Category: MATE Blog Archive Page 88 of 89

Well guys, we’re back in Seattle for a couple of weeks. Since my last post, we finished our survey for internal waves with SWIMS the towfish off the Washington coast with the group of scientists called “The Wave Chasers.” We got back to Lake Union, where the University of Washingtons’ dock is located, last Friday. Lucky enough for me I have family in the area, so on my off time I have received the grand tour of the state of Washington. 

So after the weekend off, I reported for duty on Monday morning. We started off by tracing some Cat-5 cable (Cat-5 is commonly used for internet connections and linking different computers together) because of some networking issues. Once we had traced our wires out, I was tasked with clearing the dock of some junk that was no longer being used, a fun task indeed!

After cleaning the dock, I found out that the machine shop guys were trying to get their shop repainted after an electrical upfit. Needing to have it repainted before Thursday, I offered my services. Painting is what I have been doing for the last few days, breaking for a few hours for a Mar Tech staff meeting to discuss things to get done while in port. Once I am done writing this, I will be replacing all the lanyards on the Niskin water sample bottles that are mounted on our rosette. Well until next time, Brophy out! 

Hello all:

It’s day three of the first of two cruises in the North Pacific. The sun is shining and the weather has been good so far. The food on the Thompson has been awesome, with suchi for lunch and dinner that you would find in a find dining resturant. 

Since leaving port, we did CTD casts for the first 24hrs of the cruise. Starting in  the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which seperates Canada and the US. My job was to prepare the CTD by cocking the Niskin bottles which are used to collect water samples at a given depth in the water column. Then we would deploy the CTD, firing the bottles at the depth that the scientists require. Once back on board I assted the scientists in collecting water samples to find the nutrient content of the sample.

Yesterday evening as we recovered an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle), Grey Whales were spotted off the port bow,water spouts flying high in the sky. Then this morning a pod of Orca’s came very close to the ship as a Sea Lion hugged the Thompson trying to avoid detection from the killer whales.

After breakfest this morning (4/24/2013) we began the search for internal waves. Internal waves are very similar to the waves found on the sea surface, but travel within the water column. To do this we used a combo of a side mounted echosounder along with a towfish called “SWIMS” that is towed from astern. I assisted in the deployment of SWIMS by manning a tag line while it was guided into the water. I shall report again soon, hopefully with a better internet connection so I can include photos. Well, until next time!!

 It’s 80 degrees and sunny in Wilmington, NC and I’m soaking it up as much as possible. In a day and a half, I will be on a plane heading toward Seattle and the R/V Thomas G Thompson for what promises to be a trip of a lifetime. A five day trip off the Washington Coast, working in the Strait of Juan De Fuca then after a few weeks in port, we are off to the Gulf of Alaska for a three week trip! Warm clothing will be essential because the North Pacifc and Gulf of Alaska are unpredictable places even in the Spring/Summer months. I’m making a list and checking it twice! Well, until next time, Sayonara!!

Well mates let me get you up to speed since my last post. We have left the port of Bermuda and are currently in the middle of the Atlantic on our way to the Rainbow Massif we are studying on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. I have been on a 12hr shift rotation starting from mid-night until Noon. For the first four hours I work on deck with the gunners and marine techs. The next eight I am in the main lab with the science party. Basically we have been trying to get the seismic guns ready for deployment. There is alot of work that has to go into to these huge expensive pieces of equipment. Ok I am going to keep this simple; what you are looking at in the photo below are seismic air cannons or guns (used for multi-channel seismic surveys) that are attached to big floatation devices. The coiled rope (green) are specif lengths that keep all the guns at the desired depth (9 meters). These are towed behind the boat as well as 6 kms of streamers (hydrophones) that recieve the returned signal produced by the air cannons after it has reflected/refracted through the subsurface and back towards the sea surface. We are also running multibeam and …

OK thats enough information for one day, if I tell you everything now there will be no suspense and anticipation for the next one.

Well mates, thanks for tuning in. Today is my third day on-board the Langseth and what a busy three days its been. When I fist got on-board the science party was not scheduled to arrive till the next day. So I quickly offered my services to the crew and techs and was put to work immediately. Unfortunately we are stuck in Bermuda with a rudder malfunction and although the science party is on-board they have nothing to do till we shove off. So I have been spending my days working on deck, splicing rope, cutting chain, testing winches, and preparing for deck operations while at sea. I will put up some pictures some time tonight or tomorrow. So stay tuned for more exciting insights to live on a research vessel

Uruguay, how can I say this, was not exactly a vacation resort. It was a working industrial port. The city of Montevideo was less than aesthetically pleasing on the best day, yet was a nice enough for a non-Spanish speaking American to not feel too terribly uncomfortable. 

Walking onto the KNORR was one of the single most intimidating things I could have ever done. Having not been out of the country except to Bermuda, which if you ask a world traveler from the US doesn’t count. I had no clue what to expect of South Africa. First let’s start with the Johannesburg Airport. It is completely insane. It was the single most confusing place I have ever had the misfortune to step. People luckily spoke enough English I was able to find my plane in the Fugue state that only an international overnight flight can put you in. I landed delicately later that evening in Cape Town knowing only that some random stranger should have a sign with my name, and the ships name on it. He did, which made the rest of the evening uneventful and not really worth recounting save the fact that I rode with the Chief Engineer back to the vessel.

    So there I was with one suitcase, an olive drab sea bag, and my 72 hour backpack. Everything I needed for the next six months had to be in there, if it wasn’t, I hope I won’t need it. I saw the KNORR which is an impressively weathered (in the good way) ship dimly lit with sodium lights and slight haze that smelled sweetly of diesel fuel. I was getting ready to spend the next month and a half aboard the ship that found the HMS TITANIC! The concept really didn’t sink in for quite some time about how unique of an experience this was going to be.

    The science operation we were going to be conducting was the last of a time series studying the Aghullas current under Dr. Lisa Beal from the University of Miami. During the mooring recovery ops we are scheduled to do several, 40+, CTD casts. My main duty during the day was deck leader of the CTD casts. Basically aboard the KNORR there are 4 people working to deploy and recover the CTD. The most important person being the winch operator, who is in charge of lifting this several thousand pound (KNORR has a very heavy rosette for enabling deep casts) and getting it over the side safely. There are then the tag line operators whose job is to keep the CTD from swinging while it is being delicately maneuvered over the side of the deck. Then there is me, with the rather odd title of deck leader. Basically I just watched and made sure no one was doing anything wrong that would get them injured or killed. I told the winch operator when to start the initial test descent, and well that’s about it. Until things go bad, and when they go bad it happens very quick. And one day it did. The seas were rough, but no horribly so. The wind was blowing maybe 20kts and the seas were a little rolly but nothing that should endanger anyone. The CTD came out of the water and instantly started spinning. One of the line tenders hooked the line and started pulling the CTD in. The second line tender was having difficulty with the pelican hook, which is on a pole roughly 12 feet long, so you can imagine how ungainly that is in the best of times. She couldn’t hook it, and the CTD started swinging side to side as we took a large wave. The line that was attached went slack as the CTD came careening back toward the ship. The attached line jumped over the struggling tender’s body and now she was in the bight of the line. I grabbed the line and screamed her name right as the CTD swung out and the line went taught slamming into the side of her neck. During instances like this time has an odd way of slowing down so each heart beat feels like an hour. I saw the rope hit her neck; I had grabbed it hoping I could keep it from completely looping around her neck. Her head went sharply and suddenly to the left as the line attached to CTD and tugger went taught. Her hard hat was knocked off her head. I ran up to her yelling her name several times, not sure if in the three feet I needed to traverse, she would slump over dead. My heart was racing; I grabbed the pelican hook pole and told her to get back to the safe area. I pulled the CTD and finished the op in the standard way. This was also the final CTD recovery of the trip, so all hands were on deck watching this rather ceremoniously. After I called the bridge to inform them the CTD was safely in the hanger and the ship could get underway again I went to my bunk and cried for 20 minutes. The girl was fine, completely unphased by the situation. She didn’t have to see it from my angle.

      I have seen many things in my 34 year life. Not a lot scares me. Getting caught in the bight of a working rope is one of them. I was confronted with the power of what we work with every day. You never know what the sea has in store for you. She is ever changing. She is beautiful. She is violent. She is unforgiving. You can’t wonder what if, or how could we have handled this differently in a situation like that. It happened; split second reflexes are the difference between life and death. Being able to work through the adrenaline, and not succumb to its more irrational effects is paramount to resolving life or death situations. 

I got to Miami in another red eye flight fugue. Exhausted and relatively confused from the cab ride I walked onto a new ship, this time, the Walton Smith. I was greeted by Dennis who is to be my new mentor on this leg of my journey in the world of the Marine Technician. He gave me exactly enough time to unpack my gear and told me it was time to get to work. I began by assembling a strange contraption called a MOCNESS. This bizarre device gets its name from being a Multiple opening and closing net and environmental sensing system…Basically it looks like a series of nets strung together on four bars. You can open different nets at different depths in order to sample the plankton at those different depths. Luckily I had read the manual to this device prior to boarding the Smith knowing that I would be dealing with this thing. I didn’t however expect to be assembling it less than 2 hours after landing back in the United States, after one of the most torturous flights I have ever taken.

I spent the next week assembling this device, assembling a CTD and repairing the niskin bottles on its rosette. We then left on a four day transit to Gulf Port Mississippi, where the science party would board. We arrived at night, rather uneventfully. The next morning the Science party would begin to load their gear, and we were scheduled to depart that Thursday.

The science party began unloading their three 20 foot long uhauls at around 10am. The seas in the harbor were a little rough, but nothing that should hinder work. Around noon everyone broke for lunch. The small mess deck was crowded with around 20 people hungrily eating a skillfully prepared lunch. We are lucky to have a rather wonderful chef aboard this small crowded vessel. I ate quickly, and retired to my bunk to get away from the crowd of new people that were rather raucous. The winds rather noisily began to pick up. I was reading more about the MOCNESS and its operational procedures when I felt the ship lurch hard to port. The wind began picking up and howling in a very unsettling frequency that can only be likened to the feral growling of a dire hound. The ship shuttered hard nearly throwing me out of my top bunk. Luckily for me my reflexes were quick enough to avoid the 5 foot fall onto the floor.

Startled and hyper alert I stumbled out of my berth greeted by the scene of scientist bracing themselves in door frames and several holding on for dear life to the nearest stable surface. I made my way through the throngs of unnerved people to the port holes in the galley. There I was greeted with the ship facing bow to the dock. For a second I wasn’t sure if this was a dream and I was safely asleep back home, then I heard the loud shuttering snap of our bow line giving way in the strong gusts of wind. We broke free of the dock and were headed for the rocks and old parts of the pier that were next to where we were docked less than 5 minutes prior.  A load creaking noise echoed through the ship. I made my way quickly to the fan tail to see if I could lend hand to the crew who were outside dealing with god knows what.

I was greeted with a howling wind and waves of nearly 7 feet high in the harbor. For a brief moment my heart sank as I looked around at the chaos of packing crates being tossed about and the wind blowing plastic lids quickly overboard. Then I heard one of the deck hand shout something that delicate ears should not hear. I spun in place and was confronted with the image of a massive barge on a collision course for our small aluminum ship. Thanks to the quick response of the Captain he had long ago, minutes, started the engines and had our ship under complete control. He motored us out of the way of this multi-ton barge which then careened side long into a large container ship that was parked near us. The barge scraped the whole side of the ship and finally came to rest on the rocks that nearly spelled the end of our science expedition.

We spent the next several hours in the middle of the harbor being thrown around like a cork in a giant Jacuzzi. Having seen the near doom of our small 96 foot ship twice in one day, I was relieved when the small storm finally passed us by enough to allow us to retie to the dock. After the hour or so of being bounced around in port I was more than happy to get on land and help crane the rather massive ROTV’s(remotely operated towed vehicles) out of the Uhaul trucks and on our small deck.

This time the power and fury of the ocean humbled an entire boat of people. We collectively saw the speed with which things can go from normal and mundane, to unforgettable when attempting to study the majesty that is the ocean. This time the ocean forgave our humanness, our fragile nature, our gung-ho attitude for the science which drives each and every one of us on a research vessel. This time we all gave thanks that none of the large instruments were being craned over to the ship when she broke loose. We gave thanks that no one was hurt. We gave thanks that our ship is captained by a very capable and knowledgeable individual. I gave thanks that I was here to witness this very rare event, and its successful conclusion. Science being conducted on the water is never a simple and straight forward thing. We are always at the mercy of the weather, the currents, and the ever changing tide of events that can spell disaster in seconds.