09-20-05: Backing and Ramming together..., ...and Pirate Day Options

[Ute_Kaden]

Backing and Ramming together - Pirate Day
9-20-05

Ship Position at 2005/09/20 12:42:01 UTC
Longitude: 48 28.407 E Latitude: 85 47.419 N
"IBCAO" depth: 3863 m
Air: -10C

In the past days HEALY and ODEN backing and ramming their way through the heavier than expected ice. Thus, it is attractive to see the two mighty ships battling the ice next to each other; the drop in average speed by one knot is not a laughing matter. One knot of speed more or less makes all the difference. "Knots" are ship speeds in nautical miles per hour (1 knot = 1.85 km/hour). During the past week ODEN and HEALY have been making about one knot slower speed than expected. One knot slower during an automobile trip of 240 nautical miles would mean arriving at the destination only about 6 minutes later considering a 49 knot speed instead of 50 knots for the car, but one knot slower during an icebreaker journey of 240 nautical miles across the Amundsen Basin from the Lomonosov Ridge to the Gakkel Ridge, going at 2 knots instead of the planned 3 knots, means 40 hours lost from science time planned in the Gakkel Ridge area.

(Physics one to one; v= d/t t=d/v)


ODEN and HEALY breaking ice as a team


IBACO map by Martin Jacobsson helps to locate the Ridges and Basins

The ice conditions remained so severe that there is no hope of the HEALY breaking away from ODEN for the remainder of the expedition, as we had discussed in pre-cruise plans. This double blow of arriving late and finding very heavy ice was heartbreaking for our science team. We had planned to survey and map several high-priority sites on the Gakkel Ridge ,including a young volcano, with our seismic equipment and coring sites had been identified. Instead, with the two ships now forced to stay together until better ice conditions prevail, all what we were able to do were two cores and collecting ice data. Our last JP core came back bend. The sub-bottom profiler (3.5 kHz seismic) had not shown much layering below the surface but we were not certain that this was the true picture or a result of ice under the hull and we tried the core anyway. A large (12.5 X 8cm) rock wedged in the cutter and prevented more sediment to enter the PCV pipe. The 6,000 lb weight above the remaining 35 ft of pipe bend the barrel. In heroic effort by -12C and 30 knots of wind the barrel was taken apart on the flight deck and about 5 m of sediment could be saved. Thanks God, nobody suffered frostbites! The rock was classified as igneous rock of volcanic origin but probably not from the volcanic ridge where it was found.

News from the social front
Saturday night is Bingo night. One Bingo card costs $1.00. Popcorn is available and attractive prizes like, X-box games, jump drives, DVDs, Golf sets etc. are waiting for the winner. Bingo is a nice change from the daily routine, a real good deal when you win and still fun if not. I did not win …Monday was International Pirate Day. Uniform of the day-pirate Chic. We had quite some Pirates onboard including our Captain. “Arrrr!” was the word of the day. It is Pirate talk and can mean, variously, “Yes”, “I agree”, “I am happy”, “ I am enjoying this beer”, “My team is going to win it all”, “I saw that television show, it sucked!” and “That was a clever remark you or I just made.” And those are just a few of the myriad possibilities of ARRRR.







Nature front
We saw some seals and the sea ice cover looks pretty when the sun comes out. Snow blows over the ice. HEALY breaks it in big, colorful blue junks. The sun is very low at the Horizon and we observed the first sun set yesterdayisch. Nights again? Well, I kind of liked the 24 h daylight.



Best regards,
Ute

[Carlo]

Thank you, Ute for your wonderful progress reports. I've been checking them daily. My nextdoor neighbor is the head of the kitchen on the Healy (Shawn Forsythe, so reading your log has allowed me to keep up on the ships location.
I hope that your luck improves as your journey continues!
Best wishes!

Carlo Piscitello

[Ute_Kaden]

Carlo,
Thanks for your Comment . Yes, I know Shawn . The kitchen staff did a great job during the cruise. Greetings to all of them and a big thank you.

Best regards,
Ute

[Hugh]

Hello

Not many will ever do that trip.

Congratulations

Hugh