R/V Potawaugh is a 32-foot catamaran operated by the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Habitat Assessment Team. The R/V Potawaugh was designed and built by Armstrong Marine in Port Angeles, Washington, and was launched in the Chesapeake Bay in February 2012. The R/V Potawaugh is used to describe and document habitat on the Bay bottom to support protection and restoration decisionmaking by determining bottom type (e.g., mud, sand, shell, rock, oyster reef, artificial reef); habitat location, quantity, and condition; and detailed depth measurements that provide 3D context. The crew of the R/V Potawaugh also uses onboard technology to help monitor habitat status and trends in quantity and condition and understand how habitats are used by living resources. Multiple types of sonar--including side-scan sonar, multi-beam sonar, single-beam sonar with bottom classification, and phase-differencing bathymetric side-scan sonar--can be run concurrently off the R/V Potawaugh.

R/V Potawaugh Technical Specifications

Length: 32 ft.

Beam: 16 ft.

Draft: 2 ft.

Typical Crew: 3

R/V Potawaugh is powered by twin four-stroke outboard 300 engines, and also features a 1,000-lb. A-frame and 500-lb. davit for lifting capability.