During week two we hit our stride with diving and in turn, I feel like I got into a routine. During the cruise, I worked the 8-12 shift, working 4s was a new concept to me. This took some initial adjustment as I was unable to get a full eight hours of sleep in one go. I eventually settled into a routine of sleeping 6 hours at night and taking a two-hour nap during the day. We continued to have fantastic weather and we even saw the northern lights! I don’t think we could’ve asked for better conditions.
Despite our trouble launching at the start of the trip, we eventually had back-to-back successful dives and even found ourselves ahead of schedule at one point. When this happens the Jason team allows time for pilot training, during which I was allowed to pilot and operate the arms! Being able to control Jason was easily the highlight of my trip, it was such a cool experience. The breakdown of diving operations is fascinating to me. On each watch, three operators act as pilot, engineer, and navigator. The pilot is responsible for the operation of the vehicle and dictates to the rest of the team how to assist the vehicle. The navigator’s primary responsibility is to coordinate with the bridge on moving the ship, and the engineer helps run the cameras, winch, and auxiliary Jason functions (like the hydraulics and power).
Further into the cruise, we ended up having more difficulties. The level wind system to coil cable was acting up and the team spent much of their free time trying to fix this issue (including the transit back to shore). Once on shore we had a post-cruise party and continued maintenance Jason. I departed on the 9th. As quickly as it started my time aboard the Thompson has ended, I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity. It has truly been life-changing
My brief stint as pilot:
Me assisting in post dive check of Jason:
