Teacher at Sea: May 18, 2004 Log

Current Meter Deployed

Curtis Watkins, NOAA Teacher at Sea

On the bridge of the NOAA ship Rainier, sailing to acoustic doppler current profiler deployment station.

The ADCP was deployed in the harbor at 073O hours as planned and it went off without a hitch. CO Humphrey had been right about his concerns as the target depth of 17 fathoms ended up at 13 fathoms so the drop zone ended up being a bit outside of the channel for safety. This crew really knows their stuff. I could not imagine having to maneuver a 230 foot vessel so it stops at an exact location as determined by a GPS. I have a hard enough time trying to get my little 16 foot boat to follow my instructions.

Acoustic doppler profiler deployed to measure speed of currents. Data collected are used to enhance navigation safety. Note wrench in upper right for scale.

After the deployment, we proceeded to Starrigavan Bay which is just outside Sitka. On the way, we went though Sergius Narrows which is noted for having tidal currents up to 9 knots and it is only wide enough for one vessel. After the Narrows, we were treated to a breaching humpback whale and the LeConte Ferry being towed back to port. The LeConte had grounded on a rock the week before. Transit time was also spent with Garry Streeter, who is the onboard computer guru or electronics technician, to get email accounts set up. We anchored in Starrigavan Bay mid-afternoon to get ready for the next few days of survey work.