Hydrographic survey – Page 22 – NOAA Teacher at Sea Blog

July 14, 2009April 5, 2021

Stacey Klimkosky, July 14, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Stacey Klimkosky
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 7 – 24, 2009

Mission: Hydrographic survey
Geographical area of cruise: Pavlov Islands, Alaska
Date: July 14, 2009

Weather from the Bridge
Position: 55°11.664’N, 161°40.543’W (anchored off SW Ukolnoi Island)
Weather: OVC (overcast)
Visibility: 10 nm
Wind: 28 kts.
North Seas: 2-3’
Sea temperature: 7.8°C
Barometric pressure: 1021.0 mb and rising
Air temperature: Dry bulb=12.8°C; Wet bulb=10.0°C

This is a survey launch lowered to deck level on a calm day. The bow and stern are attached to the davits by thick line. Notice how you have to step across the space between Rainier and the launch.

Science and Technology Log

The past few days have been “typical” Alaska weather—fog, drizzle, moderate winds. This morning I was quite surprised when I looked out my stateroom porthole. The weather was supposed to have calmed somewhat overnight; however, it was obvious that a good blow had picked up. White caps covered the water’s surface. I was scheduled for a launch, RA-4 (each of the launches has a number 1-6, RA being the abbreviation for Rainier), but I decided not to board at the last moment. When the launches are lowered to the side of the ship, the bow and stern (front and back) are secured with line to minimize movement. To board the launch, you have to step across a 1-2 foot gap from Rainier to the launch. Today’s conditions amplified the heaving and pitching motion of both the ship and launch and made the distance between too far for my short legs. I chose safety over adventure today.

As the launches continued to be deployed, Rainier began to transit from our anchorage north of Wosnesenski Island to our previous anchorage position in a small cove off the southwest corner of Ukolnoi Island. Having the flexibility to change the ship’s direction was essential for the safe deployment of launches today. Personnel and equipment could be protected from the force of the wind and waves (which topped 6’ at times). Although disappointed that I did not make it onto my launch, I was given an opportunity to watch the deck crew in action. I learned that this morning’s weather was some of the worst that the crew has seen during this survey season, however, work can be completed in conditions that are more blustery than today.

As a member of a survey team, you have to put your trust in the deck crew and their talents and skills. Jimmy Kruger is the Chief Boatswain. He is in charge of the deck and its crew. In a way, he is like the conductor of an orchestra—he makes sure that each member of the crew is in the right place at the right time and that they begin their job at precisely the right moment. As the day progressed, I began to wonder how the weather data from 0700 to 1400 (2 pm) changed, so I took a walk up to the bridge. My guess was that, although there were still whitecaps on the surface, wind speed and wave height would have decreased, since we had anchored on the south shore of one of the islands (which would serve as a buffer from the wind). It seemed to me that the weather was so much worse this morning. Not so. The wind speed had actually increased by a few knots, although the seas had decreased by about a foot. When I am up on the bridge, I always find something new to inquire about. It’s a busy place—not necessarily busy with numbers of people, but with instruments, charts and readings. General Vessel Assistant Mark Knighton and ENS Jon Andvick were on the bridge.

We sought a better anchorage southwest of Ukolnoi Is. when a 30 knot wind picked up. White caps cover the surface, the flag blows straight out facing aft.

When you are standing on the bridge with a gusty wind coming at you, you immediately think of the anchors. Rainier’s anchors are made of steel. They weigh 3,500 lbs. EACH! The anchors are attached to the ship by a very thick chain. Chains are measured in a unit called a shot. A shot equals 90 feet, and each of Rainier’s shots weighs about 1,100 lbs. There are 12 shots per anchor. (So, can you calculate the approximate weight of the total of Rainier’s shot? How about the total length of the chain?) The depth of this small cove is between 9-10 fathoms. This is important in determining the scope, or ratio of the chain length to the depth of the water. According to ENS Andvick, when a vessel drops anchor, the length of the shot cannot be the exact distance between the vessel and the seafloor. An amount of “extra” chain must be released so that some of it sits on the seafloor, producing a gentle curve up to the vessel. This curve is called a catenary. The extra chain allows the ship move with the wind and/or waves and provides additional holding power. If either wind or current becomes too strong for the anchor, it will drag along the seafloor. If the ship has too little scope it will pull up on the anchor instead of pulling sideways along the sea floor. The anchor chain lies on the bottom and when the ship pulls on the anchor it must lift the heavy chain off the bottom. If there is enough chain that the ship does not lift all the chain off the sea floor, it will lower the effective pull angle on the anchor. By increasing the scope of chain that is out, the crew is increasing the amount of weight the ship must lift off the sea floor before pulling up on the anchor.

Personal Log

I have to say that today was kind of an emotional one for me—because I did not go out on the launch. In a way, I feel like I let my team down. The others who went surveying on RA-4 had to do it without me. Even though my work as a Teacher at Sea may not be as significant as that of the crew members or hydrographers, I’m feeling like I am a part of the team more and more each day. That is in contrast to being an observer (which I still do plenty of!). As I kept busy throughout the day on the ship, I thought about RA-4 and what they were doing, what the conditions were like, if they liked what was in the lunch cooler today? I also realize and appreciate, however, that safety is the most important practice here on Rainier and when you don’t feel safe, you should never proceed.

Did You Know?
The crew on Rainier is organized into six separate departments: Wardroom (Officers), Deck, Electronics, Engineering, Steward and Survey. There are photographs of each person on board along with their name and title posted for all to see. They are organized by department as well as a “Visitors” section. There are several other visitors on board besides me and Dan Steelquist (the other Teacher at Sea) including hydrography students and officers from the Colombian and Chilean Navies.

Alaska Fun Facts

Pavlof Volcano is one of the most active of Alaska’s volcanoes, having had more than 40 reported eruptions since 1790. Its most recent activity was in August 2007.
You can learn more about the volcanoes of the Alaska Peninsula here.

July 14, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, July 14, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Kodiak, AK to Dutch Harbor, AK
Date: July 14, 2009

Position
Shumagin Islands

Here I am in the data acquisition chair.

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: light overcast
Wind: light & variable
Sea State: gentle swells

Science and Technology Log

Today I spent quite a few hours in the plot room learning about the methods being used on Fairweather for recording bathymetric data. In the picture below and to the right you are looking forward at the starboard side of the Plot Room. From the left are Chief Survey Tech Lynn Morgan, Survey Tech Dave Franksen, survey crew members Damian Manda and Gabriel Schmidbauer. Dave is in the chair that I’m occupying in the shot above.

At first, it’s a baffling array of monitors and programs and people. There are 11 stations for survey personnel in the plot room and it is operating 24/7 when we are under way. In the adjacent compartment are the FOO (Field Operations Officer) and the CST (Chief Survey Technician.) The FOO on the Fairweather is LT Matt Ringel. The future FOO is LT Briana Welton (who will become the FOO when LT Ringel rotates off the ship); and the CST is Lynn Morgan. While the crewis quite casual in addressing one another, there are three individuals who are addressed by their titles. Commanding Officer Doug Baird is addressed as “CO,” Executive Officer David Zezula is “XO,” and LT Ringel is “FOO.” Everyone else on board is addressed by casual names. These three officers and the CST are integral to getting our mission accomplished.

I’ll address the monitors I’m viewing from top to bottom and left to right. Once you’ve sat in the chair it’s not terribly difficult to follow what’s being displayed . . . but a novice like me isn’t able to decode issues that pop up sometimes. Though I sat a 4hour watch, for the vast majority of that time I had an experienced tech (Will Sauter) very close to help when it was needed. The top right monitor is a closed-circuit TV monitor of the ship’s fantail¹ (aft deck.) This is where the remote MVP is deployed from (The MVP is the ship’s equivalent of the CTDs² we deploy from the launches.) It’s on the starboard quarter and is deployed with a couple of mouse clicks from the chair. Its mouse is the white one to the right and its keyboard is the white one.

To the left of the closed-circuit TV monitor is the control screen for the MVP. It indicates how deep the “fish” (the sensor) is, the tension on the line, how far behind the ship it is, the GPS accuracy, who is capturing data on the watch and about 20 other parameters. Whenever something is going that involves the ship or its operations, the bridge must be apprised so the Officer of the Watch is on the same page as the survey and boat teams. You key the intercom to the bridge and say something like, “Bridge, we’d like a cast, please.” And they will respond “yes,” “OK,” “affirmative” or something along those lines. Then we follow with “fish is deployed,” “fish on the bottom” and “fish is back.” The MVP gets a sound-velocity-in-water throughout the water column. It can vary by as much as 10 m/s which affects the recorded distance.

The graphic display of the Multi-Beam Echo Sounder called the beam “cone”

The far monitor you see below is a graphic display of the beam-spread from the 8111 Multi-Beam Echo Sounder. The sounder can cover an angle of 150º (which is 75º to either side of the Nadir³.) Ideally, this line should show blue dots across from one point of the cone to the other. As you can see, the left side is a bit higher than the right. This could indicate either that the ship is rolling or the bottom is sloped. The control for adjusting the beam is the left roller ball in the top picture. (The right one is for a different MBES.) The next 3 displays are all controlled with the black keyboard and mouse on the lower shelf in my lap. The left monitor of these three displays technical data about the ship and MBES. One of the devices integrated into the system is an Inertial Motion Sensor which quantifies the amount of roll⁴, pitch⁵ and yaw⁶.

This screen depicts various graphic displays of data. — This screen depicts various graphic displays

Having this information allows the raw data to be corrected for some environmental factors. Also in the display are accuracy and precision indicators for the GPS positions, personnel on watch, logging verification to begin and cease, and more. The next display is broken into four subordinate windows. On the top left and center are visuals on the nadir beams directly under the ship. It seemed a bit odd not to simply include the nadir in the bottom half of the display, but the bottom half is processed a bit differently and needs to be segregated. One of the Officers (ENS Patricia Raymond) actually got a screen capture of what appear to be whales directly below the ship. I swear you can identify flukes and fins, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. I’d have included it here, but there’s just the one copy in plot. The top right in this display shows a minimized version of the path we’re “mowing.” You can see the most recent data in green. Finally, on the bottom, are the side-scan views of the bottom. In this particular shot it’s kind of interesting with what appear to be the remains of glacial moraines and scour on the seafloor.

This display shows technical data about the ship and Multi-Beam Echo Sounder. — This display shows technical data about the
ship and Multi-Beam Echo Sounder.

The last screen, on the far right, is the screen showing our progress on the polygon. The recently scanned area shows up in a different color than those previously scanned and every time you update the plot, the colors begin anew. Fairweather frequently uses about a 50% overlap to ensure redundancy of data points. On the lower right side of this screen is a graphic of the beams under the ship. It usually looks very much like the image of the “cone” displayed above. The “70.55” indicates the depth (in S.I. Units of meters) and the top right indicates the status of whether we are logging/retaining the data or if it is just reading it. We don’t log when the ship is turning because the data points get too spread out on the outside of the turn.

Personal Log

At first glance, it seems that mastering all of this would be daunting, but the ease and confidence that are displayed by the team show that it can be done. Again, the Professional Learning Community idea comes into play as they collectively debug issues and plan for future advancements in the technology even as they are using what is current. Listening to the technical banter and seeing how that much brainpower is focused on a task is really cool. Having spent most of the day in plot, it was real nice to spend the (endless) evening just watching the ocean around me. When the sun sets at 2315 (11:15 pm) it’s cool. When it sets at 2313 behind a mountain island off the coast of Alaska it’s unbelievable!

Questions for You to Investigate

How are your inner ears similar to the Inertial Motion detector?
How are your semicircular canals contributors to seasickness?

New Terms/Phrases

Fantail – The aft deck on the ship. It’s where the majority of overboard work is done
CTD’s – Conductivity/Temperature and Depth sensors
Nadir – The beam that runs the shortest distance to the bottom
Roll – the left/right rocking of the ship
Pitch – the front/back rocking of the ship
Yaw – the swinging of the ship to either side of its course (picture a wagging tail)

July 13, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, July 12-13, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Kodiak, AK to Dutch Harbor, AK
Date: July 12-13, 2009

Position
Anchored near Herendeen Island (55º 03.9N 159º 26.3W)

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: Drizzle, overcast, fog
Barometer: 1019.2 and falling
Wind: out of 070º at up to 15 knots
Temperature: 13.0º C
Sea State: 1-2 foot swells

Science and Technology Log

Launches 1010 and 1018 were deployed on both days. They were tasked with offshore and nearshore bathymetry in separate areas about 10-15 miles away. These launch ops, as I mentioned earlier, are in areas too close to shore for the Fairweather to operate. In the afternoon the “fast rescue” boat (another of the Fairweather’s inflatables) was deployed to train another crew member as a coxswain, and the Ambar was again deployed to check another tide station.

It’s important to realize that every position on board the Fairweather requires both experience and training. For example, to become a QMED (Qualified Member of the Engine Department) takes a minimum of two years training and apprenticeship. The chefs (as I mentioned earlier) are all graduates of culinary programs. As I continue to chat with crew and survey members, their educations and backgrounds are remarkably diverse, yet there is a common thread among them: they are immensely proud of the Fairweather and the work that’s done aboard her.

The history of coastal surveying dates back in the United States to the founding fathers. In 1807 Thomas Jefferson called for a survey of all the coastal waters of the United States. By the mid1800’s United States Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel were surveying waters on both coasts of the United States. An interesting – though tragic – footnote here is that in 1849 during the height of the California Gold Rush, there was a mutiny on board the Ewing, a hydrographic survey ship. Five mutineers were convicted and sentenced to hang. Ultimately three sentences were commuted to hard labor and the other two were hanged from the yardarms of two ships, the Ewing and the Savannah, in San Francisco Bay on October 23, about 40 days after the mutiny.

Coast surveyors did a great deal of work during the Civil War in both land campaigns and blockades of southern ports. They became particular targets of snipers. In both World War I and World War II, Coast and geodetic Surveyors were transferred to the Army, Navy and Marines for their expertise in navigation, engineering, hydrography and vessel operations.

In 1970 under President Nixon, several fisheries agencies and the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) were combined into one agency under the domain of the Department of Commerce. This was the “birth” of NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There are seven major branches within NOAA: the branch that oversees the Fairweather is the National Ocean Service and more specifically, the Office of Coast Survey. I’ve had folks ask me why Hydrographic research should be under the Department of Commerce and not the Coast Guard or Navy. Consider the following data. The marine transportation system in the United States has

95,000 miles of U.S. coastline
25,000 miles of navigable channels
326 public/private ports
3700 marine terminals
Supports 13M jobs,
78M recreational boaters
110,000 commercial/recreational fishing vessels
95% of U.S. foreign trade in/out by ship.

All totaled, the marine industry represents a contribution of almost $750 BILLION a year to America’s Gross Domestic Product. That’s 3/4 of a TRILLION dollars. Sounds like Commerce to me! All top level organizations have a means for their people to understand their place as a part of a greater whole. This is clearly described below.

Vision
Customers have accurate and timely information to navigate and manage U.S. coastal waters.

Mission
Acquire, integrate, and manage the Nation’s marine information for nautical charting and coastal applications.

Slogan
Navigate with confidence.

Personal Log

I was not on the boats that went out today and due to the fog and the fact that Fairweather’s size will not be needed until we move further south tomorrow. It gave me some time to reflect on the type of people with whom I am working. Tami Beduhn, a survey technician, gave me several powerpoint files related to the mission of the Fairweather from which I gleaned the brief history above.

I had a couple of chats today with personnel on board – one of the chefs, a member of the engine department, Tami and a few others. The overarching impression that is inescapable is that they are proud of what they do and of how well they do it. After dinner this evening there was a 1/2 hour presentation on the intricacies of the data acquisition programs and how our field work affects the software and vice versa. It was an open professional forum where questions were dealt with in a collegial fashion. Schools and educators are moving in the direction of professional learning communities (PLC’s) as a means of improving. On the Fairweather, a professional learning community isn’t a technique. It’s a way of life.

Questions for You to Investigate

Does your school have a stated Mission, Vision and Slogan?
How, as a student, could the idea of working together help you be more successful?
Are you a member of a professional learning community where you work?

July 12, 2009April 5, 2021

Dan Steelquist, July 12, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
Dan Steelquist
Onboard NOAA Ship Rainier
July 6 – 24, 2009

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Pavlov Islands, Gulf of Alaska
Date: July 12, 2009

Weather Data from the Bridge
Latitude: 55° 13.541′ N
Longitude: 161°22.332′ W
Visibility: 6 Nautical Miles
Wind Direction: Variable
Wind Speed: Light
Sea Wave Height: 0-1ft.
Swell Waves: 1-2ft.
Water Temperature: 8.3° C
Dry Bulb: 10.6° C
Wet Bulb: 10.6° C
Sea Level Pressure: 1020.3 mb

Science and Technology Log

Here I am finding my name on the POD—Plan of the Day.

In order for a ship like Rainier to complete her work, many different people and departments must work in a coordinated fashion to accomplish the goals of the mission. Unlike many types of science field study, the work of a hydrographic survey ship requires that she goes out as a self contained work platform. All of the needs of crew and equipment must be able to be met with whatever is on board the ship.

A very important part of the coordination of Rainier’s mission is called the Plan of the Day, or POD. The POD is developed by the Field Operations Officer, or FOO, the day before it is to be implemented. The POD is posted throughout the ship, in 16 different locations. Every person on the ship needs to be aware of what is happening and what their role in the day’s plan is. General information included in the POD would be the date, the ship’s position, times of sunrise and sunset, times of high and low tides, weather and sea state forecast, and which US Coast Guard global positioning system (GPS) beacons are to be used for more accurate position location. Specific information on the POD includes whether or not Rainier is at anchor or moving, which survey launches are going out for the day and where they will be working, who is on each of the survey launches and what their specific role is to be, what sort of survey work is being done on Rainier and who is in involved with that, who is responsible to process data collected during the day, and who is on watch on the bridge and when they are scheduled to be there. In order for any important scientific work to be completed, everyone involved in the process must work together. The POD is the tool used on board Rainier to make that happen.

Personal Log

This is my eighth day aboard Rainier and I continue to learn new things. I have been out in the survey launches a number of times and I have been able to participate in many of the tasks involved in the ship’s mission. The technology involved is complex and the steps involved in the work of charting are many, but everyone on board works together very well. I feel very fortunate to be able to get a glimpse of the work these people do. Now that I know my way around the ship, what each department does, and the way that work all fits together, I am understanding how underwater feature locations and water depth information get from the real world into the hands of scientists and mariners.

Something to Think About
If you made a POD for your day what sorts of information might you include? Would a POD make working with others more productive?

July 11, 2009April 5, 2021

John Schneider, July 11, 2009

NOAA Teacher at Sea
John Schneider
Onboard NOAA Ship Fairweather
July 7 – August 8, 2009

Mission: Hydrographic Survey
Geographical Area: Kodiak, AK to Dutch Harbor, AK
Date: July 11, 2009

Position
Sheet L – Shumagin Islands

Weather Data from the Bridge
Weather System: Overcast
Barometer: 1021.4
Wind: mild and veering*
Temperature: 12.1º C

Science and Technology Log

One of the Fairweather's launches — One of the Fairweather’s launches

Today I got to go out on launch 1010. The two primary launches on Fairweather are 29-foot diesel-powered (Caterpillar) single-screw aluminum boats. I was real surprised to find that 1010 is 35 years old! It’s in great shape. Survey equipment on board includes the multi-beam echo sounder, computers, DGPS (Digital GPS gives positional accuracy to about 6 inches!) radar, radios and Iridium satellite telephones. For “creature comforts” there’s a microwave and mini-fridge as well as a very efficient heater/defrost system. Oh, by the way, there are no heads on the launches. (FYI – a “head” is marine-speak for a bathroom!)

Here I am on the launch monitoring all the data that’s being collected — Here I am on the launch monitoring all the data

Knowing this in advance, I didn’t have coffee or tea or a big breakfast. Turns out that when “nature calls” the rest of the crew goes in the cabin, closes the door, and you go over the side! Seems gross at first and then you realize that the 30 and 40 ton whales go in the ocean too (besides, it’s biodegradable!) The launches are carried on the boat deck (E-deck) in custom Welin-Lambie davits made for each launch. Welin-Lambie is a company over 100 years old and made the davits for a few ships you may have heard of – the British Royal Yacht Britannia, the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship and oh, yeah, the RMS Titanic! The cradles are self-leveling so when the Fairweather is in heavy seas they remain upright and stable. The picture on the left shows 1010 in its cradle. When it’s time to launch the boat, the securing devices are released, the boat is swung out over the side and two >3 ton winches lower the launch to the rail of D-deck. There it is boarded by the crew and loaded with the needed gear for the day. It is then lowered into the water and sent on its way.

Once we got to the area of our polygon (I’ll explain polygons later in the week) we began acquiring data by “mowing the lawn” – the process of sailing back and forth across a defined area collecting soundings¹ (bottom depths.) In every polygon we conduct a CTD cast (CTD = Conductivity Temperature Density.) These three parameters determine the speed of sound in the water and are used to accurately calibrate the soundings. Once we had been working for a while with me observing – and asking what must have seemed like unending questions – PIC² Adam Argento and AST³ Andrew Clos guided me to monitoring the data being acquired. As you can see on the left there are 4 monitors all running software simultaneously. The picture on the right shows the keyboard and mice. The mouse in my right hand controls the windows on the three screens to the right which are data displays of received info. The left mouse controls which data are being acquired.

After a long day on the launch, it was great to see the Fairweather on this rainy day.

After lunch the coxswain⁴ (“coxin”) – AB Chrissie Mallory – turned the helm over to me to steer. My first leg was headed North. The positional displays on the Fairweather and its launches all have North being at the top of the displays. (This is called – logically enough – “North Up”.) I rocked! If I had to move off to the right a little, I turned right. Need to move left, turn left. There’s a little delay between when you turn and the position as displayed on the screen. Well, we got to the top of the section and turned around to head South. I needed to adjust a bit to the right, so I turned right . . . BUT . . . the boat is now oriented 180º from the prior run. So in turning right, I actually made the boat go left on the screen! Oh NOOO!!! So I overcompensated the other way. Then had to un-overcompensate . . . and so on. I’m sure when they downloaded the data back on the Fairweather they were wondering what the h*** was going on. Eventually I got the hang of it and didn’t do too badly after a while, but I have a much greater appreciation of what appeared to be really simple at the outset.

After a successful 8+ hours out (by the way, our lunches contained enough food for 6 people!) we headed back to the Fairweather about 15 miles away. To see her after a day out kind of felt like seeing home after a long day out. To the unaware, the ship looks like a mish-mash of all kinds of gear all over the place, but it’s remarkably organized. The reason for the appearance is that the ship is capable of so many tasks that the equipment is stowed in every available space. Fairweather is capable of deploying 7 small boats and operating independently of all of them in coordinated tasking! I’d love the opportunity to take a class of students for an all-day field trip aboard and could do so without ever leaving the dock – there’s so much on board!

As you can see in the photo of the Fairweather above, there are two large white inflated “fenders” hanging over the starboard side. This is where we’ll be tying alongside. (I took the next 3 shots from the Fairweather as 1010 approached on a different day.) As the launch approaches, the person on the bow will throw a line to the forward line handler. Notice there’s not a whole lot of room up there as well as the extended arm ready to catch the line. That bow line has a mark on it which lets the line handler on Fairweather know where to temporarily tie off the line. Then the stern line is then thrown to another line handler. Once the launch is positioned properly (no easy task in rolling seas) the hoists are lowered to the launch where they are clamped onto lifting eyes. Each of the clamps on the boat falls⁵ weighs close to 40 pounds – that’s why in deck ops everyone wears hardhats – and is controlled by both the winch operator and two more line handlers using “frapping lines⁶.” (in the picture to the left, as the launch approaches, you can see the boat falls, clamps and frapping lines.) Once the clamps are secured, the launch is lifted to the deck rail and the crew gets off, and the launch is lifted back to its cradle.

Piece of cake! Realize, however, that this simply and cleanly executed maneuver, requires: On the Fairweather: 4 line handlers The Chief Bosun 1 or 2 surveyors The bridge crew to maintain position (at least 2 people) 2 or 3 deck personnel to unload gear from the launch A Chief Scientist to task the launch The chefs to feed the launch crew On the launch: Person in charge Coxswain 1 winch operator From 14 to 16 people, all working together. On January 1, 2008, the Fairweather was authorized to paint a black letter “S” on both sides of the ship indicating that she had gone 433 consecutive days without any injuries. Considering the environment in which Fairweather works and the tasking which requires constant deployment and retrieval of heavy equipment, the “Safety S” is a reflection of her crew and officers.

Personal Log

What a great day!

Vocabulary

Soundings – depths measured
PIC – Person In Charge
AST – Assistant Survey Technician
Coxswain – (<O.Fr. coque “canoe” + swain “boy”) Individual who steers a small boat or launch
Boat falls – the lines used to raise and lower boats from a davit
Frapping lines – Lines used to control the boat falls

By the Way

It’s time to do some laundry!!! The laundry room is on D-Deck just forward of the fantail.

See you all tomorrow!