(Long, but worth it..)
Part One:
Hi everyone! So we set off today, May 5th. Happy Cinco de Mayo.
Sorry for those of you who are working tonight but I hope you all make
lots of cash. We are one day late to leave because they had to fly
another engineer out from Philly. Tyler dropped me off and they asked
him to hang around so he could cast off the lines when it was time for
us to set off. (Mind you this is around 7am.) He stayed and got free
breakfast out of the deal. (Rachel, we need to remember this in the
future so I can get you onboard this ship!!!) The chef made everyone
omelettes to order and then we were underway by 9am.
After breakfast we has a safety meeting. Pretty basic stuff. No
drinking or drugs. Don't fall overboard. I guess about a month ago a
scientist went overboard. They rescued him, but it TOTALLY freaked
everyone out. He fell because he wasn't chained/tethered to the side
of the ship when he was working with the CTD. A wave hit over the
side and wiped him right off. For those of you who don't know, I WILL
be also working with the CTD but I will make sure I am tied off to the
ship because now I am paranoid. Safety first!
Then the fire drill. 3 short bells followed by one long bell. The
scientists are supposed to muster in the aft labs. That means meet in
the back of the ship where the labs are. My question was: what if
the fire is back there? There isn't really a plan for that except
that someone will tell you to go somewhere else. Ha!
Next up was the Abandon Ship drill. 6 or more short bells followed by
one long bell. For that we run up to our respective staterooms (also
our bedroom) grab our life vests, put them on, and grab our Submersion
suits-also known as Gumby suits. Then, as per the instructions
posted, I am to head out to the port (left) side of the ship and then
proceed to the aft deck on the second level. We all meet there and
then await further instructions. I can only imagine that those would
be "get in the liferaft". For this drill you must be wearing long
sleeves, long pants, and a hat. This is to prevent sun exposure if
you are bobbing around at sea for a long time. I am planning on
sleeping with a hat! Can you imagine running around looking for a
damm hat if you had to abandon ship???? I can't. Then we went back
into the Mess Hall and donned the gumby suit. Mine is red and
slightly too big for me. It zips up the front and has a hood like a
wetsuit. If you had that thing on in the water a shark would think
you were dinner.....
Then there was lunch. Fajitas!! Ay ya ya! By that time we were
rolling away - side to side. Only 8 degrees of roll currently.
Weather forecasts predict gale force winds tomorrow and a cold front
on Tuesday. The recipe for a perfect storm? Perhaps.
I guess I wasn't too worried because I fell asleep on a bean bag for
about 2 hours. It's nice to have a low center of gravity. Easier to
read that way too.
Currently, we are headed South down into Monterey Bay canyon. All of
the scientists need to test equipment and the first transect line for
the fish people is there as well. I am one of the few scientists that
is up during the day. Everyone else has the night shift. I guess
tonight is the night they might get some Humbolt squid. Then we can
eat them!!
Well I will write more later....I am getting tossed around in this
computer room.
Valerie
P.S. Dinner tonight: Rib eye steaks and lobster with corn. Whee!!
Part Two:
Ahoy!
So I'm not sure if I included this in my first log, but sleeping on a
rolling ship does not allow any sleeping! SO, my first night on the
ship I woke up at least 800 million times throughout the night. Last
night I slept all the way through, but the seas were calmer and I was
exhausted.
We are sampling a transect line today called the Davenport line off of
Santa Cruz but pretty far our. Tomorrow we head back up to the Gulf of
the Farallons. It is pretty funny to watch the navigational system on
this ship. We zig-zag around, all over the place and end up pretty near
where we started. Or where the night crew need to start.....and then
they zig-zag around all night.
So far, I have seen a ton of humpback whales and Black Footed Albatross.
Those are some HUGE birds. There is also this little yellow songbird
who I think is living somewhere on the ship. He isn't supposed to be
this far out and we see him almost everyday. And then this morning, as
I was having my morning tea. I saw a pod of Pacific White-sided dolphins
that must have numbered in the hundreds. They swam all around the ship
and took a look at us. Then they moved on but not before one breached
all the way out of the water. It was almost like he was telling the
rest of them to get a move on....
We have really nice weather today but I fear as we move further North is
will start to get colder. HAHA! I sound like an explorer.
Anyways, hope everyone is having a good Monday and GO WARRIORS!
Valerie
P.S. There is unlimited access to cookies on the ship. Oreos, Nutter
Butters, Fig Newtons, and the chef keeps making fresh ones! This could
be the end of me!
Part Three
'ello mates!
Well we are back in the Gulf of the Farallons. You want to know how I
know? FOG! So we are sailing along at about 10 knots blowing our
horn at about 10 minute intervals. It is so awesome!! Although I
hope they don't have to do that whilst I am sleeping.
Highlights of the day included Blue sharks and Thresher sharks. To
small to get any pictures though. You can just see their dorsal and
tails fins at the surface. Also, some Dall's porpoises rode the bow
of our ship for awile and swan all around us. I was us on the Flying
deck so I had an awesome view, but alas - no camera. Now whenever I'm
up there I am going to bring it!!!
Well we are on station now so I have to go.
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