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Blog Entry 2 of 4 Cruising for Carbon

Why go to one of the windiest latitudes on Earth to learn about future global warming? Scientists from around the U.S., including CU’s Ludovic Bariteau, with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, are embarking on a 6-week research cruise to measure how much greenhouse gas the Southern Ocean swallows up during high winds and choppy seas. Read more and watch videos at http://cires.colorado.edu/science/field/gasex/

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A ship's life for me

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Contributed by: Adriana Bailey on 3/17/2008

When it's not about our science sensors, it's about the sea!

And with the sea, everything depends on the ship's course.

If we go with the waves, it can be gentle; but if the waves come sideways at the ship, it can be a roller of a ride. Just a couple days ago toolboxes were flying and people in rolling chairs were sliding all over the lab. Needless to say, it's not always easy to focus in front of a computer and write during such conditions.

So here's a little more about life aboard the Ronald H. Brown.

The ship is the largest vessel in the NOAA fleet. For this experiment, the ship is home to about 24 crew members and 31 scientists, almost maximum capacity. Food service seating capacity is just 30 people. So one of the golden rules on the ship is "Eat it and beat it." It's definitely not a restaurant!

Still, our trio of cooks is doing a great job providing food for everyone. The only big difference between a ship meal and a meal at home is the serving schedule. Breakfast is from 7am to 8am, lunch from 11am to 12pm, and dinner from 4:30pm to 5:30pm. Meals are somewhat close to each other, but this allows our three kitchen stewards to have some time to relax.

I've known cooks Herb and Richie since I first voyaged on the RHB in 2005. Since that time, Herb likes to call me "Frenchy"... don't ask why. He is an amazing man and a talented ping pong player. Speaking of which, the ping pong table has usually been a great distraction during research cruises and is usually set up in the main science lab; but since this cruise is fully loaded, the table has yet to emerge from the storage room.

To burn some calories after meals and/or snacks, we instead use "the house of pain," as Herb likes to call it -- aka the gym. It's a great place to test your reflexes and balance, what with the continual motion of the ship (see Chris' post on the SO GASEX blog). One funny thing I like to do when we are cruising with the waves is to use the rowing machine. You feel a bit like you're rowing the boat by yourself.

Afterwards, we get to enjoy showers in pretty luxurious bunks. The room onboard a ship is small but sufficient for a good night's sleep. I'm sharing my room with Alejandro Cifuentes and Chris Buonassissi, both from the University of Connecticut.

After more than a week at sea now, my life on the ship can be summarized as follows:

• Wake up before lunch time, around 10 or 11am. Usually I wouldn't sleep as well as on land, but the rocking of the ship and my trusty ear plugs make me sleep like a baby.

• Check if all the systems are running alright; and, if the internet reception is good, I read my emails.

• Then, lunch and a full tour of the sensors. For example, I might go outside to clean few sensors on the deck. I also have to babysit the ozone sensor. Calibration and daily filter changes are part of the routine. In addition, I check often to make sure the acquisition computers are running okay. We need our sensors to perform well and we also want to collect and save our unique data.

• The afternoon passes by pretty quickly. Some of us play games on computers, read books, or wash clothes in the laundry room... A little walk outside on the bridge is important too to go watch the ocean and get fresh salt air in your lungs. Today for example, while some colleagues were doing a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) measurement, I was able to observe king penguins from South Georgia Island cruising around the ship.

• Then, dinner time! After that, two movies are shown close to the kitchen. A request list is attached to the door so that you can put in to watch your favorite flick. Later, it's back to work to analyze the data of the day, run diagnostics, and start my data analyses.

• Time to Skype the woman I love (Hello Ding). I try to stay up late at night, when the internet connection is usually better. It's great to hear voices of family and friends. The 24/7 connection is pretty new; on past cruises, you could only connect to the internet twice a day.

• Late at night, with my friends Chris Zappa and Alejandro, we go back to the kitchen for a midnight snack. Lots of ice cream!

• Finally, before going to sleep, about 1 or 2 am, I check again to make sure each sensor is working fine.

http://cires.colorado.edu/science/field/gasex/

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Adriana Bailey

Boulder , CO

Adriana Bailey has posted 4 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 3/10/2008. Adriana Bailey 's average blog rating is 5.

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