Dispatch 13: Refueling…
Ashley Arroyo (Yale University)
September 11, 2024
17:40 UTC, 78.00°N 149.99°W
Conditions:
- Mostly cloudy
- 50% sea ice cover
- -3°C
- Winds 12.2 knots westerly
- Sunrise: 11-Sep-2024 08:14:22 -06
- Sunset: 11-Sep-2024 23:41:18 -06
- Day length: 15h 26mn 56s
Today was a relatively quiet day on the Louis. The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) members onboard the Louis were in contact with their colleagues aboard a different ship in the area, the CCGS Des Groseilliers, which was running low on fuel. The decision was made to meet up and transfer some fuel from the Louis to the Des Groseilliers. To do this, the ships lined up beside one another, and the fueling process began –about 12 hours and almost 160,000 gallons later, the task was complete. During this time, the Coast Guard crew set up a gangway between the ships so that members from each ship could travel between the two. A group of us from the Louis made our way over to the Des Groseilliers, where we explored the hallways and common spaces and compared them to those on our ship, including differences in the size of the mess halls, the colors of the walls, and the commodities in the lounges (they have a popcorn machine over there!). Many of us also visited the canteen over on the Des Groseilliers and bought gear including sweatshirts and t-shirts. At some point, we heard an announcement over the ship’s intercom urging everyone to return to their respective ships. A few of us on the day watch got a great glimpse of the Des Groseilliers pulling away from us once the fueling had finished, and they went on their merry way (on a mission which remains a mystery)!
During the refueling, we had to pause our science operations, including the CTD casts and mooring deployment. This gave the science team a chance to get caught up on data analysis. We will now remain in the same location overnight and begin the deployment of Mooring B in the early hours of the morning before leaving the area!
