This week Hurricane Jerry delayed our departure to Puerto Rico for the yearly cruise from Monday to Thursday. The strength of the storm was much weaker than Humberto, and really just felt like a bad rainstorm. Some items around the ship still had to be tied down and put away to prepare, but we did not have to do major shutdowns like for Hurricane Humberto.
While waiting for the storm to pass, I helped with a variety of smaller tasks around the ship. Having a long stretch of time in port is useful because it is often easier to get projects done without the motion of the ship. One project was to dissemble, clean, and replace the bearings in the block used with the CTD, which is pictured below. The high frequency of CTD casts was evident in the difference between the older, worn bearings and the new ones. I also have been practicing knot tying with the help of the ship mates and the bosun – some important knots I hadn’t known before are the double bowline, clove hitch, a variety of joining bends, and a monkeys fist.
One other project I work on during slower periods of time is an Arduino kit that is aboard the ship. So far, the projects have been relatively fun and simple, but give a good introduction to how programming and electronics go together, which was something I hadn’t done before. I intend transfer what I am learning to programming sensors and inspecting their electronics in the coming weeks.
Our departure on Thursday was very rough, since we headed North from Bermuda for the first leg of the trip, basically following Hurricane Jerry. Winds were sustained at 35 knots and seas were about 12 ft, however I did not get seasick! While the schedule is still up in the air, we are scheduled to head South on Saturday after completing the one Northern station, and arrive in Puerto Rico in a week after sampling 13 more stations.
Heres to a successful rest of the cruise!
The Harken Block opened for cleaning and inspection and worn down bearings.
One of the quick Arduino projects involving a basic circuit and programming.