Under the Weather

Large waves are regularly crashing over the deck. It’s best to stay inside today. The sea state and winds are only going pick up from here. Plans for tomorrow are still unknown, but as of Friday late afternoon, it is pouring rain. Since it is unsafe to perform any deck work, we’re doing a cross-shelf CTD survey (seven CTD casts from West to East). Foul weather gear today is a must; otherwise your freshly cleaned clothes may become soaked in sea water, but that’s never happened to anyone before… (wink)

Speaking of clean clothes…

Since today is a work-from-inside-the-ship day, it is also a good day to do laundry. There is a laundry room on the ship with two washers and two dryers. The room is equipped with whatever you need to do laundry (soap, dryer sheets, etc.) so you don’t have to bring anything on the ship with you. Ship protocol is that if your clothes are left in the washing machine, the person trying to use it next is allowed to move them to the dryer. The guideline is that you’re not allowed to leave someone’s sopping wet clothes on the counter. To avoid any of this, it’s best to just keep track of the time left for your clothes.

Days at sea are long and hard, sometimes you have to sit back and take a break. Collin Dobson, the Surface Mooring Lead from the last leg, would print out the New York Time’s crossword of the day. I didn’t realize how hard those could be. Often it took a whole group of 4-5 people to get through one puzzle, while Chief Scientist, Dr. Sheri N. White, would finish one in ten minutes all by herself. Other things you can do are: read, play games, watch something in the lounge, or if you have enough energy, there’s even a gym. At the Pioneer Array we even get satellite TV, so if you aren’t working too much on a Sunday you might get to see some NFL football.

Images and text by Irene Duran.