I made it! After a few delays from the hurricane in California, I flew into Portland and stayed in an airport hotel for the night. The next morning, I met up with the Sentry Team in the lobby to drive down to Astoria together. We stayed one more night in a hotel there before boarding the Atlantis.
The crane we were meant to use broke down, so we had a bit of delay getting our equipment on the boat. I got to watch the team’s software engineer update Alvin’s GUI while we waited, which was really interesting to me because it closely aligned with the work I’d been doing back home. I also unpacked my room and got a tour of the boat. Seeing how big it is really calmed my nerves and I got even more excited for the weeks ahead. To make better use of our time, we ended up carrying a lot of our things onto the ship, but eventually Sentry and the vans made it on with a new crane.
Once we had everything we needed, we unpacked our lab and set up the equipment. My first mechanical task was to connect and test the hoses for Sentry’s cooling system. I also put batteries into the beacons and strobes and cleaned their o-rings. We ended the day with dinner on shore and a quick stop at a department store before returning to the boat for our first night sleeping on board.
The next morning, I wiped our drives and assembled Sentry’s recovery poles. The stores came in, so we formed an assembly line to get the food from the freight elevator to the fridge/freezer/pantry. Everyone on board has some really cool stories from other research cruises and I had a great time chatting with them and getting to know everyone between loads.
When that was finished up, I comped and bled Sentry’s servos, junction boxes, and thrusters. Bleeding for air is necessary because any air in the lines would compress upon descent, potentially allowing seawater into the system. I also installed the wings as well as the beacons and strobes I had assembled the previous day. We took a break from working on the vehicle for an orientation meeting to discuss life on the boat and to meet all of the scientists. Afterwards, my roommate and I secured the van for sea. This turned out to be very hard work with so many heavy boxes, but by the end, I felt like I had finally familiarized myself with the layout of the boat.
We set sail around 10:00 this morning. I was really worried about getting sea sick, but (knock on wood) the water has been relatively calm. My chief complaint is that I wore one of those behind-the-ear patches and must have accidentally touched it and then touched my eyes in my sleep last night because I’ve barely been able to see all day. My pupils are enormous. While I was fine helping with mechanical things, I couldn’t read anything for the life of me and it was very unsettling.
The electrical engineer on the team taught me how he pots cables and I ballasted Sentry with lead weights. We also participated in a safety orientation and drill for emergency ship abort procedures. I was shown the emergency exit closest to my room, which happens to be through the engine room, so I got to briefly see that. I also installed Sentry’s propellers and learned how to tie up taglines.
We did a deck test that involved turning the beacons on and off, using a controller to test the propellers/wings, and checking the drop weight triggers. The day culminated in a meeting where the scientists shared their goals for the trip and I have a much better understanding of our mission now. Yesterday was a very long day so we’re turning in early tonight, but we’ll be up bright and early for Sentry’s first dive tomorrow!
