August 19th, 2011 – DAY 1 – We (the students of OCEAN 411) boarded the vans at 0700 in Seattle and departed for Newport OR to board the RV Thompson. It was a seven hour drive with a couple stops for food along the way until we finally drove down the pier to board the Thompson. We loaded all our equipment and belongings and were underway around 1700. As soon as we pulled out of the harbor, the wind and seas picked up. Many of us who just boarded got seasick, including myself. I spent the rest of the evening laying down trying not to start what would have inevitably been a chain reaction of vomiting among the newcomers.
August 20th, 2011 – Day 2 – I woke up feeling a little better and tried to eat some breakfast. Later on in the mo9rning we had a fire and abandon ship drill where we all mustered in the science lab and went over different types of fires how to combat them. In the afternoon we had a science meeting and went over the different projects that people were conducting prioritized them and made a rough timeline for the remaining 2 weeks of operation. It looks like I will be able to get photos from ASHES vent field for my project around August 24th. Operational timelines are extremely fluid so that could change at any time.