3rd and 4th August

Friday 3rd August 2012

The day started at 03:45 for my watch and we all managed to be quite pleasant to each other. There was a bit of panic when log sheets and bottles were not where you expected to find them but soon we settled into the routine. It was  a busy watch with something happening all the time so no time to get bored. At this point I must point out that being on watch is nothing to do with keeping an eye out for icebergs, etc. It is more to do with regular checks on equipment, freezers, fridges, temperature rooms, loggers and computers as well as dealing with samples as they are collected throughout the night.

From lunch time onwards we were sampling on the steep slope from the contintal shelf to the Rockall Trough. Many of these were physics stations which meant we had a rest from pouring water into bottles and more time to enjoy the sun. The only wildlife spotted today were lots of seabirds, including several great skuas, imagining Discovery is a trawler.They must have been very disappointed when there was no appearance of a net with rich pickings.

Zoltan Nemeth, the IT technician, did capture an interesting photo of a colonyof goose barnacles floating past.

Saturday 4th August

Two days at one time because internet connection is sporadic.

Having completed the 4-8am watch, I found out there was to be another safety drill at 10.30 so no chance to catch up on sleep until the afternoon. There was a pod of pilot whales just a little too far away for good photos until the alarm went off then they moved in quite close. Of course everyone was too busy carting their lifejackets to the boat deck to capture them close up. Tomorrow I'm told the Captain does an inspection of cabins at 10:30. Well he will just have to view me in all my glory because I'm going to bed after breakfast as I can't go 2 days on 4 hours sleep.

Today Devin O'Connell will share his experiences of the cruise. He is a SAMS undergraduate about to move into 4th year.

Today seems to mark the end of the spectacular sunshine, it’s very grey out there but we were visited by group of pilot whales so it’s not all bad. Currently we are making our way towards Rockall, slowly. The CTD casts are now taking quite some time to be completed; on my last watch we only did one. This is because of the depths we are sending it to, are over 2,000 metres. It’s actually very cool to imagine the CTD all the way down there being controlled from the lab while its 2km below us. Of course at this depth the pressure is immense which means I now have a new way to occupy myself while I’m not on watch, decorating Styrofoam cups and attaching them to the CTD. They shrink down to a fraction of the size and become much more rigid. I’m trying to think of other things I can send down.

That’s not to say that life onboard is boring, far from it. The watches can be sporadic depending on the depth, samples to be taken etc. Some watches are mental, others more relaxed. While I’m off watch I have been amusing myself with the Styrofoam cups, chatting to the crew and whale watching. There is a lot of wildlife, even out here we seem to be getting escorted by a flock of fulmars (at least that’s what I’ve been told they are, I’m terrible at bird ID’ing).

This trip has given me a good experience of life at sea. This is no cruise liner. You are never far from the fact that this is a working vessel. For instance if I walk out of my cabin and turn left I’m in the hold and it’s not far from there to the engine room. We have had safety drills and everyone on board needs to have the relevant documentation to work at sea. This all makes the journey more interesting for me as I couldn’t stand one of these “gin palaces” as Colin calls them. I’m here to do a job and that’s how I like it.  I’m about to enter the final year of my degree and am still torn between certain career paths. If I last my time out here and still enjoy it then that will give me a better understanding of where I should be headed. All I know so far is that I want to work close to the sea, but in what capacity I’m not sure.

I will leave you with today’s life lesson; Take all your problems and worries, put them in a cup and then crush the bastards at 2500 metres.