Month: August 2013 Page 1 of 2

       It was like the Boston Tea Party all over again in our common room the other night, minus the casualties of course. The seas were begining to calm down & every one was becoming accustomed to the occassional roll of the vessel. Around 3:30am things started to get out of hand, waves went from a flat 1-2 meters to around 4-5 meters within a few hours. Crazy how things could turn from peaceful to unbearable within a small frame of time. Walking down the narrow hallways trying to make your way to your bedroom without slamming into walls was an almost impossible task. Regardless of which way you went, you were bound to walk into something. After a long night of watch, my roommate Alicia & I finally settled into our beds only to be woken up by a loud crashing sound outside of our door. As soon as we heard it, we knew that the the cup full of tea, which was left on the table, splattered all over the floor. We grabbed two rolls of paper towels & started to clean up the tea giggling the entire time. Despite the fact that cleaning up tea wasn’t an ideal job at 5am, we couldn’t help but laugh because we were sliding all over the room. Balance is something you take for granted when you live on land your entire life. After flying around the room & banging into the coffee table & couches we finally handled the situation. I still laugh every time I think about it because it was just too funny not to laugh.

      As everyone knows, Tacos are a simply delicious Mexican food, but they also help you  sleep at night. I’m sure you’re all like what? how does a taco help you sleep at night? Sticking almost anything under your mattress whether it’s a pair of sneakers, a rain coat, an extra pillow, or even a backpack works wonders. The things you put under the mattress tilt the bed and angle it so that your body can’t move back and forth. That ladies & gents is what we call a taco on the high seas. Without this method it’s almost impossible to sleep when the boat’s rolling back and forth. At first I was a bit skeptical because I didn’t think it would make such a huge impact, but once I tried it I was sleeping like a baby.

       The highlight of my week so far has been the tour of the engine room!  As much as I love science, I would much rather work on engines & be around machinery. The sounds, smells, & feel of all of the different parts that make this vessel run intrigue me. People don’t realize that every single nut & bolt matter in making sure that everything is perfect while underway. The size of the heat exchangers & cylinder heads were shocking because I’m used to seeing small diesel engines. These engines were 10 times the size of any engine I have ever seen before. To me the experience was really cool because of how much I enjoy taking engines apart & troubleshooting them. I guess I could thank Captain Nappo, my professor, for sparking that interest. I made sure to ask plenty of questions about the fuel injection system & the propulsion system; The chief engineer was impressed about how much I knew about diesels which made me feel pretty good. I made sure to take plenty of photos, I even took one of me with a wrench thats about the same size as me ! 

       In the world of science, everything had been running smoothly until today we had a few glitches in the data which caused us to restart the SIS & HDDS a few times. A general reboot of the system was needed to get everything up to speed. Other than that we’ve found some new evidence of lava flow. I got used to watching the monitors & logging data when needed so now the shift’s just fly by. I know my sleep schedule is going to be all messed up when I get home though due to the 12-4am shifts.

Check back in a few days for more updates on the trip

Ashley Paradiso

It’s about 65 steps from my room to the Lab, when the weather is good; or, somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 when the seas are unsettled.  The ship can be quite large if you don’t know where you are going, and 65 steps can very easily turn into 500+, which consequently is how I spent most of the first two days – aimlessly wandering the hallways, walking down the same pathways from different directions, and generally having a real hard time keeping a face like I knew what I was doing as I passed by the same deckhand for the fourth time.  It’s truly a maze of watertight doors and bulkheads.  To get from one place to another, chances are there’s at least 7 different ways to go about it, but only a couple that make sense.  The good news is that it’s only temporary, and with a little patience and some proper emulation of those in the know, you can figure out the errors of your ways in quick fashion.  Truth be told, once you know where you’re going, it can really be a small (small, small, small!!!) space.  But, let me not get ahead of myself, this is my home for 4.5 weeks and I am the new roommate, nervous to intrude on common spaces and make them my own.

There is an established order to things around the ship, and the Main Lab is no different.  There’s the Science Tech lead, Bernard, son of an Irish immigrant and native of New York.  He works in the lab with Bobby the IT Tech, a Texan who lives in Jersey.  And, Rob the Temp Tech who usually works on a different research vessel, but was brought in for this cruise due to his experience with Kongsberg multibeam sonar systems.  Rob also is from New York.  I can sense a trend here.  Work on a research boat, and chances are you’ll be near NYC.  There are other options in Virginia or all along the West Coast, but I gotta admit that it’s kind of refreshing to have this New York attitude in the workplace.

My shifts have been set, and I’ve been able to settle into a rhythm quite nicely.  I work two 4 hour stints in the lab, both from 8-12.  This gives me a fair amount of time to eat, sleep, clean, do some laundry, and a couple of hours to find peace of mind – which I’m finding is quite essential to maintaining a comfortable shipboard environment.

Beyond personal space, I’m finding that the little things begin to make a huge difference.  Hot water in the showers, ample supplies of bacon for breakfast, that feeling I get when I take off my boots at the end of the day, a working thermostat in my room, and an ice cold can of Coca Cola that the cooks sneak me during dinner.  I cannot emphasize the meaning of the last item in the list enough.  A can of Coke is worth it’s weight in gold on a ship at sea.  You can horde it, drink it, trade it with other crew for any number of stashed luxury items, and with a little finesse – flaunt it.  Money means little out here, reduced to equals we share the same ambitions in life – eat, sleep, Coca Cola.

Speaking of the eating, the food has been very filling and pretty good.  It is a bit heavy, and so my appetite dwindles at times.  I’m beginning think that serving potatos and gravy with every meal is a national past time in the Philippines.  But, the ice box filled with Snickers Ice Cream bars kinda makes everything okay.  There’s Herwin, the Costa Rican chef who truly lives the ‘Pura Vida’ lifestyle.  And my main man June from the Philippines, who cooks great Thai food.

Whether it’s Chili Lime Salmon with Beans and Cilantro, or a good ole American French Bread Pizza, where the cuisine goes – so goes the general mood of the crew.  And, let me tell you these guys are good at predicting what the crew wants.  Crave Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches and chances are you will see its kin in the galley within two days.  The dark art of ESP is real and it’s being practiced openly in the presence of the pyre, and the townsfolk could not be happier.  Oil soaked torches ready to light timber become red and white cans raised in a unison, and accusations of witchcraft or black magics become songs of praise, valor, and jalapeño cheddar poppers.  And I revel in every last bite.

         So far it’s been almost a week, eventhough I blogged two days ago I felt it was nescesary to blog again and keep everyone up to date! We have finally made it to our destination where we will actually get cool images of the sea floor & the sedimenation that’s occuring. We will be able to see if therehave been any recent lava flows occuing. We will also be able to determine the age of the ridge as we go. With all the data we will be collecting, we will be able to prove which theories are correct & incorrect. During my previous watch, We passed our 18th waypoint. By the end of my second shift at 2400 I exoect that we would at least be at our 21st. 

        The weather hasn’t really changed much, it’s been fairly rough seas with a lot of rain. You get your sea-legs within the first few days of being aboard. Well most people do & if you don’t then you’re laying in bed most of the time. Luckily I can say I haven’t gotten sick yet! Being on the water 24/7 really makes you realize how much you take the land for granted. I used to hop in my car & drive where ever I wanted to when I was home. Now when I’m bored I find myself reading a book, sleeping, watching a movie, or socializing. Don’t get me wrong I’m having a lot of fun but I do miss having the ability to get in my car & go to the local ice cream shop or meet up with my friends.

      Well off to dinner I go, will blog again fairly soon depending on if any exciting events occur within the next few days! Also pictures will be posted after the expedition is over due to difficulty in transferrring them onto the computer. It’s very difficult to load them & make them the smaller size. 

Ashley Paradiso signing out

 

This is my first experience aboard a research vessel. So far it’s extremely differet than anything I am accustomed to. Before I boarded the ship, I was extremely nervous. Many thoughts ran through my head; what if I don’t like it ? What if I’m constantly sea sick? What if I’m the only female? Luckily once I boarded the vessel & met everyone aboard I was settled knowing that there were 5 other females. We are on our second day at sea & we have passed three waypoints already. The watch shifts are interesting because you get to collect data that will soon be used in every day life. We deployed Maggie the Magnometer yesterday afternoon & she was up and running in no time ! The shifts are hard to get used to because of the time changes & the weird hours that we are working. Usually i would be asleep from 12pm- 4am but now I’m on watch. So far we are making good time & taking down a lot of information. I’m looking forward to collecting as much data as possible throughout the duration of the trip. I’m also looking forward to learning more about the people aboard the vessel. So far there are plenty of people with different backgrounds who hale from different countries. I want to learn more about their cultures & how they got a chance to work aboard the RV Langseth. Well back to work, can’t wait for my next blog !

*This post was written on the 12th of August but did not post due to technical difficulties.

It’s been 95 days since I accepted this amazing opportunity to work aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth out of Reykjavik, Iceland.  Sandwiched in the wait was a 19 day delay due to the ship succumbing to engine troubles.  The trip took 15 hours to get from door to door.  And, I had gotten exactly 1 hour of sleep by the time I touched down in Keflavik at 9:00AM local time.

In my limited experience travelling abroad, I have realized that often times in life, slowing things down makes a big difference in the long run.  Wary from travelling, I decided it would be best to park myself in a quiet corner of the airport floor and double-check my trusty Lonely Planet guide to Iceland for travel arrangements.  It turns out that the private busing companies offer very comfortable trips in motor coaches directly to your destination in Reykjavik.  They even have WiFi on the bus!

www.longitudebooks.com/images/book_large/ICL06.jpg

It must have been due to some subconscious need for a feeling of home in a strange land that the first two people I met in Iceland (outside of the amazing staff at Loft Hostel) were from California.  I was Feeling pretty exhausted from the combination of nerves and excitement, so I spent most of my first full day in Iceland stumbling repeatedly up the stairs from my room to the backpackers lounge and back down again.

On the second day, I rolled out of bed around 10:00AM and fought off the urge to go back to sleep.  I’ve travelled all this way to a place so remote, there was no way that I was going to miss the opportunity to experience the amazing things this island nation has to offer.  I packed a day bag, and put boot to pavement on a self-guided sightseeing tour.  If there’s one thing I can impart to others, it’s that following your heart will unexpectedly you in remarkable situations.

I could feel that there was something pulling me West, and as I walked I felt that I was being funneled ever downhill (It’s ridiculous to think that all the roads in Iceland only go downhill – but it sure feels that way).  Before I knew it, I found myself crossing a busy highway and standing before a nature preserve in downtown Reykjavik.  The preserve is a series of marshes and ponds that provide habitat for nesting migratory birds.  In cheeky Icelandic style they have added touches like this bird-listening chair: Basically you seat yourself in between two cone-shaped listening devices attached to articulated arms, place them up to your ears, and aim that at your desired wildlife.  I must have looked ridiculous sitting there in the rain; but, it was totally worth putting my ego aside and trying something new.

Most of the buildings surrounding the preserve had a very careful blending of old and new architecture.  One in particular stood out more than the rest and I could feel that there was something waiting for me inside.  So, I quickly shuffled over to the entrance and not knowing what the letters on the outside read, I promptly smashed my nose into a sliding glass door.  Use the other door…got it.  As it turns out, this was the Building of Administrative Offices for the University of Iceland.  Dr. Ármann Höskuldsson, Volcanologist and the Co-Chief Scientist on my upcoming cruise had an office in here.  I figured, what the heck, I obviously came here for a reason.  I tracked down some very helpful faculty who let into a back hallway.  Fortune was smiling and I managed to catch Dr. Höskuldsson shortly before he left for the weekend.  He entertained my questions about the cruise, and when we began to share “sonar war stories” I was shocked to find out that he and his students use the exact same Kongsberg EM3002 multibeam sonar system that we use at Northwestern Michigan College.  To the gang back at the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute, we need to get convince the board to purchase us a helicopter.  They air drop their survey vessel in inland lakes!  I’ll see if I can get a copy of the video from Dr. Höskuldsson for a future post.

I can’t help but think that I was in the exact place I was supposed to be.

Fast forward through the days in Reykjavik to the final night on shore before we set sail.  (I will revisit my charming experiences during those days, in future blog entries)  This ship is so much bigger in person.  The sheer amount of equipment, cables, catwalks and portable laboratories leaves this feeling that the sides were peeled away, exposing the insides of a great mechanical monster.

There is so much going on that it was easy for me to feel lost; the maze-like corridors often lead you right back where you came from.  I surmise that I got lost at least a dozen times in my first five hours on the boat.  Out of the generosity of the crew and science team, I was given a 3 person room with an ocean view all to myself.  I feel very humbled and a tad embarrassed about the whole thing; but, after sleeping in a room with 7 other people at the hostel (including one night where I had to wake up a stranger sleeping in my bed), I’m not complaining one bit!

Everyone currently on-duty deck side is on edge.  Apparently, Iceland Harbor is at high risk of stowaways.  Ha ha!  Little do they know that we’re headed right back to Reykjavik in a month.  Perhaps they think that if it worked for Leo, it can work for them…then again, he didn’t have the best ending to his story.

As I sit in my berth and think about all the amazing people I’ve connected with in the past year, the support of my friends, family, and my girl, and the incredible opportunities that the hard-working people at Northwestern Michigan College and the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center have given me, I can’t help but feel as though I’m not alone on this trip.  On that note, it’s time to go up top to catch the Perseids Meteor Shower and wish someone special back home a very Happy Birthday.