Back in Port
Looking forward to dry land, but still planning the work that needs to be done before Leg 2…
THE RVSJ ARRIVES IN AMERICAN SAMOA
SUNDAY, 03.29.09
The Research Vessel Seward Johnson brings the team back to American Samoa to prepare for another Leg.
1321: Samoa!
We have arrived at Tutuila and are offshore awaiting the pilot to take us in for a tie-up. My understanding is the Woods Hole and Harbor Branch personnel have all arrived on the Thursday flight and are installed at Sadie’s Hotel. Waitt Institute personnel are due to fly in tonight at 9 p.m. Those leaving (a little over half of the ship’s crew, half of the Woods Hole team and the photography unit) will depart at 11 p.m.
We will pick up our spares tomorrow and those include some pretty key items. We will take delivery of two full sets of 120/410 transducers that will be spares for the time being, leaving us with a set of 75/410s in Ginger and the current set of 120/410s in Mary Ann. We will also have a set of 230/540s in the spares reserve. We will also take delivery of new software, new transmitter boards for the 120s and new system flash drives with significantly more capacity (we will be replacing 128M drives with 2 gig drives). Waitt Institute is now in possession of the longest consecutively-worked and deepest-dived AUVs in the world. We will also be adding a replacement segment to the LARS docking head that got tweaked a couple weeks back.
Wet Lab equipment is lashed down for transit.
Over the next two days we will lift and open both chassis, install the new drives and executable software, and begin testing the new equipment. We will cycle the new transducers and T/R switch cards with the known arrays, and then cycle the new transducer arrays with soft installs on the vehicles. The team met today for the last time to discuss the new procedures, and we discussed having a new look with the Woods Hole techs who will be joining us in order to integrate any suggestions they have. The first few evolutions of the gear will be slow and steady to make sure the new deck personnel are getting the training necessary to take our lessons forward.
There’s more to discuss, but we are literally throwing the lines and I plan to be one of the first off this ship. Morale is huge, even among those who will stay, and we’re all looking forward to dry land. A group photo was taken on the bow a few minutes ago and all were reminded of the non-disclosure agreement and their responsibilities. The weather is hot and sunny, and I’m sure the beer at Tisa’s Beachfront Bar will be cold. I’ll check in later tonight.
