I woke up at 1130, it being Sunday, I was given the privilege to sleep
in. It didn't change the fatigue that was a result of spending 21 days
on board a vessel with very little down-time, so I was still yawning my
way through the day until I loaded on caffeine. Ice ops were supposed
to happen, but there was some confusion with the CTD, and we didn't get
off the ice until about 1500. When we finally got out on the ice, the
boat drifted so far away by the time we finished putting the stakes in
for the ROV, it was no longer possible. So,
there was virtually no point in being on the ice, according to Terry.
The ice was uninteresting, the ROV never made it, and the fog was closing
in. I kind of liked it out on the ice, but as soon as the boat drifted
almost out of sight, and the bear-watches were milling around unattentive,
I became nervous. I fixed my eyes on a ridge off in the distance, becoming
more and more nervous about bears in the fog.
We ended up hiking to the boat, lugging the huge sleds, and carrying boxes. Thank God we didn't take any cores. We got loaded back on by a crane on the port side, and went and ate. Terry asked me if I had seen the engineering deck, down below, and I said I hadn't. So, we talked about arranging for Art -- the engineer -- to show me around down there. I followed Art down to the engineering deck, which wasn't navigable all on the same deck. We had to come up a floor, and then go back to down to hit all of the sections of it.
It was incredibly exciting, but confusing. I followed Art around, but couldn't hear what he was talking about very well because of my head-gear that protected me from the loud noise. Steam was shooting in many directions, and there were a lot of moving parts. He showed me the many parts that made the ship go, and then we went to main control, where there were huge panels of dials and switches, all within a sterile white room. It reminded me of something you'd see in Star Trek. It was 60's technology upgraded to 80's technology, so that aspect coincided with Star Trek too. It was for that reason that I was anxious to get out of there, too much of a science fiction-like atmosphere. I couldn't tell whether I was at the place the Andromeda Strain took place, or what.
After I got the tour, I noticed a guy playing an electric guitar with head-phones in a little office. I asked him if he wanted to play, and he said yes, so I brought my acoustic over. He played an acoustic too, mainly because he didn't want to haul his amp out -- which was fine by me. He was obviously a Texan, and heavily into country music. About the only thing I could relate to was his interest in Skynyrd, but I tried to adapt. He played various country songs, while I accompanied with some country-esque old-time riffs I learned while playing Appalachian fiddle music with my father. We had fun playing together, and I was impressed by his rhythm.
After a while of our playing, another guy came in, a tall, quiet guy who could play very nicely. He had some beautiful classical riffs, and was capable of playing some jazz. I played a jazz tune I wrote, and he improvised around the theme. It turned out very nicely, and we attracted a crowd, whom clapped after we finished. It was a very relaxing time. Playing music just takes the load off.