|
The Project Part 1: Part 2: Part 3:
| Daily JournalFebruary 5, 2005:
|
Terri reads with her eyes closed.
Carboys of water circle their prey and await the perfect moment to strike.
Eddie and Laddie: two cool dudes. They occupy much of their day down in the engine room make sure we can get from here to there.
Chris wears special science booties to keep his all plastic compartment free of metal from the ship, which will contaminate his samples. |
Today was our last day of sampling, and at high noon, we began our 4 1/2 day journey back to San Diego. To get a feel for a day on the New Horizon, here’s my experience from 2 Feb:
1:30 am – Alarm goes off. Turn light on in bunk. Groan and decide I can wait 15 minutes. I slide off the top bunk and my bedding comes with me. Dress, brush my teeth. Upstairs by two.
2 am – Begin first CTD cast. After ½ hour it comes back on-deck and we go out to collect water for Richard to filter. He looks unhappy.
3 am – We’re ready to go again, and why wait. We prep the CTD and down it goes again to collect water for Mascha and some plant-growth experiments. By 3:30 it’s back on-deck and we go out to collect water again. Matt (A/B) calls the process of sampling water from the CTD - ‘milking the cow.’ And, he refers to the CTD itself as ‘Elsie.’
4 am – There’s not much I can do, so I run and take a nap while everyone else keeps working. (Sorry folks, I need to spend quality time with the Sand Man.) I set my alarm for 5:30.
5:30 am – Nets are put on the carboys and they’re prepped to be attached to the array.
6 am – Array is assembled as it gets put in the water. We’re so absorbed in the assembly process that we miss the gorgeous sunrise behind us. We finish in time to catch breakfast. Afterwards, I check email and do some journal work for the website!
8 am – Begin another CTD cast. ½ hour later, it’s up and we collect even more water for Richard to filter. He looks pained. We’re done by 9, and I do some computer work and help others when needed.
11 am – Our 3rd CTD cast begins. After it’s up, we all take turns eating lunch while we collect the water, this time for a bunch of analyses, and yes, some for Richard to filter. He secretly begins to hate us all.
12 to 2 pm – I run phosphate samples and read the nitrite samples Fred has prepped. Fred watches his nitrate samples go drip, drip, drip. He acquires a glazed look with the repetition. But, the job gets done.
2 pm – I quick change and go up to ride the exercise bike for ½ hour. Afterwards, I shower, do some emailing, take some pics, and enjoy the sunshine. Richard is still working.
5 pm – Dinner.
6 to 9 pm – I finish my journal entry, ‘zip’ it off the ship in a batch emailing and then kickback to watch part of a movie.
9 pm – Off to bed. Tomorrow we sleep in until 4 am. Hard to sleep given such a non-routine sleep schedule.
Q: If you were to log a day in your life, what would you find you spend most of your time doing? Things that change our schedule are weather, instrument malfunctions, and as was the case yesterday, Mexican water taxis. What sort of things influence your schedule?
