Florida State University : Research in Review

Day 10 - Monday, 09/22/08

Position 10:40 p.m. local: N37 36.844 W124 07.564

There is nothing like sleeping in a cradle made from a following sea. Early today—around 2 a.m. or so—winds picked up from the north, as forecast. Our last work done around 1, most of the crew were already asleep or headed that way, as the Sur swung her bow toward the south and our next stop nearly 200 miles away. With the comforting grumble of the Caterpillars unsullied by the dissonant whine of the winch, some of us were asleep before our heads hit the pillows. Others awoke to wonder why the ship seemed stopped dead. The constant rocking and rolling, albeit as benign as a front porch rocker compared to what I imagine goes on here, was something all of us were getting used to on this trip. But with the growing hills of water at our stern, there was none of that to begin this day. Some of us slept past noon.

Others, myself among them, got up in time to see the people running the Sur get mischievous. Karen tipped me to a prank being pulled on Andrew, our marine tech. Dead asleep in his bunk below main deck, Andrew wouldn’t realize for another three hours that his door handle had been lashed to a broomstick. Barring help, the only way he could escape his quarters would be to kick out the door. Gabe and Jack thought of putting bets on what Andrew—a hulk of a guy who could crush the door if he chose to—would do once he realized his predicament. But after hearing him rattle his door and give certain people a good-natured cussing, the crew took pity on him and let him out. He popped up on deck red-faced and grinning.

Sporty winds up to 35 knots pushed us south early, only to slacken by noon to the teens. Seas stayed between 6 and 8 feet almost all day, with billowing whitecaps that some of us mistook for whale blows in the distance. We’re reentering whale country, the captain informed us over breakfast. And the mighty Pacific was growing some shoulders, finally.

Our next stop will take us much closer to where we started, but southwest of Monterey, off about 70 or so miles. We’ll be exploring around 36 degrees of latitude this time, and again in 2,700 meters. We should be rested and ready for another 24-hour marathon of sampling when we arrive there by morning.

Today I took advantage of the smooth ride and the sun to videotape an interview with our chief scientist, David Thistle. His old friend Buz helped by acting as the interviewer while I tried my hand at the camera, generously loaned to me for this trip by our university’s digital media shop. Considering my experience with a professional videocam—in a word, nil— the final product will be a tour de force of editing by some digital wizards for our magazine’s website. My aim was to capture some of the good professor’s zest for this field of research, which, as Thistle will readily tell you, few oceanographers have ever taken up. Exactly why that is, and other things I learned today, are notes I’ll be digesting over the next few days. Bottom line, Thistle seems to be quite pleased with what we’ve accomplished so far, and I liked him giving much of the credit to his students. Not every scientist I’ve written about in my 26 years in this job has done that, and it’s always refreshing to hear.

Next stop, Station No. 5, at 36 degrees, 45 minutes, and 5 seconds north; 123 degrees, 40 minutes and 12 seconds west. As I sign off for Day 10, the Point Sur is about 98 miles due west of San Francisco, a city I’ve never seen but want to, on a course of 155 degrees. Wind is now pegging our back at 24.9 knots.

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