Getting data and materials from the old buoy, and getting back to CTD's

NOAA Teacher at Sea: Patricia Kassis

Aboard the R/V KILO MOANA
Mission: WHOTS (Woods Hole and Hawaii Ocean Time Series)
Date: 6 June 2008
Geographical Area: Central Pacific, North of O’ahu

Science Log

Science efforts today seem to be split between removing things from the recovered buoy and collecting more data with CTD's. Part of what we're getting off of the buoy is that data stored in the CTD's that hung beneath it. Here's Jeff (with a corny look on his face) downloading this data. He's got 6 CTD's going at once, and the process takes hours.

Also coming off the buoy are the atmospheric instruments on top. Here's a shot of Sean working on that while Jim moves cable from the winch that pulled it on board onto the spools where it is stored. My roommate Tenley is operating the winch.

The CTD casts have started back up (we took a break from that to recover the buoy), which means I'm on a work shift - about 4 hours on and 8 hours off. I start tonight at 7 pm. I've done 2 casts so far, and I'm already getting to be more helpful, successfully steadying the CTD rosette from the deck.

Personal Log

I got to do laundry yesterday. This was a real treat since I arrived at this cruise directly from another trip, already with a sack of dirty clothes. There are two washers and two dryers on the ship and about 35 people on board, so there's a restriction on when someone can use the machines. For the science party, of which I'm a member, the laundry is available Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That means tomorrow will be my last chance before jetting off on another trip, so I'll be visiting the laundry room again.

We had filet mignon for supper last night and I'm not even kidding.

Hey Parker 'Ohana, is anyone reading this? When people on the ship find out what I'm doing here, they keep asking what feedback I'm getting from my students and my school. I'm sad to report "none!" So if you're reading this, and you're a Parker person, drop me a comment or a line (mrskassis@hotmail.com) so I know I'm not just talking to myself (or typing to myself, I guess.) If you have any questions, or if there's anything you want me to photograph, I'm happy to accommodate.