Daily Operations

I had to write this for our cruise as an update of what we have been going on the cruise, so I thought I might as well post it on the blog and give you an idea of what we are actually out here for! We are only a few days away from Rio and you can definitely see the difference in everyone's moods. Everyone has a little bit more pep in there step knowing that home is not far away. It's pretty crazy to think that we have been away for over two months. There have been a lot of ups an downs, plagued with equipment failure nearly throughout the entire cruise, but we have managed to persevere somehow and get the science done that we set out to do. It would have been a shame to have invested all this time and energy with no end result. I think if you looked up Murphy's Law in the dictionary you would find us right there under it! Anyways here is the bulk of what we have been doing for the bast 30 days.

The CTD watch consists of monitoring and recording the real-time data depth profiles of the full water column as well as collecting water samples at predetermined depths. This is done with a package known as the CTD rosette. This consists of Niskin bottles attached to a cylindrical frame, which are designed with lids at both ends that are electronically triggered allowing for the sampling of individual parcels of water at different depths. Along with the Niskins, various electronic instruments are mounted on the frame of the rosette. These include a CTD, which records the salinity (via conductivity), temperature, depth (via pressure), as well as oxygen and density. Also attached is LADCP (lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler), which measures the currents by determining the Doppler shift of particulate in the water column. Also attached is a fluorometer to measure the fluorescence as an indicator of the biomass and an altimeter with allows profiles down to within 10 meters of the bottom of the sea floor.

CTD rosette being recovered (left) and a close up of ADCP as well as the CTD sensors (right).

Along with the CTD profiles done at each station, drifters and floats are also released throughout the cruise. They are equipped with GPS and use the ARGOS satellites to transfer the data back to land. The drifters allow for tracking the surface currents. The floats are designed to sink to a specific pressure traveling with subsurface currents while taking CTD profiles and returning to the surface periodically to upload the data. Both the drifters and the floats allow for continuous monitoring well after the cruise is complete.

Drifter on deck before deployment (left) and drifter deployed (right). Below is a diagram of how the float operates once deployed.

cheers,

-J

South Africa Safari

Our long coast tour had led us to Mossel Bay, which was only about a 20-30 minute drive to the Gondwana game reservation where we were to have our safari. Mossel Bay, unlike Cape Town, was a small port town with pretty much nothing to do. On a side note, I have been reading the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'brian while on the cruise and they go to a lot of these places which I think is pretty cool having just been there and visited. Anywho it was a cozy little place with a nice restaurant, which I have not doubt mom would have loved. It was right on the point by the water and as we sat down for lunch it had waves breaking about 300 yards out. And the food was declines as well. You really couldn't got wrong with the seafood. We were there for two nights and both nights we were the only people at the Irish bar in town. It had that feeling of being in an old western ghost town. We would walk outside to go back to our town house we were staying at and there would be no cars or people anywhere in site!


So we woke up after the first night's stay and had our safari scheduled for 3pm. We went to grab some lunch beforehand and as we walked out side the weather couldn't have been worse for the occasion. There were scattered showers and the wind was still howling 30-40 knots. This was a little disappointing to say the least, since we had had glorious weather since in South Africa and the one time we need good weather it craps out on us. By the end of lunch the weather looked to be clearing up and felt a glimpse of hope. This, however, only lasted about as long as the drive to the game reservation. Although the bad weather had seemed to clear up over Mossel Bay by the coast, the game reservation being more inland did not share the same reprieve of the weather. We got to Gondwana and stepped out of the car and it was cloudy, raining, and blowing about 30-40 knots. It couldn't have been more miserable, but we were determined. The guides thought we were absolutely insane, but we were here and didn't really have many options. Nobody really wanted to stay another night in Mossel Bay in hopes that it might be better the next day, so we went on with it. They guides couldn't promise us anything, because not unlike humans, animals don't like to be out in bad weather either. The enjoy the security of shelter just as much as the next.

It wasn't all a bust though. We still got to see some of the local wildlife in spite of the less than optimal weather conditions. We didn't get to see any lions (the lion sign was as good as it got!), which was really the only thing I wanted to see, but that will just leave something to do next time. Even though I had seen most of these animals in various zoos, there is something special about seeing them in their native country. Even though it was a reserve, there was still about 30,000 acres to roam. The highlights were getting to see a rhino, elephant, hippo, and for me personally, the zebra. I just find it absolutely fascinating that the zebra was able to adapt it's camouflage to the black and white stripes. I mean how did they know that lions see in black and white and that if they chose this particular color scheme they would look like much larger and intimidating as a herd. Here are some of the photos of our safari trip. I hope you enjoy and hopefully I get another chance when the weather isn't horrid!

ciao,
-J

Tour de South Africa

The next thing we did when we found out that it was going to be 7-10 days before they go the parts to attempt the first fix of the engines was to take a road trip and go for a safari. The reserve we where going to was about a 4 hour drive if you took there interstate, but we decided to take the scenic route on the way there to check out the countryside. This turned out to be a much longer route (turned out to be about 11 hours). Unfortunately we were in a compact 4-door with 5 people, so 11 hours riding three deep in the back with my broad shoulders wasn't very desirable by any means, but it was worth while. Driving along the coast of Africa is similar to driving the scenic route along the coast of California, but you are in Africa instead. It is very beautiful laid with roads carved out of the sides of the mountains all along the coast.

The first waypoint on our scenic travels was to go see some penguins. This was probably about two hours into our trip of what we though was only going to be a 5-6 hour trip via the scenic route (Our Brazilian navigator in the front seat made some vital miscalculations!!), but either way it was a nice stopping point. So we arrived at the "penguin reserver," but it was just a point that they had put a booth at to collect money. Not a big deal since it only cost about $1 American. It was a pretty cool place. Walking up you could see the vast expanses of kelp forests all along the point and the remnants of a sunken ship that looked like it must have run ashore in a bad storm some many a year ago. It was a pretty cool little sanctuary though. A lot of penguins hanging out. It was extremely windy though, which didn't make for the best sightseeing conditions. There were penguins everywhere, most of which sunbathing in the sun in the protection of the rocky shores or huddling in there houses. The winds were probably 30-40 knots, but it always an enjoyable experience to see animals in their natural habitat.




















So we left there and had about another two hour drive before we go to your next stop on the tour de coast, which was Hermanus, which was home to a bay known for whale sightseeing. We pulled into a little parking lot that just so happened to be the perfect place. There were sheared rock cliffs that overlook the bay and as we made our way to the tip there just so happened to be two whales hanging out about 100 meters out. We were excited enough with that, but a few minutes later there was another whale a mile or so out that was swimming along and breaching every few minutes. It was a pretty amazing experience considering people pay lots of money to go out on whale watching tours and all we had to do was look off a cliff.
















We stayed there for about 45 minutes or so and decided that we needed to get on the road to our next destination, which was Cape Agulhas. This is famous for being the most southern point of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. It's not like you look out and can tell which is which, but it's still a desirable place to see as an oceanographer. We couldn't have gotten there at a better time either, getting to enjoy the sunset at the most souther point. The winds were still howling, but it was still beautiful to experience.














So we finished enjoying the sunset and got back into the car thinking we only had an hour or so until we got to Mossel Bay, which is where we were staying for the safari. This is the point when we realized that we had misjudged the length of our coastal detour. Turns out Cape Agulhas was extremely out of the way (but well worth it), adding about and extra two hours. So when we plugged our hotel destination in we learned we actually had 4 more hours in the car! That was pretty disappointed to say the least, but what can you do. We had had an amazing day of sightseeing that was more than worth the 11 hours in the car!

cheers,

-J

-Safari adventure to come next.

Table Mountain

Cape Town and Table Mountain from the boat.

Cape Town is a pretty amazing port to be stuck in for a month. It was unfortunate (well at least for the ship), but I was glad that I was able to get the chance to go out and explore. One of the first things we did when we got back to land after the first time our boat broke was to take a hike up the famous Table Mountain. It was only a few kilometers away. So a few of us, some who had already done it, decided to take a short cab ride to the base of the mountain. From there it is either a 3 /12 - 4 hour hike, or a 5 minute cable car ride. It was tempting to just say "screw it" and take the cable car up, but it was some like $20 and it was more adventurous to take the hike and get some exercise.

It's about a kilometer from sea level to the top, but from the base where we started it is probably more like 700-800 kilometers and it starts off pretty mellow gradually winding up the side of the mountain and you start to think that this isn't going to be that bad. This will just be a leisurely stroll on a nice afternoon. This gradual increase, however, is short-lived and only last for 30 or 40 minutes. After that it is pretty close to climbing vertical steps for the next 3 hours. We had to take a few brakes to catch our breath, but also to stop and enjoy the view and surroundings of where we were. There where a bunch of nice waterfalls along the way. It was fun to look back and see Cape Town becoming ever so minuscule. We finally arrived at the top to much relief. It was a little disappointing when we go up there due to the hovering cloud cover that lay just atop of Table Mountain, but it was impressive to see how appropriate the name was. The top is extremely flat, which I found fascinating to think how that collision of continental plates would have gone about making such a flat surface as such.

Once at the top we start making our way towards where the cable car comes up and we keep passing all this gofer looking animals all along the way. We notice they weren't very afraid of humans and it turns out that people feed them, so they are used to it. They had a nice little restaurant on top and we all decided to have a little snack and enjoy an ice cold beer on top of Table Mountain before we began the long journey back down, and it's a good thing we did. Just as we finished up at the restaurant the clouds started to clear. It's a pretty amazing view from up there. Everything just seems so insignificant as you look down upon the different cities that encompass Table Mountain. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Tiny little Cape Town

Cheers,

-J

Getting to know you...

So now I shall start trying to catch up on the past 30 days I spent in Cape Town. I made it 30 days without getting sick, but the first day we actually got out to sea I caught a bug that has been going around the boat. It was some sort of flu bug, but I am finally getting over it and glad I got it at the beginning of the cruise rather than later. The one plus side to having a month stuck in port is that you get to bond with your fellow scientists as well as the crew. So, I will take this time to talk about some of the people I have met and the times we have had. This can be a good and/or bad thing. You want to build camaraderie between the scientist and ship crew so that you have a smooth sailing experience and their is always a chance for things to sour before you leave spending a month in close quarters amongst 60 people. Fortunately, for us, we all seemed to find and build relationships which has made this an enjoyable cruise so far. Usually it takes a couple weeks to get comfortable between the two groups and we had that going out the gates. It was funny and interesting to hang out with the crew at the local bars and get their perspective. We are just transient passengers that come and go through home. What I found amusing is that due to this ephemeral relationship they don't often bother learning our names. They just come up with nicknames. For instance, one of the guys, Allen, looks like like the albino dreadlock guys from the Matrix so they call him the "Matrix dude" and another guy has a resemblance to Matthew Broderick so the call him "Ferris" from Ferris Beullers Day Off (the other guy in the picture w/ "Ferris" was Jeff the computer guy from the boat. He was a fun guy to hang with). They hadn't come up with a name for me at that point, but one of the bar tenders had started referring to me as "Captain America" so they agreed that it was suitable enough and it has stuck since then. I don't know why other then the fact that I was obviously American, but I was relieved to say the least that I didn't get stuck with something that sucked. We also had a couple of Brazilians, Luciano and Rafael come on that have been fun to hang out with and are promising a good time once we get to Brazil. Looking forward to that day! They didn't really get nicknames other than the "two Brazilian guys!"




The bar we most frequented was a bar right down the the docks from us on the waterfront called "Mitchell's." It was a good atmosphere and surprisingly enough it had good food. I was one of the first places I ate when I arrived in Cape Town and they had a great seafood platter that cost about $10 American or about 70 Rand in South African currency. They also had great brick oven baked pizzas. We made good friends with the bartenders and throughout our time they would either take us or tell us the good local bars to go to, so we got to experience the tourist side as well as get a taste of the local lifestyle as well. One of the boats favorite nights at Mitchell's, though, was their karaoke night. If you were there you really didn't have much of a choice to sing so if you weren't comfortable getting up there, as I most certainly am not, then you start drinking beers and taking shots until you have enough liquid courage to make a fool of yourself. Fortunately "Ferris" and I did a song together and then I got talked into doing "Super Freak" with one of the kitchen staff, Mike. I was most certainly heavily intoxicated by this point so can't really vouch for how it went! I'm pretty sure one of the crew has a video of one or both of the performances so I will see if I can get my hands on it and then decide whether or not I am willing to show it! But Mitchell's was our watering hole for a month. From about noon until about 2 am you could find at least on person from our ship sitting in there. It was nice b/c we didn't have phones so if you went out on an adventure and came back to the boat and nobody was there you knew where to go. If you were a soccer, rugby or cricket fan then you were in luck. It was on all day everyday. I was a fan of the soccer, but none of us understood the rule to rugby or cricket and trying to explain them was even worse so we just didn't bother.


At the end of it all we were actually sad to leave. We had spend a month there with the locals getting to know them and it was starting to feel a little bit like home. I realized that when we left I had spent as much time there as I had in Miami and when I'm down I will have lived on the boat longer! The cruise has been going pretty good so far aside from the virus going around, but I will get into what's going on with the cruise over my next several posts. I'm trying to catch up with the Cape Town experience for now so I will try to get posts up more frequently now that I am feeling better and we are getting into a solid rhythm.

Cheers from somewhere in the South Atlantic,

-J