Another Storm and Field Inspection Day!
Last night, we were treated to another storm in the Bering Sea. We were in between two low pressure systems. I saw readings of 60 knots with gust to 73 knots. We were in about 15 foot seas and it was expected to rise through the night. Kristina and I spent some time on the Bridge watching the waves crash over the bow and spray the windows all the way up on the 5th deck. I took a few pictures, but it was pretty much dark at that point. It is a weird feeling being in seas like that...sometimes it feels as if we “hit” something, though it is only a wave in the water. You can hear water spraying in sheets on the outside walls and our Porthole, on the second deck was constantly showered with water. The boat was rocking and rolling and it was difficult to walk in a straight line. You could see the surface of the floor tilted, though without windows is it difficult to judge what is actually happening.
Waves crashing over the bow of the Healy
The seas calmed down through the night and when we awoke this morning...it was INSPECTION day! We have been on the HEALY for one week! Today is the day our rooms, lab and work spaces are inspected. Commander Tlapa, the Coast Guard Executive Officer will be conducting our inspections. Everyone got busy cleaning. Kristina vacuumed the floor in our stateroom. In the picture of Kristina vacuuming you can see most of our stateroom, her desk on the right, our cabinets behind her, the porthole we can see out of, my desk under the porthole, the file cabinets we store clothes in and then the sink on the far left.
Kristina vacuuming our room.
I took some other pictures inside of our stateroom. Our room is connected to Donna and Celia's room by the shower and “head”. The head is the name for the area where the toilet is located. The derivation of the term head comes from the days of early sailing when the crew had to go all the way forward to relieve themselves under the area of the hull where the figure head was fastened. Four of us share this space. The shower is small. We have been instructed to take “sea showers”. That means turn the water on and get wet. Turn the water off and wash. Turn the water back on and rinse off. This will help conserve water.
The shower
The toilets look like regular toilets, but they flush with a vacuum system. Ensign Sheridan told us that it is very important to only flush 3 things...#1, #2 and the Coast Guard approved toilet paper.
The head- notice the push button vacuum flush
Back to cleaning...Erik the Red, swept the floor in the hallway. We also had to empty trash, clean the head and dust. Eric, IT1 worked on cleaning the door in our hallway.
Erik the Red sweeping the passageway
IT1 Eric cleans the door
Krista, Chad and I took the trash from our floor out to the trash vans. The trash vans are only open certain hours in the day, so you have to pay attention and dump your trash when they are open! We had to go out on the deck to these big storage containers where all the trash is stored. The winds were blowing so hard – 28 knots; the snow was blowing straight horizontal. The wind made it difficult to breath. If you look closely in the picture, you can see the snow blowing straight past the light.
Ms.Rose with the trash...headed outside to the trash vans!
Holding on to the rail in 28 knot winds and snow!
The winds are expected to remain above 30 knots today. We have a stand by net tow scheduled for after lunch, but if the winds remain, that operation will be aborted. Saturday brings special times on the ship. Today, after inspections, there will be an UNO tournament...the winner gets a $25 Amazon Gift card! For dinner tonight, the Deck Crew will be cooking to give the Mess staff a break. We will be having grilled hamburgers and brats up on the Deck, weather permitting. Hangover 2 will also be shown on the Big Screen in the Helicopter hanger with popcorn and soda. All of these events help to improve the morale of the crew. They have been on Healy since May and the days can get long! This helps change the pace of things and keep it interesting. This should be an interesting day!
New Vocabulary
Bridge: the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded
Head: the toilet and the area where the toilet is
Stayed tuned to this journal as we continue our exciting voyage on the USCG Healy!
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” - Mohandas Gandhi