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 !
Category: Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
*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.
R/V Marcus G. Langseth,
06-July-13, Home
R/V Marcus G. Langseth: Leaving the Boat
Hello everyone! This is my last blog post. Sadly, while the boat will continue its current cruise, I will not be joining them. The NSF has granted this cruise an extension and will not be returning to port before July 29th. I have other commitments that I need to fulfil and thus I will not be able to join the R/V Marcus G. Langseth when they venture back out to finish the cruise.
I had a good time on the Langseth, but like all things, it had to come to an end. Looking back on my cruise, I realized that I met some really wonderful people and I am going to miss all of them. I had friends, mentors, bosses, co-workers, and colleagues. I learned a great deal during my trip about life out in the real world, data collection, and maintenance and repair of a boat and seismic equipment. It was a wonderful adventure.
Although I am sad to be leaving I must admit I am a bit happy to be back on land. Being on the boat is a lot different from land. Beyond the fact that your whole world is about 230 by 60 feet, you also have to deal with the motion of the boat, the unimaginably slow internet, the prescribed meal times, and small population. While I will miss the crew of the Langseth, and the work I was doing on it, I won’t be missing the internet nor the 12 hour shifts. I wish I could be staying to finish the cruise. Good bye and good luck to you R/V Marcus G. Langseth and crew; may our paths cross again
R/V Marcus G. Langseth,
01-July-13, Vigo, Spain
R/V Marcus G. Langseth: Working in Port
Hello again everyone. Well, we have been back at port for nearly a week now and we are still working on getting the engine fixed. We still don’t have a sail date, but it looks as if it will be sometime next week at the earliest. Even though we are in port, that does not mean we have time off. Oh no, we have a lot of work to be done.
For the first two days, we were still on regular shifts and so my work time was midnight to noon. For these two days, I worked on the guns with Carlos, Bern, and Robbie. During the first night, Carlos and I were tasked with looking at the shackles on all 40 guns, which means 80 shackles in total, and ensuring that they were in good condition. If we found one that wasn’t, we had to change the shackle and the bolt. This is no easy feat as the guns weigh anywhere from 80 to 100 lbs. In order to lift them up so that we could remove the shackles, we used a chain lift, wrapped it around the guns and hand cranked the gun upwards until enough stress was taken off of the shackle and chain. Once this was done, we could then remove the shackle and bolt and put new ones on. In all, we replaced about 20 shackles.
When we came to the last gun and were nearly done with changing the shackle, we noticed that the gun was not built correctly. So, we had to take the gun off and rebuilt it. Carlos, decided to let me try my luck at rebuilding the gun without him taking the lead. It was a bit nerve racking to build a gun correctly when I had only seen a gun for the first time a few weeks back. But with Carlos as my teacher I remembered a lot of the tricks he showed me and was soon able to finish the gun. I did, of course, make some mistakes, but Carlos was there to help me fix them and to give me pointers on how to make things easier.
The next day Bern, Robbie and I worked on checking the gun umbilicals. These are the cables that connect the guns to the boat through which goes air and the commands to fire. In order to check them though, I had to climb into the reels and disconnect two cables. The reels are about 2 feet wide inside and have a diameter of 5 feet. It was pretty cramped inside. Soon though, I got used to the confinement and was able to quickly and easily disconnect the cables. Once I had disconnected them though, I had to wait for Bern and Robbie to check the cables. The hole to climb in was quite small and so I stayed put inside the reel. One time though, Robbie and Bern encountered some problems and so I was in there for about 45 minutes. It didn’t seem that long to me though since I had accidentally fallen asleep waiting for them to radio me my instructions.
After the second day at port, we went on regular shifts meaning everyone works from 7:00 to 16:30. I like these shifts better as I can now eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner and don’t have left overs for my dinner. Since we went on day shifts, we have been attempting to reorganize the boat. My job, along with the gun mechanics, is to organize all of the cables used for the guns. They were currently in a shelving unit, but we had to remove it and move it to another lab and so we had to make our own shelf or cable holder. We discussed ideas about what we could do and we soon started to work. To my surprise, it was my idea that they decided to use. It should be done fairly soon and we will see how well my design works.
Well, that is all that is going on with me. It does look like the cruise will be extended however I will not be able to continue if it is extended as I have other work lined up. I will stay as long as I can and I hope that the engine gets fixed soon. Take care everyone.
– This is Tyler Poppenwimer, signing off –
R/V Marcus G. Langseth,
25-June-13, Vigo, Spain
R/V Marcus G. Langseth: BREAKing News
Well, I thought that I was going to write about what life is like on a boat for this blog post, but the past few days have been interesting. A few days ago, our port side engine broken down. We were forced to bring in all of the guns, and streamers, and head to port to get it fixed. As I am writing this, we just pulled into the port in Vigo, Spain. This does not mean that there isn’t work to do, but it is a bit of a change of pace from being out on the ocean.
The day the engine broke started out like any other day, but at about 2:00 am, we all noticed a strange rumbling sound and then just as suddenly, it started to fade away. As it faded though it kept getting quieter and quieter. Soon it was nearly dead silent. One of the engines had gone out. This was bad as we couldn’t maintain our speed to keep the streamers and guns trailing behind us for very long with one engine. The engineers quickly went to check the scene, but were dismayed to find that it was a major problem. The call went out to pull everything in.
I quickly grabbed my harness, a hard hat, and a float coat and rushed up to the gun deck to meet Robbie and Carlos (the gun mechanics on my shift) to help them take out the guns. We immediately began our work. Carlos and I hooked up our monkey tails and undid the safety net while Robbie began to pull in the gun strings. Once the gun string got close, it was only a matter of time before we finally had all of the guns on deck. We did a little bit of maintenance, while we waited for the streamer team to assemble.
Once assembled, I then went up to the streamer deck and began to lend a hand bringing in the streamer. After about 5 minutes working with the streamer crew, Robbie and Carlos called me up to the vein deck to help them bring in the door. Thus, I ran up one more deck and began to help them bring in the door. We were about half way to bringing in the door, it is out about 500 meters from the boat, when the waves picked up and so we weren’t able to bring the door the rest of the way in. Luckily though, we had brought it in enough so that we could bring up the streamers.
I went back down to the streamer deck and helped in any way I could. Each member of the group was assigned a task. Mine was to help take off the birds and SSRDs and once removed, I was to go and disassemble them and place them in their holders. We were bringing up two streamers simultaneously and so I was busily running back and forth between streamers taking off birds and SSRDs and disassembling them.
Just before my shift ended, the seas calmed enough to bring the door on so I went and helped bring in the door. My job was to use a large hook on the end of a rope to hook a giant metal ring on the door. Imagine one of those carnival games where you try to hook a duck on a fishing pole and expand the length to about 25 feet and the weight of the hook to 10 pounds and you have my job. After numerous attempts though, I finally managed to hook the ring and we could bring up the door. With the door brought in my shift was done and I could go to bed.
When I woke up the next day the rest of the streamers had been brought in and the other door as well. We were also on our way towards Vigo, Spain to meet an engineer who could possible fix our broken engine. I learned that the head of the engine had cracked, water and oil were mixed throughout the engine, and one of the pistons was messed up. It might take a long time to get fixed once we finally get into Vigo, but were hopeful that all will go well and we will be out in the ocean soon.
Take care everyone.
– This is Tyler Poppenwimer, signing off –
R/V Marcus G. Langseth,
06-July-13, Home
R/V Marcus G. Langseth: Leaving the Boat
Hello everyone! This is my last blog post. Sadly, while the boat will continue its current cruise, I will not be joining them. The NSF has granted this cruise an extension and will not be returning to port before July 29th. I have other commitments that I need to fulfil and thus I will not be able to join the R/V Marcus G. Langseth when they venture back out to finish the cruise.
I had a good time on the Langseth, but like all things, it had to come to an end. Looking back on my cruise, I realized that I met some really wonderful people and I am going to miss all of them. I had friends, mentors, bosses, co-workers, and colleagues. I learned a great deal during my trip about life out in the real world, data collection, and maintenance and repair of a boat and seismic equipment. It was a wonderful adventure.
Although I am sad to be leaving I must admit I am a bit happy to be back on land. Being on the boat is a lot different from land. Beyond the fact that your whole world is about 230 by 60 feet, you also have to deal with the motion of the boat, the unimaginably slow internet, the prescribed meal times, and small population. While I will miss the crew of the Langseth, and the work I was doing on it, I won’t be missing the internet nor the 12 hour shifts. I wish I could be staying to finish the cruise. Good bye and good luck to you R/V Marcus G. Langseth and crew; may our paths cross again
– This is Tyler Poppenwimer, signing off for the last time –