2011.01.16
19:45HST
Barna, A
R/V Kilo Moana

Conditions

  • Lat: 18 21.322 N
  • Lon: 166 59.400 W
  • Speed: 12.4 Kts
  • Heading: 255.4T
  • Sal: 34.414 PSU
  • SST: 26.16 °C
  • Pres: 1013 mbar
  • Air Temp: 24 °C

Weather and Sea State Observations

Today was very exciting. In the morning a dark band of rain was seen just north of our heading. While it seemed like we were going to miss it, we went into the storm. Swells were 4-6 meters high, possibly higher. Winds were 35kts sustained. The rain and waves subsided by the end of the day. Cloud cover is 100%.

Journal Entry

Today I finally managed to wake up in time for breakfast. Mine consisted of a bowl of fruit, two pieces of bacon, and a breakfast burrito. As always, the food was excellent. I am having a tough time learning everyone’s name and have found it much easier to remember people by what they do rather than their name.

I spent most of the morning on the bridge with the third mate and two of the ABs as we all watched the oncoming storm. There was a good conversation and I don’t remember the details. The storm moved in and the ship was secured. Almost all the portholes were sealed and the crew did a once over to make sure all the hatches were secure.

My lunch was chicken, peas, and biscuits quite delicious. During lunch, some of the waves were splashing all the way up onto the mess portholes. Depending on the size of the splash, comments such as “must have run over a kayaker” or “that one must have been a whale” were overheard.

After lunch was a meeting to discuss the recovery of the moorings we are steaming toward. From what I can tell, I will not be directly involved with the recovery or redeployment of these moorings. Unless I am asked on the spot when they are actively being recovered. My duties will be what is known as CTD watchstanding. This will be the recovery and deployment of the CTD and the monitoring and logging of the data. I will be doing this with one other member of the science party (or more if others decide to join in). The watch duties start tomorrow so I will be up at 0400HST.

After the planning meeting a test cast was done with the CTD to go over the procedures. This was made a challenge due to the high sea state. While certainly not the worst this ship has been in, it made working with the CTD more dangerous. I would say the seas were fitting of the description of “Victory at Sea.” Despite the high sea state, the deployment and recovery went quite well. Safety procedures were observed above all other matters.

Dinner today was prime rib, while those who had it praised the cook, I didn’t partake in any (large steaks aren’t my thing). I had my greens with 3 different kinds of cheese and a crab spread on bread that was very delicious.

After dinner I, along with 3 other members of the science party, got a tour of the ships engineering sections. It was incredible. If I thought the habitable sections of the ship were a confusing maze, well I had another thing coming. The engineering parts of the ship consisted of an impressive maze of ladders on ladders and small holes one needed to fit through.

Due to the unique design of this ship, there are two sets of almost everything inside or directly above what I guess could be called pontoons. Inside each of the pontoons are 14 compartments with no way of moving between compartments below the waterline. So, to move from place to place, one needed to first travel vertically. A considerable amount of climbing was involved in the ship tour.

Finally, today is laundry day and my first watch is tomorrow at 0400.