Month: July 2015

Dreams do come true

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On July 5, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, R/V Point Sur

Hello everyone, my name is Ken McQuarrie. I am a student at Alpena Community College which is located in Northeast Michigan on the shore of Lake Huron. I am enrolled in the Marine Technology program specializing in ROVs.

So let me tell you about myself more. I am 38 years old. When I was young I always wanted to work on the ocean. I wanted to be a marine biologist. When I was 17 I ended up having a child. At that point I gave up on my dream of working on the ocean. I left the small town of Alpena at the age of 19 and moved to Lansing, Mi. While there I worked many jobs but mostly I worked at a photo lab and I painted houses. When I was 22 I had another child. I raised him his whole life by myself. Almost two years ago I came to Alpena to visit for the holidays. When I was there I was helping cut down a huge maple tree at my grandma’s house. I climbed a ladder to tie a cable around the limb that was hanging over her house. When I reached the top of the ladder it broke. I fell 18 feet and broke my leg. It changed the direction of my life. I was no longer a painter.

While I was recovering, I was trying to figure out what to do next in my life. That is when I found the Marine Tech program at ACC. After finding this program, a flood of memories and dreams came back to the forefront of my mind. I decided to give school a try again. Going back to school after 18 years was a little scary. Fortunately the second time around was much easier. It is amazing what that time away from school has taught me. All those life experiences really helped me excel in my classes. Over the past year I have had so many amazing experiences. I have learned how to scuba dive, piloted rovs on over a dozen shipwrecks, met and worked with many amazing people in the industry and now this internship through MATE.

Growing up in Michigan, I have been out on the Great Lakes numerous times. I absolutely love being out on the water. I have never been on the ocean though. This will be another dream of mine that will be marked off my checklist. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I am sure I will make the best of this opportunity as I have all the others over the past year. So my message to everyone reading this is: No matter what life throws at you and how far gone your dreams seem to be, everything happens for a reason. Don’t be afraid to chase your dream, even if you are older like me.

I look forward to this opportunity and will keep everyone posted on my travels when possible. Thank you MATE, ACC, friends and family for your support. I will make you all proud.

 

Ken McQuarrie

RV Langseth: Wrapping up Coverage

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On July 3, 2015

In Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Marcus G. Langseth

           

            The image above is me helping to deploy the head float for the cross cable. This is done just prior to the cross cable and GeoEels being put in the water. 

            This past week has been very busy and a lot of hard work. At the beginning of the week we noticed we were having some issues with the P-cable. The decision was made to pull everything in and finish the survey without the 3 Kilometer 2D streamer. We spent all day Monday on the back deck trying to repair the p-cable, which we were unable to do. Several attempts were made to replace parts on the cross cable but a decision was made to pull everything and run in towards the Manasquan inlet to pick up a Geometrics employee.

            Tuesday morning we were close enough to shore that I was able to make a few calls. Once it was time for my shift to start I walked outside and found that we were replacing the entire signal cable. Finishing the signal cable and deploying the entire p-cable took most of the day but we were able to start shooting around 8pm that night. Ever since then we have been shooting and filling in the prospect. Like I have said before, boring seismic is good seismic. I also sat down with Dan from Geometrics and we started to design and draw up a few brackets that would fix several problems on the p-cable It has been decided that we will pick up the p-cable and head back to port on Monday. Next week will be my last blog post during my internship.

           

            The image above is me helping to deploy the head float for the cross cable. This is done just prior to the cross cable and GeoEels being put in the water. 

            This past week has been very busy and a lot of hard work. At the beginning of the week we noticed we were having some issues with the P-cable. The decision was made to pull everything in and finish the survey without the 3 Kilometer 2D streamer. We spent all day Monday on the back deck trying to repair the p-cable, which we were unable to do. Several attempts were made to replace parts on the cross cable but a decision was made to pull everything and run in towards the Manasquan inlet to pick up a Geometrics employee.

            Tuesday morning we were close enough to shore that I was able to make a few calls. Once it was time for my shift to start I walked outside and found that we were replacing the entire signal cable. Finishing the signal cable and deploying the entire p-cable took most of the day but we were able to start shooting around 8pm that night. Ever since then we have been shooting and filling in the prospect. Like I have said before, boring seismic is good seismic. I also sat down with Dan from Geometrics and we started to design and draw up a few brackets that would fix several problems on the p-cable It has been decided that we will pick up the p-cable and head back to port on Monday. Next week will be my last blog post during my internship.

First Week at Sea

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On July 2, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

The first few days on board were typical sailing days and a good time for me to get familiar with the ship and the daily operations.  Because the ship was in transit there were no technicians on board so I was able to learn and perform the duties on my own.

Friday through Monday were designated for getting the boat from Lewes, Delaware to Fort Pierce, Florida.  We ran into some pretty nasty weather (winds at 57 knots and we pushed through about a dozen 20 foot waves) which pushed us back 24 hours so we didn’t actually arrive in Fort Pierce until late Tuesday afternoon.  We switched out a few crew members and moved on to Nassau, Bahamas where we picked up 8 scientists.  Over the next 15 days we will be working around the Bahamas at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) which is controlled by the U.S. Navy.  

There are a few things on this ship that were new to me.  I’ve never seen a hydraulically operated keel that deploys sonar before and definitely didn’t know how to operate one until I learned on this vessel.  I also have never seen a Caley system which is the equipment the CTD is housed within.  Everything else I’ve had to do has basically been an extension of the marine technology program at CFCC.  I have felt well prepared for what has come my way so far.

We have mobilized the vessel and are ready to begin science.  Because of the international rates I can’t upload my pictures at this time but I have plenty!  I will have more to report in the following week.  Other than that, the weather is beautiful here and the water is warm!

Also, I can’t say enough about the crew.  I have been the only female on board and they’ve welcomed me and made me feel comfortable from the first day on.  I look forward to the following two months. 

 

 

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