut extremely short.