Well, it’s 10:00 am ship time on Friday morning - the ship is set to Moscow standard time, which is an hour ahead of the dock 15 feet away - and we are still in port. There was an issue with the hydraulics on an A-frame that needed to be fixed before ‘we’ (in the broad sense - I’m just a bystander) could load and weld it onto the deck.
A - frame: The repaired A-frame is being loaded onto the deck to be welded into place.
As I thumb type this entry on my phone (we are not connected into the ship’s internet yet, which would not really improve my 3-finger keyboarding skills), I hear lots of noise. Here’s what’s happening outside my porthole.
Crane crate: Shipping crates being craned from the dock, past my window, and onto the deck.
The dock crew is making their way through loading the shipping containers and other equipment. From what I’m told, if they finish by 5, then we’ll leave today. These kinds of delays are expected in the Arctic, and they have contingency days built into the cruise plan.
I wanted to give a little bit of info about the ship and assign a little bit of ‘Bonus’ homework to my students. Time for a little math.
The RV Akademik Tryoshnikov was launched in 2011 as part of the Russian polar fleet. RV stands for Research Vessel, and the name is in honor of Alexey Tryoshnikov, president of the Geographical Society of the USSR.
RV Akademik Tryoshnikov: A profile picture of the RV Akademik Tryoshnikov as it sails into Kirkenes harbor.
Here are the stats. All ‘non-gear-heads’ should still read along. You might learn something. I did. The ship has a gross tonnage of 12,711. This is a unit-less number (shh, don’t tell my students - I am always after them about including units). It’s a measure of the ship’s size in terms of volume and weight. For reference: 1 gross ton is 2240 lbs or about 40 cubic feet - like many of our American measurement units, it is not based in a scientific standard. A ‘tun’ was a cask of wine.
Students - and anyone who wants to relive your high school chemistry experience, can you calculate the weight of the ship in pounds and do the length conversions into metrics? (1 foot = .305 meter). No cheating. Show your work! It’ll be due by the end of the cruise.
How much does the ship weigh in pounds (use the above conversion)? How about in kilograms? (1 kg = 2.2 pounds). Bonus: How about in dozens of tamales (one of my favorite foods, besides posole)? (1 dozen tamales = 2 pounds).
The ship’s length is 438.3 feet and its widest point is 75.5 feet. Students, can you do the length conversions into metrics? (1 foot = .305 meter). If World Record holder Florence Griffith Joyner can run 100 meters in 10.49 seconds, how long would it take her to sprint the length of the ship?
The ship is diesel powered by 3 engines (2 @6300 kw and 1 @4200 kw) and has a 2-shaft propulsion system. Hopefully, I’ll be given a tour of the engine room later in the cruise.
Pencils and calculators ready again: Its maximum speed is 16 knots (1 knot = 1.15 mile/hour and 1.85 kilometer/hour) in open water and 2 knots in 1.1 m ice. The ship has a range of 15000 nautical miles (1 nautical mile = 1.15 mile and 1.85 kilometer). How long would it take the ship to travel the distance from Northlake to the ‘Bean’ in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago (20.8 miles) through the ice?
The ship can carry up to 80 passengers (there are only about 30 - thanks to COVID-19 protocols, we each have our own rooms) and 60 crew (I have no idea yet how many are aboard). It also has room for 2 helicopters, but none are on board now.
Helicopter hangar: The hangar has room for 2 helicopters. We’ll use it for lab work.
Hope everyone has survived the homework and that your brains are sore Dom so much math! #leydenpride
Selfie bridge: Representing West Leyden in front of the bridge of the RV Akademik Tryoshnikov. #leydenpride
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