NOAA Teacher at Sea
Jacquelyn Hams
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 24 – August 11, 2006
Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Shumagin Islands, Alaska
Date: August 9, 2006
Weather
Weather: Foggy, cloudy
Visibility: 1.5 nm
Wind direction: 130
Wind speed: 6 knots
Swell Waves direction: 260
Swell height: 1-2 ft
Seawater temperature: 11.7 degrees C
Sea level pressure: 1014,9 mb
Temperature dry bulb: 12.8 degrees C
Temperature wet bulb: 12.2 degrees C
Personal Log
I continue to work on activities that can be incorporated into my classes. The RAINIER is underway to Seward, Alaska. There is some excitement on the bridge after lunch, when an unmarked buoy is sighted on the port side of the ship. Several officers come to the bridge to observe and the buoy is marked on the chart. As it turns out, this is not a “find” and was updated on the Notice to Mariners put out by NOAA.
After dinner, fog moves in and the RAINIER sounds the fog horn. As a sailor, I don’t like fog. I am comforted by the fact that I am aboard a large ship with good radar system to detect approaching ships. The fog begins to lift a little and the last day of the cruise, like the first day, is marked by seeing humpback whales.
