NOAA Teacher at Sea
Philip Hertzog
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 25 – August 13, 2005
Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Aleutian Islands, AK
Date: July 31, 2005
Weather Data from Bridge
Latitude: 55˚53.4’ N
Longitude: 158˚ 50.4’ W
Visibility: 10 nm
Wind Direction: 180˚
Wind Speed: 2 kts
Sea Wave Height: 0 feet
Sea Water Temperature: 12.2˚ C
Sea Level Pressure: 1009.5 mb
Cloud Cover: 1, cumulus, altocumulus
Science and Technology Log
Today I took care of tasks that come with living aboard a ship as a crew member. I’ve been on board the RAINIER for almost 9 days now and my laundry started to attract sea gulls outside my room’s porthole. Even the Sei Whales turn and swim away when they approach my side of the ship. On shore, many of my students’ moms or dads do the laundry, but on a ship this becomes your responsibility. Washing clothes at sea poses special problems because we have no sewers to dispose of waste water, only the ocean. We have to use special soap that won’t harm sea creatures and limit the amount of water used for washing. The RAINIER has a full laundry with water saving washers and energy saving dryers as you can see in this photo.
After laundry, I cleaned my room. The Captain expects everyone to keep a clean room and make up their beds everyday. He can even enter your room at any time for an inspection. I share a room with the other teacher at sea, Mike Laird. The room has two bunks, two closets, a head (known on land as a bathroom) and a desk with a computer as you can see here: Mike and I lucked out by getting an officer’s room, because many crewmembers share rooms with up to four people and only have gym lockers to store their gear.
Once I cleaned my room and vacuumed the floor, I tackled the big job of cleaning the head. Again, you can’t bring a parent along to clean the bathroom for you and this job falls on everyone on the ship. The RAINIER does its best to protect the environment by using special cleaning products that kill mold and germs, but not aquatic life that live in the water where our wastes end up. I used three different types of cleaners: one for the tub, one for the toilet, and one for everything else. I kneeled down on my hands and knees to scrub everything from top to bottom to ensure the germs die and won’t make us sick miles from the nearest doctor. My mom and students would be proud of me! The rest of the day I caught up on my paper work and read, but tomorrow I will have a big day out on the launch.
Personal Log
I enjoyed a day off the launches to get caught up on all my house work and work on my photography. My cabin had gotten messy after spending eight nights in it and I look forward to sleeping on clean sheets tonight. I met with Larry Wooten, Chief Electronics Technician, and learned how to transfer my photos over the ship’s file server. The ship’s crew is one big family and share many things. Several people have put their photos on the main server so others can enjoy and download pictures. Everyone trusts each other on the ship. We leave our doors unlocked and you can leave your wallet out on the table without a worry. I wish our society back on shore could be just as trusting. Well, I’m off to find some salmon off the back end of the ship.
Question of the Day
Why is it important to keep a ship at sea so clean? What happens if someone on a ship becomes sick?
