NOAA Teacher at Sea
Mike Laird
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 24 – August 13, 2005
Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: North Pacific
Date: July 31, 2005
Weather Data
Time: 13:00
Latitude: 55° 53.4 ̍ N
Longitude: 158˚ 50.4 ̍ W
Visibility: 10 nautical miles (nm)
Wind Direction: 225˚
Wind Speed: 10kts
Sea Wave Height: 0-1΄
Swell Wave Height: 0-1΄
Sea Water Temperature: 11.7˚ C
Sea Level Pressure: 1009.5 mb
Cloud Cover: Sky 8/8 covered; Lower level: cumulus Mid-level: altostratus High level: cirrus
Science and Technology Log
The RAINIER’s crew of forty-nine (men (40) and women (9)) is divided into six work groups:
I) Officers and junior officers: Responsible for overall ship operations including: navigation, horizontal and vertical control, damage control (ship safety), medical services, field operations, etc.
II) Survey operations: Responsibilities include: data collection and analysis
III) Deck operations: Responsibilities include: launch and de-launch of small boats (launches and skiffs), operation of the small boats, manning equipment and lines used during anchoring and mooring of the ship, maintenance (cleaning, rust removal, painting) and operation of the deck and deck equipment (cranes, gravity davits, hydraulic davit, the anchor windlass), etc.
IV) Engineering operations: Responsibilities include: maintenance and operation of the ships electrical and mechanical systems
V) Yeoman and Electronics: Yeoman – responsibilities similar to those of a business manager (personnel, payroll, ship’s budget, etc.). This position is slowly being eliminated from the ships in NOAA’s fleet.
Electronics – responsible for the maintenance and operation of the electronic equipment onboard ship (computers, radios, GPS units, etc).
VI) Steward: Responsibilities include: operation of the galley, preparing three meals a day for the crew, preparing snacks for the morning and afternoon breaks, and preparing a picnic lunch and drinks to send with the three to four launch crews who are sent out on survey assignments.
I was able to work with the deck crew the other day, and I’ll share the experience in a future log!
Personal Log
Today I did a lot of housekeeping kind of stuff. I was getting pretty low on clean clothes, so I went down and used the ship’s laundry – three washing machines and three driers. The only difficulty is trying to find open machines. Either I hit it on a busy day or 49 crewmembers and four guests keep the machines busy. I also caught up on my logs and did some background reading on tides and tidal datum. Think I will try a little fishing tonight – still haven’t managed to pull one over the ship’s side. Last night Jon, one of the crew, somehow caught a skate (looks like a ray). He hooked it in one of the fins. We pulled it up took a look at it and then released it back over the side. Very interesting!
