Monday Sept. 6, 2010

9/6/10  Day 1

We made port in Gisborne around mid-day on Monday (6/9/10) with three tripods in tow (not really towing them, they are on deck).  Yes, all three tripods were recovered successfully thanks to a truly exception captain and crew, as well as the experienced scientific party  (pat, pat, pat…sorry, had to do it)…everyone chipping in when needed.

We spent the first ~26 hours of the cruise steaming for our first site.  Once arriving at our deep water station (~350 meters) at about 1945 hours on 9/5/10, we started several hours of CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) stations.  We completed a detailed shore normal and parallel transect at about 0400 and then re-rigged the A-frame in order to deploy the multi-corer at two additional stations.  Not a bad nights works…finished it off with a big breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast, beans, and fresh coffee).

Aaahhh, but the day was just beginning.  As the winds picked up to more than 20 knots (expected to reach a gale this afternoon), white caps as far as the eye could see, we were all anxious to retrieve the three tripods that have been collecting data (waves, currents, temperature, salinity, turbidity) for the last four months…always an unnerving time.  Will the tripods still be there, will they respond, send their float to the surface?  As you can see, all three are present and accounted for…YES!!!

See the faces of surprise, excitement, elation…or is it confusion?  The fun is just beginning…we start first thing in the morning, collecting cores along the margin.