Teacher at Sea: May 24, 2004 Log

Near Shore Work

Curtis Watkins, NOAA Teacher at Sea

Preparing to deploy instrumentation commonly referred to as a CTD that measures water conductivity, temperature and density.

Blue Monday was rainy and overcast as we departed the Rainier at 8:00 to do near shore work on skiff Ra4. The work site was 30 minutes from the ship. I am still so impressed with the teamwork that it takes just to put the skiffs into the water. It's like a well rehearsed ballet. Mark O'Conner, the skiff's skipper, really knows his stuff. I hope the photos show how close he put the boat near the rocks but not on the rocks. The other crew, Grant Froelich and Mike Stevenson, really know how to operate the on board computer gear and they understand how it works. They explained how everything works and I'm still digesting what they told me. The photos will give you a better idea about what was going on. We were called in an hour early because of high seas. We experienced six foot seas on the return. Great ride!

Deploying CTD from skiff in nearshore waters.