This week, we finally got to go back out to sea. The hurricanes of last week kept us in port for far too long, and another hurricane may be on its way. Our guests at the moment are from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Stanford. Unlike the last cruise, we have a very packed ship, and our numerous visitors work round the clock deploying moorings and nets, running tests on collected samples, and gathering vast quantities of data. Every one of them is enthusiastic and more than willing to talk about their projects.
One of WHOI’s enormous net traps
Because we are on a 24-hour schedule for this cruise, the marine techs’ shifts are spread around the day, with me working from 4 AM to 4 PM. It took a couple of days to get used to the unconventional work schedule, but I’m feeling very well-rested after night three. My main focus is running the CTD deployments and recovery. While my mentor still sticks by me to make sure I do everything correctly, I can now run the entire process like a full-fledged marine tech. A special shout out to the ABs who were very patient with me in the earlier days of the cruise when I was still getting the hang of things. I’m very happy with how much progress I’ve made.
Between CTD deployments, the MTs and scientists do mooring recoveries and deployments. I am still learning the rhythms of this process, and I get hands-on when I can. We had an especially interesting recovery yesterday morning when the ship was stuck in a storm. It was already raining hard when I woke up and only got worse for the next hour or so. Coming out to the back deck was an eerie experience. The only lights were those on the ship and the occasional lightning strike off towards the horizon. Everything else was completely black. We had to find a window of relative calm to bring everything in quickly. Of course, relative calm still meant zero visibility, waves crashing over the side and back of the deck, and rain soaking everything that wasn’t already splashed by the sea. It sounds rough, but it was pretty exciting.
Me, looking very happy to get to hold a line (with chief engineer Mike in the background, looking very neutral)
This week, I am more independent than I was able to be on the first cruise. I am far more cognizant of where I need to be and what I need to do. A log entry of mine from the last cruise reads “This job requires a lot of waiting.” I do not think that’s the case anymore. I’ve had something to do nearly every moment of this cruise, and it’s been a great experience. There’s so much to learn, and this week has been an excellent teacher.