Author: Katie Wade

Hello everyone,

This week I finished up my last days at sea, transiting from Astoria, Oregon, to San Diego, California. We had some Woods Hole donors join us in place of the scientists so they could see the vessel and Alvin. We also had another cookout on deck to enjoy the weather since we were making pretty good time to port.

Transit work wasn’t quite as fun as the dive days; we’ve been packing nearly everything from the ship, including the hold, for offload. The amount of equipment the team keeps on board is astounding—and everything has oil on it. So, I did some of the not-so-glamorous but completely necessary work of cleaning various valves and hardware so they could be neatly packed and shipped back to Massachusetts for the maintenance period. Since the work has been a little slow with all the packing, I got a tour of the engine room with the donors. It was fascinating to see all the machinery the ship uses to operate and the power required to run science operations. Apparently, the ship had been recently refurbished, which involved swapping the engines. To do this, they cut a hole in the hull of the vessel and rewelded it. It now uses two primary diesel engines to run electric motors. During the maintenance, the ship replaced six generators with four newer ones and implemented a single bus bar for redundancy and engine efficiency. During this time, they also added a bow thruster.

One of the highlights during the transit was seeing a pod of hundreds of dolphins swimming next to the ship and at the bow—seriously, I have never seen so many dolphins at once! As we were all on the bow enjoying the view of the sunset and wildlife, a SpaceX rocket was launched, which we had a perfect view of. It was truly an amazing evening and one of my top memories from the cruise.

We arrived in port at 9:30 a.m. at Scripps. It was, again, super cool to see the docking process. Just as before, a pilot came aboard to help the captain navigate the channel, but what made this unique was how the ship was maneuvered. Due to a bend in the channel, the captain sailed the ship so that the bow was nearly perpendicular to the dock—only about 30 feet away—and then used the bow thruster to turn on a dime, almost 360 degrees. It was impressive. Since there’s a Navy base near port, we also saw a huge aircraft carrier go by on the way in, along with several jets taking off.

This is my first time on the West Coast, so after work I’ve been making an effort to explore. I went out for sushi with some members of the team and walked a beautiful path along the water to get there. I’ll definitely be doing some more exploring as I wrap up the internship—with only one week left.

Talk soon,
Katie

Hello everyone,
This week has still been exciting even with the conclusion of all our dives. The ship still had some mapping routes to finish before we returned to port in Astoria, Oregon. During that time, we prepared for offload. Offload occurs once every five years, when Alvin, essential equipment, and parts are removed from the R/V Atlantis and shipped back to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, for maintenance and any planned upgrades.

As a mechanical intern, I spent two days draining all the oil from Alvin, including the compensation reservoirs. I think we drained about 70 gallons—way more than I anticipated—and it took a long time because, even though we created a vacuum to suck the oil out, we didn’t want to increase the pressure too much on the junction boxes and risk damaging them. I was also able to watch the post-dive process with one of the members of the electrical team inside the sphere, which was neat since I normally do not work with them. I did some other cleaning tasks, but the real fun of the week began when we docked in Astoria.

We went through the Columbia River Bar, which is extremely dangerous and difficult to navigate, so a pilot specifically trained to bring ships in and out of the bar was brought onboard by boat to help us safely dock. Conversely, on the way out of the Columbia a few days later, the pilot attempted to use a helicopter to get off the ship. Unfortunately, while the pilot was harnessed in and standing on the bow of the ship, the wind shifted, making it unsafe for him to continue, so he unclipped himself from the line to avoid injury. However, the pilot in the helicopter did not see him do this, so out of precaution the emergency line was cut from the helicopter. Apparently, the pilots at this location have not had to cut a line in many years, so it was a unique experience. Everyone erred on the side of caution and made all the right choices—so everyone was safe. The pilot then had to wait an hour for a vessel to come pick him up from our ship, which was still a really cool sight.

While in Astoria, the scientists hosted a science party at the Workers Tavern to thank the crew and Alvin team for collecting the data. It was a sweet gesture and a lot of fun to spend time with everyone before all the scientists left. The following day, the Alvin team all had the day off—which was wonderful. It was our first day off in weeks, so sleeping in was luxurious. Some members of the team and I went to Sunset Beach. Being from Florida, it was amazing to see mountains at the beach. It was also freezing, but I had a goal to swim in the Pacific Ocean, so I did—for about two minutes—because the water temperature was around 68°F and the rip current was strong. It was a nice change from Florida beaches; here there was so much space to walk and set up. We even stopped at a second beach where The Goonies was filmed and got to see the notorious boulder the ship sailed out from behind in the final scenes.

We proceeded to go into town for lunch before continuing our sightseeing. I went to the Astoria Column, where I climbed 186 steps for a breathtaking view. I was very lucky with our timing because, as I learned from speaking to a local named Boats, the weather had been rainy and foggy for some time and was expected to return, which would have obscured our view from the tower. At the same park, there are hiking trails, so I walked a couple of miles on one of them to reach the Cathedral Tree—a giant spruce. The weather and greenery made it a perfect hike.

Now, we are transiting from Astoria, Oregon, to San Diego, California, our final leg of the cruise. This has entailed much cleaning and packing, but I am looking forward to getting into port on the 30th.

Until next week,
Katie

This week marked the completion of all the dives Alvin will partake in for this cruise, for a total of 10 dives. It truly was an amazing sight that I am sad to see come to an end; I felt like I was finally getting into a rhythm of completing pre- and post-dive activities somewhat independently. However, I do have many fun memories to share.

One of the highlights this week was getting another perspective of the recovery process by riding in the lifeboat that brought the swimmers to Alvin upon resurfacing. During this process, I witnessed how the swimmers contacted the pilot and observers in the sphere using a standard plug-in phone, secured the safety lines on the science basket, retrieved the tow from the stern of the ship, and swiftly attached the tow line to the sub. It was a beautiful day out on the water, and I am so grateful to the crew and Alvin team for allowing me to see this part of recovery up close. At that moment, I realized I could definitely do this as a job one day.

At the start of the week the swell picked up, which made me a little sick, but I have since acclimated and now enjoy the rocking. It can be quite fun when it gets bumpy, but I also learned how important it is to secure items even when the swell is expected to be tame. At one point, a random wave came through at just the right angle for the ship to roll significantly; I braced myself in the hangar as I watched crates of ratchet straps and hose clamps come flying out of the shelves. We made sure everything was strapped down tight after that. Otherwise, we had wonderful weather and some great sunrises and sunsets, with only a couple of rainy days.

We solved the mystery leak we were experiencing last week with the main ballast blow box—a faulty check valve! Although it passed testing, we swapped it for a ready spare and, after the following dive, there were no more leaks. The work was predominantly the same as the previous week, except for the last dive. For the final dive, we had what’s oddly called, in my opinion, a “skin party.” This is where we removed all the “skins,” or protective plating, from Alvin to be washed. It was like a car wash for a submersible and quite fun; whenever we scrub the hangar or deck we put on music, which makes it a good time.

Additionally, I learned a bit more about the sub’s navigation. The ship has piezoelectric transducers that locate the sub and then relay its position back to Alvin. Once the sub is at the bottom, it can set its current location as a reference point and use the Doppler Velocity Logger on its tail to track movements from there. I also learned about an important safety protocol: the sub must contact top lab every 30 minutes using FM frequency. If this does not happen for one hour plus the time it would take the sub to return to the surface from the designated dive location, the top lab must notify the Navy and other authorities. They have very strict regulations for diving to maintain safety.

As for the science this week, we completed a couple of lander deployments. The lander was used to collect video data of the hydrothermal vents and Alvin itself. I also spoke with some of the scientists on board and learned about their equipment. I helped set up some IGTs on the science basket, which are water samplers designed to maintain the pressure, temperature, and gas content of the sample as it was collected. Since the team is studying nitrogen cycling, they are adding tracers to these samples to understand how microorganisms process chemicals under these conditions. This may be a bit of an oversimplification—I tried my best to follow their explanations, but it’s not really my background. Apparently, IGTs are rare, with only about 20 in existence, making it a very cool sight!

Anyway, the dives are done, but I still have a few weeks left in the internship.
More to come,
Katie

It has been a busy second week. This week I finally got to see the launch and recovery process of Alvin, which was amazing. The weather was ideal at first, with very calm seas—almost flat for the first couple of days, which is uncharacteristic of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Later on, the swell returned to double digits, which took some getting used to. Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty with the pre- and post-dive operations alongside the mechanical team.

Most mornings during pre-dive, I helped flush the lines of any air or water with either Carnation, hydraulic, or Brey oil, depending on the system. This ensures proper pressure compensation in the junction boxes that house the electronics for the ballast systems, communications, etc. Brey oil, I learned, is used instead of Carnation to prevent arcing in electrical boxes that draw more current. I also helped load the sub after the pilot finished their pre-dive checks inside the sphere. During this time, I handed down CO₂ scrubbers, towels to remove condensation, blankets for comfort (since it gets quite cold), and lunch for the pilot and observers.

The sphere is very well taken care of. Before each dive, all passengers must shower and wear clothing made of natural fibers to ensure safety. Synthetic materials can be flammable and may wedge themselves in the window seals, which play a crucial role in maintaining the pressure boundary. Even when the hatch is inspected in the morning, the person conducting the inspection must be free of oil and dirt to maintain cleanliness. After the sub is launched, we scrub the hangar and refill the oil containers so that everything is ready for any evening maintenance.

Post-dive operations can be a little fast-paced. As soon as the Launch Coordinator indicates the sub is secured on deck, we quickly rinse down the entire sub to prevent corrosion, cover the windows, and remove access panels to begin inspections. I always do a general “mech inspection,” which involves walking around the sub and checking for any loose bolts, wiring, or abnormalities. This past week we had water intrusion issues with the port main ballast blow box. We spent a few late nights draining and pressure testing the box, as well as testing the check valve and bladder for leaks. Unfortunately, we still haven’t found the culprit, but hopefully by the next update I’ll have an answer.

Additionally, there was water in the port thruster—which is bad, but also good for me, because I got to help take it apart. First, we swapped the motor for a ready spare so the sub was dive-ready, then made the repairs. We drained the motor of hydraulic oil, replaced a damaged O-ring and crane seal, and then carefully refilled the motor. This was fun but tedious, since every bit of air introduced into the system has to be removed. You wouldn’t think it would be much, but it is—so we had to slowly fill the motor using a tube while shaking it to release all the air.

All in all, it was a great week. I was able to watch the recovery process from the bridge and see the captain’s role in retrieving the sub, and I even got to check out some of the critters scientists collected in a bio box from the hydrothermal vents!

Until next time,
Katie

I just wrapped up my first week with the Alvin Team, and it’s been amazing in more ways than one. Upon arriving in Oregon, I finally got to meet the team in person. Everyone has been wonderfully patient and kind, showing me the ropes of both their operations and, of course, the engineering behind Alvin. I also met the crew of the RV Atlantis during a Labor Day picnic and cookout they hosted on the dock before we set sail.

This week, I was introduced to the sub and its critical systems. Since Alvin hadn’t been operated for about a month, we spent three days on maintenance, which I was able to observe and help with when possible. Some of the tasks I participated in included ensuring pressure compensation in the junction boxes and tubing that house communication cables, pressure testing the check valves on the main and variable ballast systems, and installing the seawater filter for the variable ballast. I also learned how the team inventories and stores spare parts, as well as the strict protocols for replacing them. Their attention to detail is remarkable—every component must meet precise standards, and even the slightest thread damage can make a part unsuitable for dive operations. I also witnessed the installation process of the batteries; they provide 120 volts to the sub. We rolled out Alvin to expose a hatch between the tracks in the hangar that allows access to the hold where the batteries are stored and maintained. The batteries were lifted into the sub using hydraulics.

In preparation for the first engineering dive, I helped remove the coral-cutting claw from the robotic arm and replace it with a three-pronged gripper more suitable for this expedition, collecting high-temperature water samples at hydrothermal vents. We also held the “weight party,” where we stacked steel plates to aid Alvin’s descent on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Unfortunately, our first dive was canceled after a recovery buoy detached from a Canadian mooring line. Since we were nearby, the RV Atlantis was asked to recover it, which we did.

Even so, I’ve already learned so much about plumbing and mechanics in just one week, and I’m excited to see the data and pictures that Alvin collects after all our dives are complete!

Katie