Multicore-a-polooza is at an end. We did the last multicore today. Now all that is left of my last cruise are some heatprobe measurements, a couple JASON deployments, and one CTD cast, then its home. A much needed break after six of the most amazing months of my life. To say this internship has changed my life is a fundamental understatement. I came into this industry knowing barely anything about how ships operate, yet here I am today and I feel as if I am more comfortable with the everyday comings and goings of a ship than I am with a regular job. The idea that sea going life is romantic and that seeing foreign places will be amazing is something I thought at first, and those notions were quickly thrown overboard like yesterday’s slop. It is a hard job, it can be a lonely and exasperating job at times, but at the end of the day it is being able to wake up the next day and not hate your job that is what I was looking for. This job has allowed me to fulfill that in so many ways. Six months have come and gone. It is now time to figure out where life is leading next, hopefully working fulltime somewhere as a technician.
Category: Vessel/Laboratory Page 88 of 89
It’s about 65 steps from my room to the Lab, when the weather is good; or, somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 when the seas are unsettled. The ship can be quite large if you don’t know where you are going, and 65 steps can very easily turn into 500+, which consequently is how I spent most of the first two days – aimlessly wandering the hallways, walking down the same pathways from different directions, and generally having a real hard time keeping a face like I knew what I was doing as I passed by the same deckhand for the fourth time. It’s truly a maze of watertight doors and bulkheads. To get from one place to another, chances are there’s at least 7 different ways to go about it, but only a couple that make sense. The good news is that it’s only temporary, and with a little patience and some proper emulation of those in the know, you can figure out the errors of your ways in quick fashion. Truth be told, once you know where you’re going, it can really be a small (small, small, small!!!) space. But, let me not get ahead of myself, this is my home for 4.5 weeks and I am the new roommate, nervous to intrude on common spaces and make them my own.
There is an established order to things around the ship, and the Main Lab is no different. There’s the Science Tech lead, Bernard, son of an Irish immigrant and native of New York. He works in the lab with Bobby the IT Tech, a Texan who lives in Jersey. And, Rob the Temp Tech who usually works on a different research vessel, but was brought in for this cruise due to his experience with Kongsberg multibeam sonar systems. Rob also is from New York. I can sense a trend here. Work on a research boat, and chances are you’ll be near NYC. There are other options in Virginia or all along the West Coast, but I gotta admit that it’s kind of refreshing to have this New York attitude in the workplace.
My shifts have been set, and I’ve been able to settle into a rhythm quite nicely. I work two 4 hour stints in the lab, both from 8-12. This gives me a fair amount of time to eat, sleep, clean, do some laundry, and a couple of hours to find peace of mind – which I’m finding is quite essential to maintaining a comfortable shipboard environment.
Beyond personal space, I’m finding that the little things begin to make a huge difference. Hot water in the showers, ample supplies of bacon for breakfast, that feeling I get when I take off my boots at the end of the day, a working thermostat in my room, and an ice cold can of Coca Cola that the cooks sneak me during dinner. I cannot emphasize the meaning of the last item in the list enough. A can of Coke is worth it’s weight in gold on a ship at sea. You can horde it, drink it, trade it with other crew for any number of stashed luxury items, and with a little finesse – flaunt it. Money means little out here, reduced to equals we share the same ambitions in life – eat, sleep, Coca Cola.
Speaking of the eating, the food has been very filling and pretty good. It is a bit heavy, and so my appetite dwindles at times. I’m beginning think that serving potatos and gravy with every meal is a national past time in the Philippines. But, the ice box filled with Snickers Ice Cream bars kinda makes everything okay. There’s Herwin, the Costa Rican chef who truly lives the ‘Pura Vida’ lifestyle. And my main man June from the Philippines, who cooks great Thai food.
Whether it’s Chili Lime Salmon with Beans and Cilantro, or a good ole American French Bread Pizza, where the cuisine goes – so goes the general mood of the crew. And, let me tell you these guys are good at predicting what the crew wants. Crave Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches and chances are you will see its kin in the galley within two days. The dark art of ESP is real and it’s being practiced openly in the presence of the pyre, and the townsfolk could not be happier. Oil soaked torches ready to light timber become red and white cans raised in a unison, and accusations of witchcraft or black magics become songs of praise, valor, and jalapeño cheddar poppers. And I revel in every last bite.
So far it’s been almost a week, eventhough I blogged two days ago I felt it was nescesary to blog again and keep everyone up to date! We have finally made it to our destination where we will actually get cool images of the sea floor & the sedimenation that’s occuring. We will be able to see if therehave been any recent lava flows occuing. We will also be able to determine the age of the ridge as we go. With all the data we will be collecting, we will be able to prove which theories are correct & incorrect. During my previous watch, We passed our 18th waypoint. By the end of my second shift at 2400 I exoect that we would at least be at our 21st.
The weather hasn’t really changed much, it’s been fairly rough seas with a lot of rain. You get your sea-legs within the first few days of being aboard. Well most people do & if you don’t then you’re laying in bed most of the time. Luckily I can say I haven’t gotten sick yet! Being on the water 24/7 really makes you realize how much you take the land for granted. I used to hop in my car & drive where ever I wanted to when I was home. Now when I’m bored I find myself reading a book, sleeping, watching a movie, or socializing. Don’t get me wrong I’m having a lot of fun but I do miss having the ability to get in my car & go to the local ice cream shop or meet up with my friends.
Well off to dinner I go, will blog again fairly soon depending on if any exciting events occur within the next few days! Also pictures will be posted after the expedition is over due to difficulty in transferrring them onto the computer. It’s very difficult to load them & make them the smaller size.
Ashley Paradiso signing out
So the last cruise didn’t go so well. Once again there was a lot of time spent just waiting around for science to need me. And the chief scientist on this particular cruise was like that one customer that no matter what you do, they are never happy. I guess that is part of the learning experience, though.
The last cruise consisted of more CTD casts and the over the side deployment of the science teams FIRe. The FIRe is an instrument that determines the health of an organism (phytoplankton) by measuring it’s fluoresence. We spent most of our time anchored just south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was monotonous and boring but at the same time, I am now an expert at doing CTD casts!
The last few days were spent about 137 miles offshore just past the continental shelf in over 2500 meters of water. There we tried to do several casts at varying depths. First at 50 meters, then down to 750, then 2500. During the 750, the termination failed at about 500 meters. We brought it up and reterminated. The next cast was a success. Unfortunately, the 2500 meter attempt ended in failure as well. This time though, it wasn’t the termination. It stopped reading at a certain depth but then continued as we brought it up. We are pretty sure it has something to do with a faulty cable and extreme pressure. They will have to do further investigation to figure this one out.
Back at the dock in Lewes, DE. We spent the day getting the ship ready for the next cruise and I helped Ted reinstall the ship’s ADCP after two weeks of being out of service. I have only slept about 6 hours or so in the last three days so this blog will have to remain short once again. I’ve learned a lot over the last few weeks and will be walking away from this experience confident that I can do this job. This time tomorrow I will be sitting in my new house finally able to get some much needed rest.
Signing off…
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 !
*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.
Today technically marks the six month day when I landed in South Africa to board the KNORR. Six months ago I had no clue what I was getting into. I had no clue what to expect. To a certain extent I still don’t know what to expect from day to day. I have grown used to the regimented life that is living aboard a ship. 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, a day or two in port every once in a while that you can get away from the ship, other than that it’s been nothing but blue water and work. Not saying I haven’t enjoyed every minute of it. This internship experience is what you make of it. I chose to learn as much as possible about a career I very much wish to continue in. I chose to inundate myself as much in the culture and work as I possibly could. I wanted to know exactly what I might be getting into if I were to continue this.
You begin to get so used to breakfast at 730, lunch at 1130 and dinner at 1730, never getting an actual good night of sleep because your room is either next to the bow thruster, directly under some crane, or have a roommate that works not quite opposite shifts. These things become the norm. Your old life becomes an exotic thing. A bed that is large enough to stretch out on becomes almost a novelty. Something as simple as taking a bath to shave your legs instead of standing awkwardly against a bulkhead and hoping the sea state stays nice become things you dream about in the odd nights you actually end up dreaming. Not saying this is a rough life by any stretch of the imagination. It is fundamentally amazing to get to witness science first hand. The little things begin to count way more than they used to. I love listening to music. I love going to live shows. I gave up several hundred dollars of concert tickets to take this internship. I love movies, watching new and amazing art house films is a big part of what I do when I am home with my friends. You begin to miss these things. You begin to miss sitting around having a beer on a Friday night with friends and watching some weird movie they dug up out of some dusty box in the basement of some rental house they just installed granite counter tops in; only to be confused by the lack of plot, and slightly bummed because the subtitles stop half way through and you don’t speak enough Russian or Turkish or whatever odd language it is in to fully understand what is going on. But as the movie fades into the background the night becomes more about the conversations that spring up randomly, the coming and going of friends throughout the evening always makes for a shift in dialog that no Shakespeare or Huxley could ever have attempted to write.
You get some of this on ships, but by the second week in everything is routine, you only run into the people you share the same shift with. There are exceedingly small amounts of randomly running into someone. You see the same people at the same times, every day. It is not uncommon to go for a two week cruise and meet someone for the first time as you are both heading down the gang way to the nearest bar. It is this routine that both has become a comfort and something I have become fearful of. What am I going to do when I get back home? I have a brief job lined up a couple weeks after I get back, but then what? My comfortable routine of 12 hour blocks will be no more defined by the ship I am on. I will be able to walk more than a couple hundred feet in one direction. I won’t have to plan my shopping list by port stops and how long the cruise is going to be. I will be free to accidentally run out of something and it won’t be a big deal to run to the store at 1am and grab some shampoo. Due to my planning I have thus far run out of nothing of importance. I have managed to quit smoking, a 21 year habit that has nearly at times defined my presence to some people. For the most part I always had a cigarette hanging out of my mouth when I was working on a car. I would sooner run out of clean socks than cigarettes, but no more. I am done. When your smoking habit can legally buy beer it’s time to give it up. Having had malignant melanoma, and gall stones they thought might be cancerous, which caused me to have my gall bladder removed, I feel it is time to stop pounding the proverbial coffin nails.
So yeah six months can change your entire way of looking at things. I have a whole suite of knowledge that I did not possess prior to this experience. I have run high definition satellite systems, trouble shot DGPS systems, built and rebuilt various scientific instruments, trouble shot pieces of equipment I have never seen before, and learned more about myself than I ever thought possible.
It’s been a week since I boarded the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. So far the experience has been amazing. The crew is pretty laid back and very helpful. The food is delicious and the weather has been great! I feel right at home.
We spent the last few days surveying a fish haven just off the coast of Delaware. We used several different instruments to map the seafloor and compile data; the ship’s multibeam sonar and sub-bottom profiler and the science teams AUV. We also did CTD casts and sediment grabs with a Smith-Mac. The science team used their ROV to check out some sites for dive ops (unfortunately all the diving happened off my watches).
I was pretty much thrown right into the thick of things starting on my first watch. I was given some direction on what was going on and how to do it and then left on my own. It was a little overwhelming at first but my training kicked in and everything went smoothly. I was even tasked with doing a hard eye splice on either end of a rope later used with a mooring. It took me a couple tries before I remembered how to do it but they came out awesome. That rope is now sitting 25 meters below the surface connecting an ADCP to a 900lb. mooring anchor.
This past week has been nothing but hard work. It’s dirty, wet, somewhat dangerous, and the work is never done. Your either working, sleeping, or eating. Before I started this internship, I expected my blogs would be a lot longer than this but man, I’m tired. I can barely keep my eyes open. At the end of the day though, that’s what I like.
I am right where I want to be.
The last cruise I was put into a situation I never thought I would have to face. I was running the High definition satellite dish that fed the live feed of the ROV JASON and associated shows back to shore as an outreach project headed by the URI Innerspace Center. It put all my trouble shooting skills to use, and proved to me that I could learn systems I had never even seen before and actually repair them.
Now I am back out in the Northern Pacific doing more multi-beaming and slowly trying to suss out a massive ongoing issue with our C-NAV gps system. I wish I could say at this moment I understood it, but I don’t. I am learning as I go, using the one tool that has rarely let me down, my uncanny ability to find underlying issues in complex systems.
On another note I can honestly say that being on a boat for three straight months, seeing science parties and crew members come and go, you begin to become much more a part of the ship crew familial group than one of the transient scientists. You develop friendships that are working relationships in such a close way that often times a glance or a small gesture can speak volumes during the chaotic times that can occur when massive problems are breaking loose.
As I count down the last few days of my summer vacation leading to my internship aboard the R/V Hugh R. Sharp, I find myself becoming increasingly anxious. I have spent the last weeks preparing for my adventure by going over the information sent to me by my mentor, gathering items to bring, and tying up some loose ends at home. No matter what I do to get ready, I still feel unprepared, although, in reality, I am most likely more prepared than I think I am! This opportunity means a lot to me and I have worked hard to get here. Hopefully I will be able to hit the ground running!