Author: Colton Borresen

5/25/2024 – 5/28/2024

At the time this blog was posted I had already been home for a couple of days, but I realized even though only three days were left between my last blog post and our arrival in New York City I still needed to finish telling my story. 

Saturday 5/25, was spent putting my carpentry skills to work. I had to fix a sliding door with a bad roller and ceiling tiles that fell out of the ceiling in the Tech Shack.

Monday 5/27, we arrived in Long Island Sound and spotted land for the first time since Cape Town. Although it was very foggy all day, we could barely see the land and eventually it started to rain. We spent the day cleaning the Gun Shop, Tech Shack, Rack Room, and cleaned an air gun for display. Visitors will be coming to the ship a few days after we dock so everything needed to look polished and clean.

The morning of Tuesday 5/28, the fog finally lifted and we were able to see the magnificent New York City skyline in the distance. That morning we rendezvoused with the pilot boat and began making our way to the Hudson River. As we passed under the Verrazano Bridge, connecting Brooklyn to Staten Island, and were able to see Manhattan’s imposing skyscrapers and the beautiful Statue of Liberty in the distance getting ever closer I started to get emotional. At that moment, I found myself thinking about the countless number of people who have made this same journey up the Hudson River in search of a better life in the United States of America to include some of my ancestors. After passing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, we went under the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge to finally arrive at our destination, the Brooklyn Navy Yard. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to be aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth during this transit and would like to thank all of my mentors and crew who were able to teach me about being a marine technician and about life at sea. To anyone that has been following my journey and may be interested in this line of work, I encourage you to look into and apply for the UNOLS-MATE at Sea Technical Internship Program.

Thank you so much for following my UNOLS-MATE experience!

5/18/2024 – 5/24/2024

When this blog is posted we will be 3 days away from NYC. This adventure so far has been one of the hardest and most rewarding educational experiences of my life. But, with our final destination looming over the horizon the consensus is the same amongst the entire crew, we are ready to see land!

The morning of Saturday 5/18, was spent inventing all of the bad air gun parts and securing them on pallets. These parts will be either repaired and used on future seismic missions or sold for scrap.

The highlight of Sunday 5/19, was that it was the calmest day that we have had the entire transit thus far. To be far, we have been very fortunate to have not much bad weather on our transit, but that day the water was like glass. The water was so clear and so calm that I was able to see Atlantic flying fish before they leap out of the water and the shimmering pillars of sunlight that faded away into the seemingly endless void that is the Atlantic Ocean’s depths.

The morning of Monday 5/20, was filled with the science team working together and cleaning the entire Main Lab space. The lab was in need of a “spring cleaning” and we were all able to make the lab look better than it has looked in a long time.

Believe it or not, Monday was also my birthday! I still went to work and had all of my daily duties to perform, but I don’t think I could have asked for a better gift than the incredible sunset that night.

Tuesday 5/22 was spent working in the Rack Room. This is where all of the computer systems scientific, navigational, networking, ect are stored. I was tasked with stripping wires, attaching connectors, and connecting them to their respective terminals. I also attempted to organize the maze of networking cables. That was a real challenge!

Stay tooned for my final blog as we get closer to NYC.

5/11/2024 – 5/17/2024

The last few days have been busy, which is very usual and a bit repetitive at the same time. Can you say DigiBirds, Air Guns, and inventorying equipment over and over and over again?

Since there was a lot of repeated work this week, I want to take this week’s blog in a different direction. The weather has been really hot and humid, but the waves are rather calm. I’m sure many of you know about “slimy pollywogs” and crossing the equator!!! Well we crossed it and Sunday afternoon we had our ceremony. It was a riot. We all received a subpoena to appear before Neptune, but first we had to ask the “dolphins” over the side of the ship for directions to Neptune (on the muster deck). Then we had to get into these makeshift boats and paddle our way to the muster deck. But apparently, we were all swallowed by a whale and had to crawl our way out of the mouth of the whale (two tarps connected and filled with water and soap). It was messy and so much fun. Then we finally made it to Neptune where the charges against us were read aloud for all to bear witness. 

The first charge was the same for all of us, but the 2nd and 3rd were written specifically for each individual. I do believe they got mine pretty spot on!! Check these out…

CHARGE I:   In that Colton Borresen now sailing with the ship MARCUS G. LANGSETH, has hitherto willfully and maliciously failed to show reverence and allegiance to our Royal person, and is therein and thereby a vile land-lubber and a slimy pollywog.

CHARGE II:   It is inconceivable to even mention. It has been rumored in the mud flats, deltas and river estuaries that this park bench warmer has been masquerading as an honorable shellback by his unrighteous activities of; SCUBA Diving, Training Dolphins (as if they need to be trained), studying for Marine Biology and other unholy acts of a landlubber. As all honorable shellbacks know, only one who has been inducted into our depths, has sailed the seven seas, has seen the green light at sunset or who has crossed the equator can truly understand the denizens of the waves.

CHARGE III:   That this lounge-lizard has been doing his gym time while working as he has been using the excuse of forgetting tools to be able to run the stairs to the PSO tower multiple times a day as an honorable shellback waits in the sun, far from the sea. In addition this chicken chaser has failed to crack a smile or giggle while in my domain.

The whole thing was a riot and the effort that the crew put into it was greatly appreciated.

Also, I had another incredible moment this week. I found out that my Pop Pop (going to be 91 in October) sailed with Marcus G. Langseth in 1956 when both were Junior Scientists. Pop got goosebumps and cried when my parents told him the name of the vessel I was on. Now Pop is digging through his archive of memories and pictures and recalling so many great times long forgotten.  I have now seen pictures that Pop took of Marcus G. Langseth when they were young Junior Scientists in 1956 aboard the (chartered) vessel Theta. Such a small and incredible world.

I hope you have enjoyed an honest and true taste of life aboard the R/V Marcus G. Langseth.

Stay tuned for my next posting as we get ever closer to NYC.

5/4/2024 – 5/10/2024

At the time this blog is written we have been at sea for 12 days. I can’t describe the feeling I have each morning waking up and seeing nothing but ocean for miles in every direction. I have seen some of the best sunrises of my life looking out my porthole each morning and the best sunsets after a hard day’s work. There’s nothing like going out to sea and being the only ship for miles to make you realise how small we truly are in this big and beautiful world of ours.

Saturday 5/4 and Friday 5/10 were spent working on the air guns. These “guns” are able to release powerful sound waves that are capable of reaching the seafloor and pass through multiple layers of sediment before bouncing back allowing us to be able see what the seafloor (and below) looks like. The guns need to be routinely serviced to prevent damage and corrosion from sea water, but mainly to replace all of the O-Rings. Once a gun is disassembled, cleaned, and put back together it is test fired on deck to insure that it is working properly. When firing the gun on deck all safety protocols are taken and the guns are fired at approximately 100 psi. At this strength, you are definitely able to feel the force of the blast in your chest, but when the guns are in the water and in use they are fired at approximately 2,000 psi. 

Sunday 5/5, I spent the morning greasing and covering various pieces of equipment on board. The rest of the day was spent inventorying the streamer recovery devices (SRDs). These SRDs allow the ship’s crew to be able to recover the streamer in the event that it is lost at sea.

Monday 5/6 through Wednesday 5/8 was spent working on the Digibirds again. During that time I was able to test all Digibirds on board and create a document that contained information on all of the birds to include: their serial numbers, whether they are operational or not and other problems with the Digibirds. The next step would be to go through all of the non-operational birds and try to fix them.

Thursday 5/9 was spent assisting in installing a new radio antenna on the observation tower. This required a lot of work and planning to ensure that the antena was level and would be secure for the inevitable rough seas. 

Stay tuned for my next post!

4/27/2024 – 5/3/2024

I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday 4/27 in the late afternoon, by the time I made it to the R/V Marcus G. Langseth (Langseth for short) it was almost dark and time to unpack and get acquainted with my new home for the next month.

The morning of Sunday 4/28, was spent touring the Langseth. Looking at all of the labs and other facilities I would be working in as well as going import rules and safety while on board. The other UNOLS-MATE interns on board ( Rachael and Ray) and I were then given the rest of the day to explore Cape Town. We were able to explore the city for half the day and get a taste of the African culture, which is an experience I will never forget. Nothing was more spectacular than looking up at Table Mountain.

Monday 4/29 was the big day, the day we left Cape Town and began the long transit to New York. I spent the day working with my fellow interns to secure crates, pallets and coolers containing water samples from a previous cruise with ratchet straps and paira cord to ensure that they did not move while at sea. We set sail later that evening.

Tuesday 4/30 was spent working mostly in what’s called the Bird Lab. This is where all the Digibirds, that attend the sizmic streams to keep the stream level in the water column, are dismantled and tested before deployment. This lab was used as a storage area for water samples and needed to be cleaned before testing the Digibirds. I spent the rest of my day working on other tasks throughout the ship.

Wednesday 5/1, I assisted in troubleshooting a solution for the inoperable Seapath GPS receiver antenna. This involved climbing the (name) tower and putting on a harness to reach the antenna. After a lot of trial and error we were finally able to get a clear sign on the receiver after reterminating the wire connected to the antenna.

Thursday 5/2, I spent the morning making labels for all of the unmarked crates and containers on the ship. This was in order to ensure that once we arrived in New York these container crates containing scientific samples and equipment would get to their final destination. I spent the second half of the day learning how to dismantle and test the Digibirds. After looking over the procedures, I was able to test a total of 8 Digibirds.

Most of Friday 5/3, was spent continuing my work from the day before, dismantling and testing the Digibirds. I was able to get through about 25 of them today, but there are quite a few that require some troubleshooting to determine what is wrong with them.

Stay tuned for my next post!

Hello Everyone,

My name is Colton Borresen. I received my Bachelor of Science; Biology from Georgia Southern University-Armstrong and I am attending Savannah State University for my Master of Science in Marine Sciences. I should be defending my thesis this summer, but I happily postponed it for this opportunity. I am thrilled to be selected as a UNOLS-MATE Intern for the transit cruise of the R/V Langseth from Cape Town, South Africa to New York. Most of my studies, research and internships have been focused on the biology side of the Marine Sciences and I am excited to get this exposure to a wide range of marine technologies, equipment, and marine technical professionals.

I enjoy SCUBA diving, soccer, music, and everything about sharks!! But most of all I just cannot wait until I am no longer a “college student”!

I am looking forward to sharing my experiences during this cruise with regular blog postings. Stay tuned!!!