Into the Great Blue Yonder

Leaving Gulfport, MS for the Mississippi River delta.

The pilot boat trails us out of the harbor.

Dr. Kevin Xu showing students the ropes.

3 August

After breakfast at 0730, we moved our vehicles to a designated parking lot.  Then, we were busy making sure the equipment was well tied down before we headed out into the open sea. Students took this opportunity to learn and practice some useful knots, e.g., the bowline and trucker's hitch.  Basic knot tying is a critical skill that every sea-going person must know.

We left the dock at about 0900 and started steaming to our study site, the Mississippi River delta, which is about 10 hours away (west).