AndrewBarna.org

2011.01.16
19:45HST
Barna, A
R/V Kilo Moana

Conditions
Lat: 18 21.322 N
Lon: 166 59.400 W
Speed: 12.4 Kts
Heading: 255.4T
Sal: 34.414 PSU
SST: 26.16 °C
Pres: 1013 mbar
Air Temp: 24 °C

Weather and Sea State Observations
Today was very exciting. In the morning a dark band of rain was seen just north of our heading. While it seemed like we were going to miss it, we went into the storm. Swells were 4-6 meters high, possibly higher. Winds were 35kts sustained. The rain and waves subsided by the end of the day. Cloud cover is 100%.

Journal Entry

Today I finally managed to wake up in time for breakfast. Mine consisted of a bowl of fruit, two pieces of bacon, and a breakfast burrito. As always, the food was excellent. I am having a tough time learning everyone’s name and have found it much easier to remember people by what they do rather than their name.

I spent most of the morning on the bridge with the third mate and two of the ABs as we all watched the oncoming storm. There was a good conversation and I don’t remember the details. The storm moved in and the ship was secured. Almost all the portholes were sealed and the crew did a once over to make sure all the hatches were secure.

My lunch was chicken, peas, and biscuits quite delicious. During lunch, some of the waves were splashing all the way up onto the mess portholes. Depending on the size of the splash, comments such as “must have run over a kayaker” or “that one must have been a whale” were overheard.

After lunch was a meeting to discuss the recovery of the moorings we are steaming toward. From what I can tell, I will not be directly involved with the recovery or redeployment of these moorings. Unless I am asked on the spot when they are actively being recovered. My duties will be what is known as CTD watchstanding. This will be the recovery and deployment of the CTD and the monitoring and logging of the data. I will be doing this with one other member of the science party (or more if others decide to join in). The watch duties start tomorrow so I will be up at 0400HST.

After the planning meeting a test cast was done with the CTD to go over the procedures. This was made a challenge due to the high sea state. While certainly not the worst this ship has been in, it made working with the CTD more dangerous. I would say the seas were fitting of the description of “Victory at Sea.” Despite the high sea state, the deployment and recovery went quite well. Safety procedures were observed above all other matters.

Dinner today was prime rib, while those who had it praised the cook, I didn’t partake in any (large steaks aren’t my thing). I had my greens with 3 different kinds of cheese and a crab spread on bread that was very delicious.

After dinner I, along with 3 other members of the science party, got a tour of the ships engineering sections. It was incredible. If I thought the habitable sections of the ship were a confusing maze, well I had another thing coming. The engineering parts of the ship consisted of an impressive maze of ladders on ladders and small holes one needed to fit through.

Due to the unique design of this ship, there are two sets of almost everything inside or directly above what I guess could be called pontoons. Inside each of the pontoons are 14 compartments with no way of moving between compartments below the waterline. So, to move from place to place, one needed to first travel vertically. A considerable amount of climbing was involved in the ship tour.

Finally, today is laundry day and my first watch is tomorrow at 0400.

2011.01.14
20:50HST
Barna, A
R/V Kilo Moana

Conditions
Lat: 21 11.348 N
Long: 158 4.887 W
Speed: 11.7 Kts
Heading: 252.7T
Sal: 35.07 PSU
SST: 25.80 °C
Pres: 1017 mbar
Air Temp: 24 °C

Weather and Sea State Observations

Quite a nice day today in contrast to earlier conditions which were considerable amounts of rain and wind. Cloud cover is about 25%. The swell size is unknown due to a nighttime departure.

Journal Entry

We have finally left port and are steaming toward what I assume is the position of the moorings we will be recovering. Quite a journey was taken to get to this point, I shall attempt to collect my thoughts and memories for the past day or so. I was dropped off at the ship yesterday by my friend from school. I had spent the night at her house in Kailua after her family was kind enough to house me for the night. [My Friend's] Grandmother made tacos for dinner and, in my opinion, they were some of the best tacos I have had in Hawaii.

A storm raged all night giving me slight concern as for what the conditions might be like while at sea. While the rain was intermittent and fleeting yesterday, what rain there was came down heavy. This caused no delay in the loading of the ship.

On arrival to the ship the first person I met was the third mate. The confusion I was experiencing at the time must have shown somehow as it was noted that I looked “lost and confused.” The third mate (I must apologize for not knowing everyone’s name yet) pointed me in the direction of the “Science Party Corkboard” which contained all the information relevant at that time for the members of the science party, including room assignments. Much to my surprise I had an entire stateroom assigned to myself (as did everyone else). I quickly stowed my personal gear and went looking for the chief scientist. When asking the various crew where he might be, the response was to “explore the ship looking” as it seems their intention was to expedite my learning of the ships layout by not telling me where anything was.

I eventually found the rest of the science party, including the chief scientist, in one of the labs (surprised?). After some quick introductions loading of the ship took place. The loading of most of the equipment only took two or so hours, the few pieces of equipment that were not loaded was the fault of the equipment not being present. The rest of my day was spent helping another Andrew and a fellow from the UK (still learning names!) assemble a microstructure instrument package. Which, for something with the word “micro” in its name, is surprisingly large. The instrument itself is a freefalling, autonomous package that will measure the standard oceanographic parameters of temperature and salinity along with a measurement that I could best describe as “micro fluctuations in the currents.” Sounds fancy.

Lunch was had on board the ship, a “standard” Hawaiian style lunch complete with maunapua, kalua pork, and rice. It was quite delicious. For dinner I, along with 3 other members of the science party, went to a restaurant called “La Mariana” (This may be incorrect). While enjoying a beer and a “double burger” that was much too large for me, there was what could be the most entertaining dinner music show on the island. An excellent pianist accompanied what appeared to be most of the diners! It was quite a sight, from what we could tell, the patrons of the restaurant simply all took turns singing. And, unlike many karaoke singers, everyone who sang while we were there was highly skilled.

I spent the night on the ship as I had nowhere else to be. The shower never got warm and I suspected that this might be due to a lack of engine heat. Hopefully, tonight will be warmer.

I managed to get myself out of bed just in time to miss breakfast. Heading to the galley anyway, I had a pleasant conversation with the cook (chef?) and partook in the consumption of some delicious English muffin breakfast sandwiches. Due to a lack of things to do (we were waiting for a shipment to arrive) I was invited to go explore downtown a bit with some of the graduate students. Being the only local, I acted as guide. We parked in Chinatown and walked around for about 2 hours looking at things such as the Hawaii State Capital, Iolani Palace, and Aloha Tower.

Returning to the ship and waiting around for several hours, the final pieces of equipment were loaded. Dinner was filet mignon and saut?©ed mushrooms. The mushrooms were my favorite and were quite delicious. If the food remains at such standards, it will be an excellent cruise indeed.

We finally cast off around 1900 and made our way out of Honolulu harbor. Just as we were exiting the channel, fireworks saw us off.

The lights from the island of Oahu are fading into the distance.