The R/V Thompson sailed into Newport, Oregon yesterday morning under much calmer seas than she had experienced the previous two days. It is always an exciting time to come through the channel, under the beautiful Yaquina Bay bridge, and tie up to the dock – land ho!
All hands usually turn out for this event, anxious to get their feet on dry land. Some experience “dock rock”, as their bodies get used to being on terra firma again. For many, the day was spent taking long walks, running, and enjoying the freedom to be able to go more than 274 feet before having to turn around again. It is a time to give thanks to all for all the hard work everyone has done – especially the crew of the R/ Thompson and the ROPOS team. It is also a time of sadness and excitement for today. There was a change out of the science party with new engineers getting onboard from the Applied Physics Lab and a group of new undergraduate students got onboard. So, although we are excited to see the new faces and lookforward to the installation of moorings, it is also a time of sadness because we will miss the people we have grown so fond of during Leg 1 who are getting off.
Tomorrow is a new day: LEG 2 begins at 1030 as the R/V Thompson will depart the dock, point her bow to the west and make way for the Slope Base site to install the first Deep Profiler Mooring and an HPIES instrument. Onward we go…