I'm all moved in to the ship and spent my first night aboard the Healy. My cabin is pretty comfy with room for three people though there will only be two of us staying in it for the cruise. I have a desk and a locker for my stuff plus the bottom bed on the rack (Coast Guard parlance for a bunk bed.) Each bunk has curtains that draw all the way around to enclose it for darkness and privacy- quite the snug crib! My cabin is one deck up from the main deck, on the port side of the ship. Our cabin shares a head (bathroom) with the cabin next door, but we have our own sink in our cabin. I know many of my PolarTREC teacher friends who are spending time in remote camps on their research projects will think I have it pretty cushy here, and I have to agree.
My bottom bunk on our rack. Note the curtains that can draw around the bed to make it dark and private, particularly for sleeping in the day if you are serving a night watch.
My cabin desk and locker (both on the left) and our porthole.
Our sink area and door to the head (right of the sink) in our cabin.
The second deck has the science team quarters and a science lounge area where we can get online, give presentations, work on writing (like I'm doing now), or just relax. There are conference tables, networked computers, printers and an LCD projector, a whiteboard and a flip chart easel, easy chairs, a TV with VCR and DVD players, and a polar library. Nice to have this just down from my cabin, and I can work there if my roommate is sleeping (watches are conducted around the clock so once underway there will be people working and others sleeping at any time.)
Folks are doing last-minute shopping and getting in their final walks on shore (I had a nice walk earlier this morning despite a spitting sky) before everyone must report back to the ship at noon. We are scheduled to sail at 3 pm (15:00) and not touch shore again until we offload at Barrow on 6 September.
Yesterday brought a nice mix of sightseeing, meeting new people, and learning more about our mission. One famous and photogenic landmark on Unalaska Island is the Russian Orthodox Church which was built in 1825. The Museum of the Aleutians was also a fascinating place to visit, very well done with a nice mix of geology and ecology exhibits along with prehistoric and historic human settlement information.
The Russian Orthodox Church on Unalaska Island, Alaska.
A giant halibut (459 lbs) mounted at the Museum of the Aleutians in Dutch Harbor, AK.
I found out that in addition to our sonar, seismic, and bottom sample data collection we will also be using a gravitometer mounted in the hull to conduct gravity surveys. My roommate Peter, from the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA, is one of the scientists who will be standing watches to acquire that data. More on that later!
That's all for now! Best- Bill