Day 1

I am having trouble posting photos so that will have to wait for a better internet connection.

Day 1

We arrived on board the ship in the late afternoon, and were shown around the ship, took a few minutes to settle in and get the lay of the land, and were asked to do a presentation to the crew about the BHR Project in the evening.  Normally this would have been fine, but the seas were rolling and we’d not had much chance to get used to it.  Being in a dark, poorly ventilated room did not help.  Fortunately, my colleague, Alexis, and I suffered through and it was a short presentation, but certainly not my best work. I felt bad about this, but in the moment it was about survival and not embarrassing myself.  I was not really looking forward to eating pizza for dinner, but had taken some seasickness medicine and it kicked in by the time dinner was served.  We dine in the wardroom with the Captain and officers, and the conversations cover everything from world events to the Loch Ness Monster.  There is always a few minutes of chatting while we have drinks and appetizers (such as hazelnuts and potato chips) prior to the meal.

The survey started shortly thereafter and in spite of a few glitches with equipment, which the crew repaired quickly; things are going smoothly.

Day 2

We were up until 2:00 a.m. helping to identify any targets that the sonar was detecting in real time, and to make sure the magnetometer was working properly.  The wake-up call, as it’s known, happens at 7:45 a.m. and consists of loud music being played through the public address system, followed by some kind of announcements, so it was a very short night.

I’m not sure, but I think that we may have been enlisted into the French Navy (ha!), as we were given the standard uniform - blue Marine Nationale coveralls, and a foul weather jacket, which is warm and sturdy and meant for places like the North Sea.  The weather is holding and has improved since the cold, raw, dense fog of yesterday.  Supposedly it will be ok all week, and should not impede the survey.

So far we have chosen about 30 targets to further investigate during next week’s mission, and none of them have really screamed “shipwreck.”  We have to keep reminding ourselves that the BHR wreck will not be stereotypical, and most likely will look like part of the landscape.  We are working 24/7 so the sonar and magnetometer are in the water all the time, which means less chances of setbacks from launching and recovering equipment.

We have daily briefings for us and the whole crew, and the Captain has asked that they are delivered in English because the crew needs practice speaking and listening. So every day a different crew member must give his or her part of the presentation.  Sometimes the words they choose are amusing, such as “jumped vegetables” (sautéed vegetables) and “tulips frozen” (ice cream in the shape of a flower).  The Captain is very good at keeping morale high, and last night we played “Name That Tune” before dinner.  This consists of the XO with an ipod playing clips from various songs, and the first person to guess the artist and title wins.  These activities are great for bonding, and although we have been on board only two days, it feels easily like a week, but in a good way, with the camaraderie developing.