Leg 2 has come to a close and preparations are underway for Leg 3 of the NSF-funded Ocean Observatories Initiative Regional Cable Array Cruise. Personnel are busy mobilizing for Leg 3 and demobilizing from Leg 2. It is like an ant farm on the back deck. Equipment is coming off the ship and onto the dock, and vice versa.
Students are gathering their experimental samples and equipment and packaging them for transport back to Seattle. Some of them are finishing up critical work on their projects, such as getting last minute interviews with shipboard personnel.
The major focus for Leg 3 is mooring deployment and replacement along with some instrument reclamation and redeployment as well. In order to perform the mooring work , a large winch must be utilized to wind the cable under tension. This operation takes up quite a bit of room and requires some “deck chess” to be played in order to make the best use of space.
The weather today is beautiful and the forecast is for clear skies through Sunday. In addition to the commotion happening on the dock and the deck of the ship, many eclipse seekers are here in Newport in expectation of seeing the total eclipse on Monday. The R/V Revelle and Leg 3 of VISIONS17 will happily will be underway at 1300 on Sunday.