Author: Adam Ensminger

During week two we hit our stride with diving and in turn, I feel like I got into a routine. During the cruise, I worked the 8-12 shift, working 4s was a new concept to me. This took some initial adjustment as I was unable to get a full eight hours of sleep in one go. I eventually settled into a routine of sleeping 6 hours at night and taking a two-hour nap during the day. We continued to have fantastic weather and we even saw the northern lights! I don’t think we could’ve asked for better conditions. 
 
Despite our trouble launching at the start of the trip, we eventually had back-to-back successful dives and even found ourselves ahead of schedule at one point. When this happens the Jason team allows time for pilot training, during which I was allowed to pilot and operate the arms! Being able to control Jason was easily the highlight of my trip, it was such a cool experience. The breakdown of diving operations is fascinating to me. On each watch, three operators act as pilot, engineer, and navigator. The pilot is responsible for the operation of the vehicle and dictates to the rest of the team how to assist the vehicle. The navigator’s primary responsibility is to coordinate with the bridge on moving the ship, and the engineer helps run the cameras, winch, and auxiliary Jason functions (like the hydraulics and power).
 
Further into the cruise, we ended up having more difficulties. The level wind system to coil cable was acting up and the team spent much of their free time trying to fix this issue (including the transit back to shore). Once on shore we had a post-cruise party and continued maintenance Jason. I departed on the 9th.  As quickly as it started my time aboard the Thompson has ended, I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity. It has truly been life-changing

My brief stint as pilot:

Me assisting in post dive check of Jason:

Once I arrived at the R/V Thompson Saturday morning, we began preparing Jason for the cruise. I assisted where necessary but my personal highlight was mounting and troubleshooting the science party’s powered devices. In order to connect the various sensors and actuators to Jason, we drained mineral oil out of the junction box housings then set to work connecting cables. Late into Sunday and Monday morning, we discovered that the MPS and ODI couldn’t communicate. We set to task isolating the fault (wether the issue was subsea or topside) and eventually narrowed down the issue (for both systems) to the adaptor that interfaces the serial connection through the control van (topside) to science’s laptops. Once we realized the issue we were able to build the correct adaptor and fix the issue! It felt great to contribute.

The ship embarked Monday and reached destination Tuesday. Other problems have arisen but as of now we are operating normally. As weird as it sounds, I am thankful I have witnessed issues because it has allowed me to be hands on with Jason. Whether it was building the adaptor, performing pre dive, or sitting in the engineer’s seat for ops, seeing the team troubleshoot issues is a pleasure.

I was nervous going into this experience, primarily because I’ve never spent extended time at sea. Once we started moving I did feel slightly queazy however that feeling has since faded. I was shocked to find the food aboard delicious and the berths are comfy. All in all, this has been throughly enjoyable and I look forward to updating you all as the cruise progresses.

Picture of me wiring Jason’s port side junction box:

Emergency Suit Drill:

The R/V Thompson:

Hello!

My name is Adam Ensminger, I am a senior in Computer Engineering at West Virginia University. This past academic year has been an interesting one for me. Last fall I studied at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea. Then in the spring I took time off to work as an arcade repairman, while there I was selected by the MATE program. Upon hearing the news I decided to leave my job and backpack Europe until the start of my internship.

I have been selected to sail on R/V Thompson with WHOI’s Jason team for the Orcutt cruise. While I am new to both the field of marine technology and life aboard a ship, I plan to go into this cruise with an open mind and I intend to learn as much as I can. I am incredibly excited to embark on such a fantastic opportunity and I look forward to sharing my experience with all of you.