July 14 - 2005 Options

[Betty_Carvellas]

July 13, 2005

We're still just sampling from the CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) rosette while waiting to get to the mud and mooring stations. The CTD rosette is a series of 12 bottles designed to trigger and collect water at different depths. It's lowered to the bottom where it collects bottom water, then slowly raised, opening and closing to collect water as it comes back to the surface. So far, Peter Lee and Lee Cooper are the ones collecting water (I've told you about their work in previous journal entries.) We'll soon start collecting water for chlorophyll analysis, and I'll let you know more about that work once we begin. Check out the picture of the CTD below.

Although this is a working ship, there are lots of opportunities for all on board to relax and have a little fun. Yesterday, everyone had a chance to decorate Styrofoam cups with water proof markers. We stuffed each one with paper towels to hold their shape, put them into a mesh laundry bag, and sent them down on the CTD wire to 1000 meters. Think of how your ears feel when you dive down only a few feet in a swimming pool, and you can imagine the pressure on the cups. It was great fun to see how all the individual designs had shrunk along with the cups.







The cups happened because the science team is on board, but this crew clearly doesn't need us to have fun. There's a daily bingo game with great prizes, a golf pool, and a cribbage tournament. As I'm writing this, the poker tournament has started in the lounge. The ship maintains a library of DVD's, each room is equipped with a TV, and DVD players are available to rent. Right behind my room is an area with a ping-pong table and a small, but well equipped gym. Perhaps the best morale booster on board is the incredible food. Three gourmet meals/day with home made snacks available at all times, keep the crew well fed and happy. The cooks, Bert and Jerry, outdid themselves tonight at the aft deck barbeque. How's this for a menu - green salad, garlic bread, smoked salmon tar tine, marinated New York steak, lime and ginger prawn brochette, lamp chops, baked potatoes with all the fixings, fresh corn on the cob, and brandy balls for dessert!



While we were eating, Bon came to tell Jackie that there had been an accident with the van Veen grab, the instrument Jackie uses to collect mud from the bottom. It seems the "accident" occurred when the crew was helping out and working on the grab. Check out the picture to see what happened!