RRS Discovery Cruise 100 31 January – 4 April 1979 Master: Leg 1 Phil Warne, Leg 2 Phil Moran Principal Scientist: James Crease
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3rd Edition 1 RRS Discovery Cruise 100 31 January – 4 April 1979 Master: Leg 1 Phil Warne, Leg 2 Phil Moran Principal Scientist: James Crease Image: Peter Image: Rowan Some recollections 40 years on 3rd Edition 2 Acknowledgement Material for this compilation has been provided by James Crease, Edward and Theresa Cooper (née Colvin), Howard Roe, Peter Rowan, Andy Adams, the National Oceanographic Library (with thanks to Emma Guest), Phil Pugh and the British Oceanographic Data Centre. Edited by Gwyn Griffiths. James Crease provided these brief recollections "These notes contain a masterly account by Howard-. Thank goodness he has a good memory (and records?) I do recall the pleasure we all had at seeing Arthur Fisher at the dockside in Cape Town waiting to greet us. There is an old navy term-ship's husband-which describes the person who stays ashore and make sure that everything the ship and its crew needed is to hand when one returns to port. That's Arthur. The physical oceanography was a wash out! We launched and deployed deep current meters for a year's deployment but a planned recovery a year later from the South African research ship drew a blank! The weather was only surpassed in my experience when John Swallow and I and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution colleagues were caught in a hurricane on the RV Aries returning to Bermuda (and that was only one day) in September 1959. I have a recollection that station 10000 may have been very close to where Dr Deacon made his first hydro station circa 1927 in RRS Discovery II" Image fromRowanPeterImage 3rd Edition 3 Contents Sailing Instructions, Second Notice, 23 November 1978 ........................................................ 4 Sailing Instructions, Third Notice, 11 December 1978 ........................................................... 5 Track chart from the IBM1800 Computer (Courtesy BODC) ................................................. 8 Cruise 100 - Reflections on Antarctica! .................................................................................. 9 The lighter side of life at sea on Cruise 100 .......................................................................... 13 Furthest South ........................................................................................................................ 14 Birthday Celebrations: Sir George Deacon and Roger Chamberlain .................................... 15 The rougher side of life at sea on Cruise 100 ........................................................................ 18 What exactly was going on in the Engine Room during the stormy weather? ...................... 19 Empathy, and getting on with the job despite the weather: recollections of the only woman within thousands of miles. ..................................................................................................... 21 Early Experience with Satellite-tracked Drifting Buoys ....................................................... 23 Buoys for Current Meter Moorings ....................................................................................... 24 Seagoing Stalwarts ................................................................................................................ 25 Snapshots of some of the crew .............................................................................................. 26 An extract from Dr Rowan's Casebook and inside the Hospital ........................................... 27 Sir George Deacon's Cap ....................................................................................................... 28 Constants of Life at Sea: Boat Stations and Preparing Meals ............................................... 29 Curiosities .............................................................................................................................. 30 RRS Discovery Ship's Log for Friday 23 March 1979 - Station 10000 ................................ 31 RRS Discovery Scientific Log for Friday 23 March 1979 - Station 10000 .......................... 33 James Crease's letter to Dr Anthony Laughton, Director IOS, at the end of leg 1 ................ 34 Arrival at Cape Town ............................................................................................................ 36 Post Script .............................................................................................................................. 36 3rd Edition 4 Sailing Instructions, Second Notice, 23 November 1978 I.Iiis DIS(J()1I]J)iY C]IUTSE 1C)O Secorrd l'lr.;ti-ce: (31 .1at,.,-rary -- 4 Apr i.1, 1979) Da1.es: Thr aiiite s anci 1'-j.rii.r1 pcrr:t ol tire cruise have charrgcd .rnd arL' no\,v ?.3-J6t,i..,o,r, * 'i 'Iorr'n L*P; Depar t Capc Torvlr -1 i- Jal-ru;.tl:y - Ai:rj.rre Cape 3 Marcii Leg 2 De1;;L:: t Czipc liovrn 6 l'{arch - A::rive Cape Torr,'n 4 April. I-]":"g-i:_i:r irli ghts f c:: all the nemlrr:rs cf tht: scieirti.f i c pirr'1.y hat,e l-,ccrt lrr--rrrl;i:c1 f or 27 J;inualy cn S1t 237 C,.t:l:. iieathror,v 191.5 arr. Cape Tortn 1005 2li .Ii, i'r:-te,-l:y. Tlij,s is a clirec 1. ilight. The:;e ticli<':1,s harre been bcokcli ou a 19.-.'l 5 ciay c.:r:':-i.trsioi-i i;-i.::c attrl flte baggage a1. 1ot';ance ts ZO hg tlgt tili: 3(-ti;g ulli.rlr \rc: lllva b,:coue tts;ccl ',.<, oll seatiej')' s ticket::. 'Ii.cker:s wi 1l be i.ssttcct i.ri i';tir: ClLltll-'lr(1. Stevr: []irL rrert's pa.r'i-)' f ::c;n C::u j-.se !:9 rviil- vzrca.l c tlie ,ii cab,,iiis (]l'r Ai'r:i ',,31. in Cape 'l'crr^:n so acconrilr:Ca.licn iti11 be ava-i 1ab-le on boar-d \,r1iertl \te rli:;: j.ve. I t i,s erpi:r.tccl 'iirat ',.;e rvj. 11 il1cve into an i-]ote1 at the c:t-rC of the c::ui se so tlii:-t Crr-ris;e 101- 1-,erscnnel can nse the cabins. Open dated air iickets hi.,-ve been b:irght foi tire return flight. i.cia,ii:rg r.qni1>rrrr,:rrt; At pr:esel-lt it is hoped that all the bo>tes sertt out by (:on.t;t-ir-r..::r: :;hi p lri11 be s ioreci in iL rtrarenouse until ',ve reclltire tl-iem wireil they r^ri I.l be c1l:l ivct:ecl tc ihe ship ior unpacking. Ili<: er:p l-y cal:tous r.ril.1 be f o1t:lec1 aucl si;o::ec]. for the r.etnrr-r joui:rrsy. lt'hi1e Soirie of the packiltg i'or the r:eturn r,"'a.y be done oii bl,a::d iiiu.:h ''vil-i liavc to be do:-ic oit ,;::i:ivzl1 ii: Cape Tc',,1r. Hc.al th l' ur ::errcLrts: Smallpol< vziccination is zL reqtiil:emeut . Im,,rr.un j,satiot-t agai-nst tctrrrii-is j,s a recoitunericled prLrcau't icn " I:r acldi 1:i on ;29i1 shoul.d be irunnni s;:<1 ag;ri-r:st yel1.ovr fevel if you t.ravel i.hl'ough atry c'rf tite ertclerttic at:eas of Af r j ca a.f ter' leaving the ship . Pas.s1r,.:r.'ts: i:ii1 i)ersonnel must carry a vali d passport. Visas ate llot re!lLii.i:ec1 for liolder:s of lJ.K. pass;roi:'ts. Cairteen: Fol {;trcse no'L famil-iar r,.;i.t.l: the ship thele is a cal-itecll on boa.rd ',..f,i?nTeil,s sr;cl-r tl-rings as tootirpaste, \,,,ashing porvcler, siteets etc. Bar and crilliei'ir'1 i,;:'..lis;r:'..'.st bc paicl i.noirthly 1";i1ia1-, can be donc by cheqLle. Ir{:ii1: X,ia"i 1 sltould be aclclresscct RRS Discovcry c,/o 1ll. 1er:nzin and tluc1.,na"1l- (Iropri etar:i;) Ltd. Cape 'Ior,vn Centre, Ileelcnglacht, Cape 'Ioi''rl 5t)()1, Sorrtir .Afr.ica. J. C:'ease 1"O"S. !{or:nley 23r'd Novembcr 1978 Ci. r: cu1a t.i oi-t: Sl.ari,-1ar:ci dj ::t::iirtttiirn -1"ist + Cli.rise I.)a.rtj-cii)iln 1 s . 3rd Edition 5 Sailing Instructions, Third Notice, 11 December 1978 3rd Edition 6 3rd Edition 7 3rd Edition 8 Track chart from the IBM1800 Computer (Courtesy BODC) 3rd Edition 9 Cruise 100 - Reflections on Antarctica! Howard Roe, 21 March 2019 Cruise 100 was different! Biologists and physicists both jumped at the opportunity to work in the Southern Ocean- brought about by Discovery being en route to the Indian Ocean. Cape Town and icebergs beckoned, heroic tales of Antarctic exploration became local best sellers and we lucky participants kitted ourselves out in Millet’s finest anoraks and long-johns. I recall my very fine yellow coat complete with furry hood that served me admirably on riverbanks for years to come! The cruise was planned to clarify the physical oceanography and the distributions of krill (Euphausia superba) in the area south of Cape Town, last studied here during the Discovery Investigations in the 1930s. The biology team was lead by Arthur Baker and comprised Peter Herring, Phil Pugh, Dave Shale and myself; Roy Wild and Mac Harris from Applied Physics gave us their usual unstinting support and expertise to keep our gear operational. Arthur was going to study the vertical distributions of krill, Peter was planning studies on bioluminescence, I was Box corer on the port side of Discovery's intending to look at the vertical distributions foredeck with iceberg on the horizon. and behaviour of animals in relation to light, Image: Howard Roe. and Phil was keen to grapple with the had not been loaded, so the only way we siphonophores. We were to do all this using could launch our nets was by the heroic our multiple rectangular midwater trawl in a actions of the engineers who sat underneath series of tows between 2000m and the the crane cab with blow torches to keep the surface, a series of dawn/dusk tows, and fuel flowing whilst we launched and retrieved vertical series to complement our usual our trawls! And so we fished –but we failed to sampling in the N Atlantic. At least this was catch krill - whales are clearly so much better the plan! than we were - but so were the engine room We sailed from Cape Town accompanied filters! More or less every night we were by fur seals-these were the only seals we saw called to the engine room to remove the for the entire cruise- and made our way South. offending animals that in turn provided Peter The weather was good, soon we were with material for his bioluminescent studies. accompanied by petrels and Albatross (what’s We carried out our planned programme for the plural of Albatross!?) and icebergs the first leg of the cruise and one night caught appeared at regular intervals.