NOAA Teacher at Sea: Karen Rasmussen
Ship: R/V Tattoosh
Geographical area of the cruise: Olympic Coast NMS
Date: June 28, 2011
Cruise to: La Push
Crew: Rick Fletcher, Nathan Witherly, Karen Rasmussen
Time: Start 9:25 – End 16:00
Mission
The first part of mission is to conduct Multibeam mapping and to collect ground-truthings at the LaPush/Teahwhit areas of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. We will also service the OCNM buoy, Cape Alava 42 (CA42). The second week of this mission is to explore the Teahwhit Head moorings, ChaBa and sunken ships, and North and South moorings.
Weather Data
Wind 5 to 10 Knots
SW Swell 4 to 7’
Science and Technology Log
We began this morning at 8:00. We loaded the boat and filled the tanks with diesel. Rick completed the safety brief (Risk Factor 21 today). Then we went over roles and responsibilities, PFD’s (personal floatation devices), Immersion Suits (location of, and completed drill- all crew completed), Emergency Situations of fire, abandon ship, MOB (Maintain Lookout, Notify Skipper), and communication systems. We left Port Angeles at 9:25 with Rick and Nathan. Nancy is driving all of our supplies to Forks. We will be spending the next three nights in Forks, WA at the Olympic Suites.
Seal Rocks
The water was choppy today with swells of about 7 feet, which makes it difficult to write in a journal. Our first stop was off of Seal Rocks. We observed sea lions and many different seabirds. An airplane was flying low over and around the islands, which was a concern because there are distance parameters that are enforced for the sea life on and around coast islands. We also noted a small boat. I tried to take a picture of the plane for further reference. The plane and small boat turned out to be State/Federal wildlife resource people doing a mammal count on the islands.
Our next stop was at the Cape Alava 42 buoy. The “42” indicates meters in depth. Nathan piloted the boat and Rick put on protective raingear and boots. His job consisted of standing on the swim deck while Nathan maneuvered the boat as close as he could to the buoy. When we were in the correct position, Rick pulled the buoy up while I controlled the winch. He replaced the current meter which measures how fast the current is going in that area. The buoys in the Sanctuary are serviced about once every six weeks.
From Cape Alava we continued to travel south down the coastline to LaPush. We cleaned up, hosed the Tatoosh off, and packed up stuff. Nancy met us in La Push. We loaded up the car and headed to Forks for the night. Nancy and Rick continued the work from one of the hotel rooms on how to get the technology of this mission up and running correctly.
Personal Log
I had a great time today. I have to admit I was a little worried about traveling from Port Angeles to La Push in such a small vessel. We bounced a lot, but the weather was wonderful. I was very impressed with Nathan Withery’s ability to manipulate the Tatoosh in such swells. I also observed how Rick and Nathan can walk the deck with such ease. We talked a little about how much energy is used to be onboard a small vessel all day. We all are famished!
Rick servicing the Cape Alava 42 buoy.