Getting Around

The Healy is the biggest ship I have ever been on - 420" long! This makes it quite spacious but a little maze-like. I have yet to find the laundry or see the gym. To get from the bridge to the dry lab it's 6 floors or decks, then a hike aft. One then needs to go through 5 armored doors that keep each compartment water tight - so essentially most of us won't need to find the gym because this is quite a workout. Some of the crew have figured out distances from bow to stern, around the flight deck, etc. so they can keep track of their workout. The science party is thinking of doing the same but we'll measure important things like how far it is from the lab to the galley or how far it is from the lab to our bed.

A example of the watertight doors. You need to lift the metal bar up, go thru the door, close it with your body, then push the lever down. 

Time....

The clock in our dry lab keeps track of time.....

 
I have been thinking a lot about time while on this ship. I've really lost track of what day and time it is......most of my time is spent indoors in a window-less lab. There is a GIANT clock that keeps track of Universal Time or GMT, and that's the easiest to follow. Most of the computers are on local time, but they also have a little pop-up that tells you GMT. The ship runs on a 24 hr clock (so 6pm would be 1800 hours) and so all announcements are made using that. My watch is on PDT (yes Ted I haven't changed my watch!) and for some reason my itouch was on Auckland time! It has been very calm but cloudy so you also can't tell what time it is by looking outside. Many people are on 12 hr watches and a few are on from12pm to 12am. They really don't want to know what time it is because time moves slowly for them. For me time is moving slowly because I am away from home and quickly because my instruments aren't quite ready yet. Much of our time is spent waiting around.....the Coast Guard is very careful and so any operations have to have a plan- and then there are meetings about the plan. So we all hurry when we approach a site for sampling and then wait for the samples or wait for the broken winch to get fixed or wait for a new plan that then has to clear the helm and then it all starts over....

Aboard the Healy

Today we awoke to blue skies and light winds. Morning came early (5:30) and surprise - no water! so up to the lab for breakfast and to wash up. We had to weigh all of our bags and ourselves (most of us were a little heavier than predicted - we blamed it on our gourmet cuisine here at BASC  which has included a lot of american cheese). A quick briefing on helicopter safety. Then the waiting began. We used a small helo to get to the ship - 4 at a time. We mustered at the Barrow Search and Rescue airplane hanger, got into our flight suits and helmets and we were off.

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Being in a helicopter is the closet thing to flying.......Natalie I thought of you! It was a short trip out to the ship.....we landed on deck if you can believe that, were escorted off, took off our flight suits and handed them to scientists getting off the Healy. I have never sailed on a ship longer than 110' so this seems huge and like a giant rat maze. All of the crew is here and right now the CG are loading on badly needed provisions (there was no lettuce for the salad bar today). The science gear is stashed all over the ship so we've been doing a little scavenger hunt trying to find things. Once all the provisions are aboard we'll use the elevator to get our gear into the lab and on deck........

My stateroom is very close to sickbay and the medic thought we could take some of my stitches out as early as tomorrow (yeah). Going up and down the companionways is like being on a stairmaster but I've got a little hop think figured out and am sliding down the handrails. Going up takes a little longer tho......


Very excited, very nervous, very happy, very tired so not very poetic. More after I get my moorings set up!

Barrow, Alaska

I’m here – can hardly believe it. The day started yesterday with a nice goodbye from my family and then off to the Portland Airport.  Facing strong headwinds our  flight fought it’s way to Anchorage. We were pretty late getting to Anchorage and so I had to run/hobble over to the next gate for the Fairbanks and Barrow legs. In Fairbanks, most of the scientific party joined the flight – such nice people! As we approached Barrow our captain informed us that it was quite foggy and we had 25 min of fuel left…….and THEN what my rowmates and I wondered. After about 20 min things weren’t looking good and the captain decided he’d make one attempt and if that didn't work we'd head back to Fairbanks...so down thru the fog we bombed and………we made it! Everyone clapped. Had we not made it our entire schedule would be jeopardized. And yes Ted, good thing I didn’t wear my shorts as it was 34 degrees when I got off the plane.

We are in some ex-military Quonset huts – very rustic. We’re trying to stay in groups though there haven’t been many bears here recently. I met with Kate last nite to get my equipment briefing and will have lots of help from others as my leg heals. Tomorrow we get on the helicopter and fly to the ship weather permitting.

Fog – seems to be the theme of my summer. Fog in Newport,
went to Santa Barbara…….fog. Went on a whale watch for blue whales out of Santa
Barbara and ……wait for it…..fog. And here I am in Barrow and there is a lot of
fog. How does Sarah Palin see Russia with all this fog? We could be stuck here
a few days as the helicopter may not be able to get us to the ship.

Newport, Oregon

Well, this is not the way I wanted to start my arctic adventure. In the last few moments of my vacation I tripped on a gravel road and really wrecked my knee – stitches internal and external.  Poor Carol had the pleasure of taking me to the hospital where they threatened to give me a wooden leg once they heard I was going to sea. Instead they just scrubbed all the rocks out and stitched me up. Nat really wanted to take a picture of it so here it is………they’ll take the sutures out on the ship.