 |
|
|
|
|
|
| RESEARCH VOYAGES | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
MAPPING SEABED HABITATS OFF wEST AUSTRALIA SS07/05 Jul 05 [Introduction] [The Voyage] [The Voyagers] [Ship to shore] Ship to shoreLife on board
|
|
|
 The catering crew, Angie, Gossy and a reluctant Helen. |
 A hyperactive Chief Scientist, after a night out on the coffee. And coffee is as far as it goes, because the Southern Surveyor is a 'dry' ship. |
 Nic Bax greets the rising moon. |
The voyage is settling into a more regular routine after our hectic first few days at Ningaloo Reef.
One of my roles is to make sure that the data from our instruments is of good quality and that it is being recorded on the computers. I also have to help sort out any computer problems and make sure that the email is getting through.
Communications with shore have improved immensely since we first sailed on our previous ship, the Franklin, 20 years ago. But we are still very isolated. During this voyage, we will be in mobile phone range for some of the time, but we usually have to rely on slow, expensive satellite phones to contact home or to send emails.
The ship is a small, self contained community. If it wasn't for our daily news emails and the messages from family and friends, we would be oblivious to the happenings in the rest of the world.
On rare occasions, the isolation can be an advantage. I was at sea, on Franklin, during 9/11, and all we received was the news headlines and a few low quality pictures that arrived well after the event. It was a blessing that we missed out on the relentless TV coverage that so traumatised our families and friends ashore.
When she's at sea, Southern Surveyor operates for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Life revolves around work, sleep and food, food in abundance. There is always a choice of mains and a good variety of salads, and if you are peckish, you can top off the meal with works of art posing as desserts. Outside of meal hours, workers can often be found grazing on chocolate biscuits or brewing one of their endless cups of coffee.
The mess, the centre of all this activity, is under the control of Steward Helen Curran and cooks Andy Goss and Angie Zutt. It is full of the sounds of lively music, laughter and much 'stirring of the possum', which makes for a happy ship.
In our few spare moments, there may be time to read, watch a video, do the laundry or take in a sunset or moonrise. Digital cameras have introduced an entirely new field of recreation. There are few participants or pieces of equipment that have escaped being shot.
You are seeing some of our results on these web pages.
More
voyage reportsUpdated: 29/03/07
| Legal Notice and Disclaimer |  Join
Facebook Group
|
|