The trip to Dutch Harbor was about what you’d expect, progressively smaller planes in progressively worse weather, but the scenery flying over the Alaskan Panhandle was AMAZING. I lived in Alaska for many years, but have never been out to the Aluetians.
My mentor got me situated on the Healy and within a day of my arrival we were at sea. The transit north through the Bering Sea was nearly flat calm! Not at all what I’d come to expect from the stories I’ve heard. It took us three days to get to the ice in the Bering Straights. We hit the ice for the first time while we were at supper and the Coast Guardsmen cheered…I guess the crew of an ice breaker is happiest in their natural element. It was very cool.
I split my time doing tech work for my mentor and doing science with the science party. We do CTD casts along long transects, planned to sample phytoplankton growth under the ice. We have a quest this cruise to find a phytoplankton bloom. The hypothesis is that with thinning ice conditions more light is making it through the ice earlier and causing abnormal growth conditions for phytoplankton…that may be, but what it means for me is long nights sampling and filtering water and afternoons spent getting my geek on with the ships data acquisition system. My tech watch is from 1600 until 2000, my science watch is from 2000 until 0400…I’m pretty busy!
The food is great, the company is amazing, the crew of the USCGC Healy is wonderfully professional, and the scientists are flexible…they have to be because about 36 hours into our first transect we got word that we were being diverted to rescue a sailboat stuck in the ice 200 miles east of our position. The Healy ran through ice at speeds of up to 12 knots. It was a real bone rattling ride with the ice thundering down the hull, and the ship would frequently lurch violently as it careened off ice ridges and thick floes. We found the sailboat completely surrounded by sea ice, where he had been for 8 days. The crew inched the Healy in close, pushing floes aside carefully, and passed him a line. We then, very gingerly, towed him clear of the ice and escorted him on his way to Barrow. The sailboat captain is doing his SECOND solo sailing of the Nortwest Passage! He is 67 years old! He built his boat himself. He inspired me, which my wife was not pleased to hear.
Now we are back at work looking for the phytoplankton bloom. Wish us luck!