0400 07 September 2012
R/V Aquila
55 45.512 N
164 49.411 W
We made it! We are officially done with the last mooring turnaround, and are currently steaming full speed towards Dutch Harbor, Alaska. I believe in the last post I mentioned how nice the weather was and it would be a matter of hours until we were done and headed home. However, it was not to be. Later that day, we started seeing reports of a pair of monster lows racing toward us. As we watched the systems develop, it quickly became clear we would not have time to make it to our last site before the first gale hit. After numorous team meetings and a great many calls to offices in Seattle, we made the decision to divert to St. Paul Island to wait out the worst of it. St. Paul offers the only available protection in that area, but protection is certainly a relative thing. We pulled into the harbor on the 3rd and got secured with our winter lines, monster four inch tie up lines strong enough to lift a whole stack of battle tanks with one line. Normally four lines keeps the boat snug aga
inst the dock, but in preparation for the coming breeze we doubled that to eight lines. All that and the surge still managed to break one of our older lines! Though most would've prefered to be heading home out of Dutch at that point, we all enjoyed our stay on the island. St. Paul is the number one breeding site for northern fur seals, and a major destination for birders across the world. The crew at the Trident Seafoods plant was kind enough to get us a permit to enter the seal rookery, so we were able to head up and snap some pictures of the adorable seal pups. We departed under blue skies and calm winds the evening of the 5th, heading out for the 200 mile run to the mooring site. Upon arrival, we sent the CTD over for the last time, retrieved one short mooring, deployed two, then headed in for dinner. After a delicious pasta dinner it was all hands on deck once again to retrieve the monster surface bouy we had all been waiting for. Everything seems worse in the planning stages and
deck meetings, but once we cut it loose from the anchor it was nothing more than another bouy retrieval and we had it aboard in short order.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Sunday, September 2, 2012
0453 2 September 2012
R/V Aquila
61 50.294 N
167 42.368 W
Good morning to all! The local time is way-too-early-30, and I am way-too-happy for how early it is. Not that 0500 is a terrible time to be up, but we only just wrapped up our last CTD station at 0145 this morning. The station couldn't have gone better, it was a balmy 36 degrees, the moon was out, and seas were only four feet. Speaking of that moon, it is occuring to me that this is the first time I've seen the moon at night in a very long time. I wonder if it has been there the whole trip and I haven't noticed it? More likely, this is the first time we have had enough vis to be able to see any moonlight on the water!
Everyone insists they aren't counting down the days until the end of the trip, but with only three days left I think we all have a little clock running down in the back of our heads. The boat has become our Homeward Bound train, and with the reappearance of the moon there just may be light at the end of the tunnel!
R/V Aquila
61 50.294 N
167 42.368 W
Good morning to all! The local time is way-too-early-30, and I am way-too-happy for how early it is. Not that 0500 is a terrible time to be up, but we only just wrapped up our last CTD station at 0145 this morning. The station couldn't have gone better, it was a balmy 36 degrees, the moon was out, and seas were only four feet. Speaking of that moon, it is occuring to me that this is the first time I've seen the moon at night in a very long time. I wonder if it has been there the whole trip and I haven't noticed it? More likely, this is the first time we have had enough vis to be able to see any moonlight on the water!
Everyone insists they aren't counting down the days until the end of the trip, but with only three days left I think we all have a little clock running down in the back of our heads. The boat has become our Homeward Bound train, and with the reappearance of the moon there just may be light at the end of the tunnel!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
0400 31 August 2012
RV Aquila
66 36.576 N
168 18.670 W
Whipped to a frenzy by an arctic gale, the icy black waters of the Chukchi Sea have once again made a point to remind us how small and insignificant our steel bubble really is. The last 24 hours have seen sustained winds at 40kts with gusts over 50 and swells climbing to 22 feet. As dawn breaks over an angry sea, it seems the worst has passed and the winds have slacked off some. By an incredible stroke of luck, the wind came up just as we finished our last mooring station off Barrow and got underway to Nome. Continuing the lucky streak, our course lands the swells straight on the stern, the best possible direction for a smooth ride. While it has been relatively smooth, the ride has been anything but relaxing. As each swell hits the stern, it lifts the stern until the bow is pointing down at what seems like 20 degrees. Far enough down that when one looks straight ahead from the wheelhouse, the swell ahead of us is at or above eye level. Each swell pushes on the stern with the force of
an avalanche, giving us a full two knot increase in speed and forcing the autopilot and rudder to work overtime to keep the sea from pushing the stern to the side and putting us broadside to the next wave. As the swell rolls forward from the stern, it creates an effect much like a teeter-totter with a teeter that constantly rolls from end to end. When the peak of the wave is about 40 feet forward of the stern, the water drops out from beneath the screws leaving our twin 80-inch stainless propellers thrashing at a frothy mix of water and air. This cavitation is probably the most uncomfortable thing about the current sea state because it creates a vibration like an earthquake that is felt and heard throughout the entire vessel. With the screws part of the way out of the water, the engines jump in RPM, coming out of sync and adding more vibrations. Then the stern plunges back into the water and the endless cycle starts anew.
0900 1 September 2012
R/V Aquila
Port of Nome
How quickly things change up here. In the matter of a few hours, the winds can change by 40 or 50 knots and the seas can climb or drop by 15 feet or more. Yesterday morning we were watching swells towering over the bridge, by noon we had rounded Cape Prince of Whales and the swells had dropped to six foot rollers. We got secured to the pier in Nome by 2200 last night, and this morning we awoke tied to the pier, the calmest it has been in two weeks. We are just about to depart for Dutch Harbor and our last few mooring sites. As of right now, we are scheduled to be in Dutch by the 5th.
All have high hopes of finding more whales these last few days, though by now everyone is getting a little worn out. Onward and Upward!!
RV Aquila
66 36.576 N
168 18.670 W
Whipped to a frenzy by an arctic gale, the icy black waters of the Chukchi Sea have once again made a point to remind us how small and insignificant our steel bubble really is. The last 24 hours have seen sustained winds at 40kts with gusts over 50 and swells climbing to 22 feet. As dawn breaks over an angry sea, it seems the worst has passed and the winds have slacked off some. By an incredible stroke of luck, the wind came up just as we finished our last mooring station off Barrow and got underway to Nome. Continuing the lucky streak, our course lands the swells straight on the stern, the best possible direction for a smooth ride. While it has been relatively smooth, the ride has been anything but relaxing. As each swell hits the stern, it lifts the stern until the bow is pointing down at what seems like 20 degrees. Far enough down that when one looks straight ahead from the wheelhouse, the swell ahead of us is at or above eye level. Each swell pushes on the stern with the force of
an avalanche, giving us a full two knot increase in speed and forcing the autopilot and rudder to work overtime to keep the sea from pushing the stern to the side and putting us broadside to the next wave. As the swell rolls forward from the stern, it creates an effect much like a teeter-totter with a teeter that constantly rolls from end to end. When the peak of the wave is about 40 feet forward of the stern, the water drops out from beneath the screws leaving our twin 80-inch stainless propellers thrashing at a frothy mix of water and air. This cavitation is probably the most uncomfortable thing about the current sea state because it creates a vibration like an earthquake that is felt and heard throughout the entire vessel. With the screws part of the way out of the water, the engines jump in RPM, coming out of sync and adding more vibrations. Then the stern plunges back into the water and the endless cycle starts anew.
0900 1 September 2012
R/V Aquila
Port of Nome
How quickly things change up here. In the matter of a few hours, the winds can change by 40 or 50 knots and the seas can climb or drop by 15 feet or more. Yesterday morning we were watching swells towering over the bridge, by noon we had rounded Cape Prince of Whales and the swells had dropped to six foot rollers. We got secured to the pier in Nome by 2200 last night, and this morning we awoke tied to the pier, the calmest it has been in two weeks. We are just about to depart for Dutch Harbor and our last few mooring sites. As of right now, we are scheduled to be in Dutch by the 5th.
All have high hopes of finding more whales these last few days, though by now everyone is getting a little worn out. Onward and Upward!!
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