Programs Blog

Thursday, 5 June 2025
Noon Position: 42°10.3 N 069°32.6 W
Ship Heading: 350°
Ship Speed: 4.7 knots
Log: 183.3 nautical miles 
Sail Plan: Motoring 1000 RPM under forstays’l, mainstays’l and shallow
reefed main.
Location: Northwest Edge of Wilkinson Basin

This blog is brought to you by C-Watch, which was on duty today at a nice and brisk 0100 hours for dawn watch. The stars were out, it was COLD, but the view was beautiful.  The skies just began to clear as C watch relieved B-watch, as the cloud coverage dissipated and made way for the constellations—and the cold! With fewer clouds in the sky, the deck got colder quite fast. We set the jib at about 0200 as we sailed along, and continued to sail under the three mains, with students rotating on the helm, lookout, and boat checks. Whilst on lookout, Grace saw a shooting star! The soft haze of the Milky Way was somewhat visible in the night, and “labbies” (those on lab duty, Mae and Yuchen) were busy processing the evening watches samples. They identified about 100 zooplankton, picked through seaweed for isopods, and measured the salinity and the temperature of the water. A-Watch relieved us at 0700, and hoisted the main as we continued to sail our course (and C-watch caught some Z’s). They picked through the shipek grab (mud collected from the sea floor!), and did a number of science deployments including a Neuston pull (used to sample plankton and plastic at the surface). B-Watch did a number of jibes, a sailing maneuver, and continued to hold down the ship until they were relieved by C-Watch at 1900. After lowering the flags and galley cleanup, C-Watch will be doing another Neuston tow and a surface station for A-Watch to process, and then sieve through the previous shipek grab. There was a lovely sunset today, and a number of whales were sighted this morning!

Grace and Dylan – C Watch

Hey Mom and Dad, love you! – Grace
Hi Mom, love you! — Dylan