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Wecoma Cruise -- Sep 2011

Submitted by Murray Levine on September 27, 2011 - 8:42pm
9/26/2011  Monday
Loading day.  We kept on schedule.  Buoys destined for NH-10, OGI-01 and SATURN-02 were secured to the deck.  Water processing equiment was installed in the wet lab.  The science party arrived safely and all slept on board, ready for the 10am Tues departure.  At the meeting on the bridge with the captain and mates it was decided assess the situation in the morning.

9/27/2011  Tuesday
Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating.  The wind speed fell, but the waves got bigger.  Forecasts indicated 20 ft waves were coming our way.  We therefore decided not to leave on time as we probably would not be able to work anyway.  The wave forecast indicated decreasing amplitude would occur as the day went on. So, we decided to wait at the dock until the beginning of the next flood tide. 
 

We did have the safety drill and lecture at 10am.   A new custom aboard the Wecoma is to have this briefing before sailing. This is much more comfortable than trying to listen just after the ship enters the ocean. We all tried on our survival suits—another new Wecoma procedural change.
 
After dinner (5:15pm; steak and salmon) we finally left the dock. Sailing over the bar at the entrance to Yaquina Bay was exciting. We encountered one very large wave estimated by those on the bridge between 20 to 30 feet, peak to trough. After the crossing we found the sea state to be quite reduced from the predictions. Yeah.
 
We are now going to do CTDs along the Newport Hydrographic line. So far we have completed NH-3 and collected water samples as well. Next we go to NH-10, etc. We will go out the NH line as far as possible before heading north to the CMOP buoys near the Columbia River. The turnaround of the NH-10 Nanoos mooring will have to wait until later in the week.
 
Murray Levine, from the R/V Wecoma

9/28/11  Wednesday

The expert CTD team led by Suzanne DeLorenzo worked after dinner starting at NH-3*.  They did casts at NH-10*, NH-15, NH-20, NH-25*  (note that * = water was taken).  Last cast ended just before mid-night. 

We then transited north to the OGI-01 site.  We were in the trough much of the time while traveling northward.  For some, this interrupted sleep much of the night.

We were at OGI-01 by 0700 PT.  After breakfast the last components of the mooring were assembled.  The buoy was deployed by rolling it over the starboard side.  Finished by 0830 PT.

Since glider Phoebe as about 60 nmiles north, we decided to make a run to retrieve it.  This will require use of the ship’s RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat).  Better go, don’t want to be late to lunch.

Murray Levine, reporting from the R/V Wecoma

9/29/2011  Thursday

Phoebe recovery was indeed planned to involve the RHIB. However, getting the boat down from the top deck is complicated and time consuming. So, since the weather was ideal, retrieval was done the old-fashioned way by leaning over and grabbing it. There were many people with poles and nets of various configurations to help coax the glider into Michael Wilkin’s arms—well done.
 
After recovering the glider, we headed south to the SATURN-02 mooring. We arrived near sundown and had planned on an evening deck work. First the new SATURN-02 was deployed at the correct site (as shown on nautical charts)—the buoy was rolled over the starboard side with an impressive splash.  Then a CTD cast was done for later comparison with the existing mooring. Next we recovered the old SATURN-02 mooring by hooking it, lifting it with the ship’s crane and dragging it over the starboard side. It was draped across the deck and the buoy secured using straps. The wire below the buoy was then separated from buoy by transferring the load of the mooring line to the capstan. The trawl wire was wrapped around the ship through the A-frame; the mooring wire was released leaving the mooring wire trailing behind the ship. Then the trawl winch was used to spool up the wire and chain and finally the anchor.
 
The CTD team then took over night ops with CTD casts along the CR line. They profiled from CR-7 to CR-40, until morning, ending at about 0700 PT. 

Now we are headed toward the NH line to tend to the NH-10 buoy. It is about 8 hours away. We will also try to pick up an OSU glider on the way. We did see briefly a few orca whales on this leg of the trip so far.

Murray Levine, reporting from the R/V Wecoma
 

9/30/2011 -- Friday
We first deployed the refurbished NH-10 with the buoy known as Sitka. The weather was spectacular. Glassy calm. No wind. No swell.   And warm with plenty of Sun. The contrast from a few days ago is remarkable. Mooring operations are so much safer and forgiving than if there had been serious waves. After dinner we recovered the existing mooring with the buoy known as Alder. All instruments came back.
To finish the cruise we are headed out to NH-35 and NH-45 for CTDs. After that we will head back to Newport and dock by 0800 PT. It is hard to believe it was only three days long! The next mooring and baseline cruise is tentatively set for the end of March. With some luck you may be able to come join the party next time.
Signing off from the R/V Wecoma,
Murray Levine
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