Atlantic Crossing | I-COOL . Skip to Content Home Log in Atlantic Crossing Website Atlantic Crossing ► I-COOL Mission Blogs Atlantic Crossing LTER Antarctic Summer Middle Atlantic Bight Thermal Glider Flight Undergraduate Operations ►► Historic Blogs Across the Pond Espresso & Biospace Flight to Halifax NORUS NURC Med Cruise 09 Spain Summer 2008 RECENT POSTS 14 December 4: The Recovery dec Posted by: Scott in: Atlantic Crossing December 4: The Recovery Sea Ice We arrived at the Investigador in the morning, about 9:30 am. We drove up from Baiona Latest News from Spain to Vigo in the rain, but it really doesn’t matter if we get wet. All planning is based on the Web Cam Address wave forecast. We need low waves to put the Zodiac in the water, and the small Zodiac is The Night Before the safest way to approach The Scarlet Knight for recovery. The wave heights had peaked at 7 m, and they were forecast to come down. Nilsen was checking the different forecast products from the COOLroom, and emailed us that wave heights of 22 feet were being reported. It was the last environmental guidance we would receive from the COOLroom before heading out, and I would think of that email over and over again throughout the COOL Web Links next day. Active Glider Navigation Page Active Gliders Transects Atlantic Mission Public Site The Spanish Research Vessel Investigador was built for work. The Investigador has a vast Gulf Stream Forecast aft deck, cranes on both sides, a large A-frame off the stern, a small Zodiac on the starboard, and numerous cabins for a large scientific crew. It’s perfect for us. On the other National Hurricane Center hand, the Investigador was not built for speed. A typical operating speed is about 8 knots. Northeast SST We are also heading directly into the wind & waves, and that will certainly slow our Real-time ship traffic Spain coast progress. We have about an 18 hour steam directly into hard weather to get to Scarlet, so RU COOL Data Page we are bracing for an uncomfortable ride. The crew is strapping down all the crates and RU COOL Web Site toolkits on the deck. We leave Vigo at noon on Thursday, December 3. Lunch is served RU27 Velocity plots as we make our way west along the bay towards the sea. We pass Baiona off to our port Waves and Ship Reports side, and see it from the same point of view as the crew of La Pinta some 516 years ago. http://www.i-cool.org/?cat=38[1/25/10 9:48:47 AM] Atlantic Crossing | I-COOL COOL KMZ Files As we head out towards the Bay entrance, we get our first feel of the waves that will Active Deployments KMZ file dominate every aspect of our lives for the next 2 days. We leave the protection of land, Chlorophyll KML for Atlantic and we get to feel the downward side of that 7 m storm. We are seeing the occasional 20 foot wave but they are not the most prevalent – a good sign. We head to our bunks. There Gulf Stream SST KMZ 1km is little we can do while steaming into this sea, it’s too rough to work on deck. The Iberian Peninsula Shipping Lanes COOLroom has reduced The Scarlet Knight’s surfacing interval to 2 hours. All that is RUCOOL Glider Fleet Resources required from us is to call in on the Iridium phone to get the updated position and pass it on to the Captain. Search for: No one gets much sleep during this transit. You lay in your bunk but the waves slam you against the side wall, waking you. Every couple hours for the rest of the day and into the night it’s the same routine – make your way up to the bridge, call the COOLroom for Scarlet’s updated position, and write it on a piece of paper for the Captain. Most everyone skips dinner. The good thing we notice is that we are getting slammed into the side of our bunks less and less. More people are able to sleep. At 4 am I give the updated position to January 2010 the Captain, and notice I am the only one from the scientific crew on the bridge or in the MTWTFSS galley. By now I am getting used to the waves, and am hungry again. I think back to the 1 2 3 cream filled croissants they serve for breakfast at the hotel, settle for a sandwich, and head 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 down to my bunk. The next thing I know its Josh in my room, saying is time for the 6 am 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 position check, and we have slowed the ship because we are close. Do I want to go 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 recover a glider? 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 « Dec I head up to the bridge. The stillness of the past night is replaced by a hive of activity, with everyone working by the dim task lights illuminating only their own workspace. We scan the horizon around us. No lights from vessels. Clouds cover the moon. No sign of the sun. It is totally dark. Conversations are hushed. They give me the headset to talk to the RECENT COMMENTS COOLroom. John Kerfoot is on the other side. Its 6 am onboard the Investigador, and 12 Clive Martin on December 4: The midnight in the COOLroom. John tells me the COOLroom is packed and I am on the Recovery speakerphone. The room is full of our students, other scientists, and media. Once our Antonio RAMOS on December 4: The voices from the ship are heard in the COOLroom, the webcams then broadcast both video Recovery and sound over the internet. Tina is there via an Instant Message video link to Antarctica, DBLandrith on December 4: The watching the procedure with a room full of colleagues at Palmer Station. I hear her voice Recovery from Antarctica and say we miss her on board the Investigador. Our students from the Nick on Latest News from Spain Azores and Canaries, our sponsors in DC, and my daughter in her dorm room in Vermont Aspa D. C on Biology Group: are among those watching over the web. But the conversation right now is between me Preparing for the Palpable and John Kerfoot. We are a few miles east of 12 W longitude, and Scarlet is a few miles west of 12 W. There are no ship lights on the horizon. Juan, the First Officer, shows me there are no ships on the radar for either the 6 mile or the 12 mile setting. The Investigador and Scarlet are alone at sea. FLICKR PHOTOS John in the COOLroom switches Scarlet to 15 minute missions, and the Investigador begins the approach. The Investigador crosses 12 W and continues to within 1 nautical mile of Scarlet. Its still pitch dark. We can’t even see the waves, but we know they are much smaller simply because we are no longer getting hurled into the walls. All eyes are on the red lights of the Freewave modem. When the red light turns green, we have a line of sight radio modem connection directly to Scarlet, and three way communications between the crew on the Investigador, the crew in the COOLroom, and the glider at sea is established. The lights flicker between green and red, and the first glider speak from Scarlet is picked up on Chip’s computer. We are still over a mile away, but Clayton and Chip installed the Freewave antenna high on the Investigadors mast. The antenna height increased our range, and we were seeing that impact. Soon we are within 1 mile and we have a solid green light and a strong signal between us and Scarlet. Three way typed messages are being sent between the Investagador, the COOLroom, and Scarlet. Someone jokes that it’s probably the most expensive text messages they have ever sent. The COOLroom tells us sunrise is still a couple hours away. We check the weather forecast. We have a narrow window of time. The 7 m waves from the storm have http://www.i-cool.org/?cat=38[1/25/10 9:48:47 AM] Atlantic Crossing | I-COOL subsided and were now down to less than 3 m. The window could be as long as 6 hours before the next storm comes in and generates waves forecast to reach 8 m. At least the narrow window extends into daylight hours. We all agree that since the forecast weather window extends into daylight hours, a night recovery is too risky. We decide to maintain our position 1 mile to the west of Scarlet. After all this time at sea, there was no reason to SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW risk a nighttime approach. The Captain says we should use this opportunity to serve POSTS! breakfast, and that our cook has prepared bacon and eggs. The crew on the ship heads Your email: down to the galley. The COOLroom sent a few people out to get food at WaWa. My daughter in Vermont heard me say I was heading down to the galley for bacon and eggs and went to bed. We were 221 days since the launch of The Scarlet Knight off the coast of Tuckerton, New Jersey. The Investigador and Scarlet were now within 1 nautical mile of each other off the coast of Baiona in Galicia, Spain.