I arrived in Gulfport, Mississippi Thursday night after a rather pleasant day of flying (considering some of the others had delays due to tornados, I’ll call it pleasant). Since the ship was inbetween cruises, those of us that had just arrived had to sleep in a hotel for a few days while the people from the previous cruise packed up. In the morning I met up with some of the others that I would be working with and then off to the ship! I got a quick tour of the different workspaces then got to work.
My first day was pretty easy doing inventory and putting stuff away. I learned how to set up the cameras that go on the sub and how to make sure they’re properly sealed in their waterproof tubes. It’s pretty similar to what I’ve done in the past so it’s good to know that my previous experiences are in fact useful.
Day two I got to be a little more hands on as I helped make a fence around a platform that will be used to bring up the recovered objects from the dives. I learned more about the extra steps that need to be taken when equipment is put in water, especially salt water.
Day three we moved onto the ship! My roommate is nice and there’s more space than I expected. On deck, I did some manual labor stacking steel plates that would be used to weigh down the sub and the platform. The steel plates are dirty and rusty so naturally I got it all over me. In order to help with the pre- and post-dives, I need to be trained on every item on a checklist. I started with a big one: window cleaning. I know it doesn’t sound that impressive but the sub’s pilot does need to be able to see. We have one more day here in Gulfport then it’s out to sea!
