3 Days In

Today is our 3rd  day at sea; we’ve spent our time finalizing the set-up and practicing for the first “real” event which starts on Monday. A majority of our seawater samples will be collected on “stations”, which is where we stop the ship at a pre-selected latitude and longitude and deploy various bottles and sensors over the side to collect samples and data for us. 

One example of a sensor is the CTD – which stands for Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth. [Conductivity tells us how salty the water is.] All of the data that this sensor measures is recorded on shipboard computers in real-time.


This is a “rosette” which has both a CTD (within the yellow cage) and 12 sampling bottles on it.

The large grey bottles shown above are used to collect seawater. A pressure trigger detects when they are below the surface of the water and pops their tops and bottoms open. Then, the long steel cable attached to the rosette lowers it to the depth we want and somebody sitting in front of a computer (on the ship) controls when the bottles snap shut. Each bottle can be closed at its own individual depth. 

Once the rosette is back on deck, scientists collect water from each large bottle for analysis in the lab. For example, the major nutrients, nitrate and phosphate, are measured (right here on board the ship!). Each complete cycle of deploying and recovering a piece of equipment is called a cast, and they can take anywhere from 1 to 10 hours to complete, plus additional time to sample their water into every scientist’s bottle(s) once on board.

 
Gretchen and Nick enjoying our transit between practice stations. The South Pacific weather has been fairly cool, overcast, windy, and humid so far.

Ecuadorian Driving 101

As promised, a few tips for anybody about to drive in Ecuador, as we found the internet lacked these!

1.  Get a GPS, even if it costs a lot. 1 out of 8 streets seems to have signs, and the signs are 4’’ x 6’’ with small lettering. While everyone we met and asked directions from was very helpful, it gets to be annoying when you drive in circles for an hour.

2.   The only rule people seem to follow (unless a cop is present): round-abouts. When driving in the outside lane, you must immediately exit! If you want to stay in, you MUST go to the inside lane.

3.  Taxis: they’re extremely aggressive drivers, and the agent at Avis says if you’re in an accident with one they’ll want you to buy them a whole new car. They also don’t stop at stop signs. Look out!

4.  Stoplights: Instead of just a yellow light, they are green and yellow together. Not a big deal, except people from all directions treat these as green lights. I understand the same is true in Boston… Some lights are also green and red at the same time, but this is because of faulty wiring (!) so figure out what you are supposed to do on context.

5.   Speed bumps. They’re sometimes signed, but often not. You can be flying down the highway at 90 kmph and hit one if you’re not careful! Best to keep a local driver in front of you so

6.  Lanes. There aren’t any? They don’t usually have lines painted on the road, because it’s understood that there are as many lanes as cars can fit in the road. Also, those yellow hatched regions between your side and oncoming traffic are commonly treated as a lane.

7.   Passing. Better to not do as the locals on this one! They will fly past you on the blind curve of a foggy road in a heartbeat. It was amazing! If they can’t pass you they’ll tailgate you really closely. If there’s a shoulder, it’s Ecuadorian courtesy to move as far right as possible (while maintaining speed) so they can pass you in the lane… just look out for donkeys and pedestrians – even on the highway.

8.  Speed limits. The few they have posted aren’t obeyed.

9.  Look out for animals in the roadway. All roadways!

10.  Honking. It’s not a rude or angry gesture here, but a language. “Beep beep!” means “Hey I’m here and overtaking you!” and in reply a “beep!” means “Got it! I’ll make sure not to swerve into you!” Going through small towns, the camionetas (buses) will often honk several times while barreling down the road to alert pedestrians to jump out of the way.

Pre-sail

Before our big trip, a few of us decided we should take a small trip in Ecuador. We had to fly all the way down here anyway – why not make the most of it?

Who exactly are “we”? Claire Parker (UC Santa Cruz), Brian Peters (Stanford), and Nick Hawco (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) and myself – all graduate students – plus Geoffrey Smith (UC Santa Cruz) a Research Specialist.

Day 1.

After a quick 4 hour flight from Miami, we arrived in Quito (Ecuador’s capital). The landscape is very mountainous in this part of Ecuador, and after an hour’s drive winding around on the dark roads we arrived at a nice European style hotel. That night we witnessed a sort of street brawl involving dull swords/knives/machetes. Surprisingly no blood was shed! Most of us decided to stay in and drink our beers behind the barred windows; Geo ventured out about a block before someone tried to sell him “coca” at which point he turned back.

Day 2.

We had most of the day to explore Quito and chose to walk around. On our way to Old Town we found Parque (park) El Ejido with really fun “ziplines” that were a seat from a swing suspended on a cable between two poles with a tire bumper at the end of the line. We all decided it was a lot of fun, and probably would result in many lawsuits in the USA.

 

Geo on the swing.

We visited the Basilica of Quito where they have a lot of statues of virgins (not all Mary). Across from the church is a large hill with a HUGE winged statue depicting the virgin of Quito. We didn’t feel like walking all the stairs up to her, but she was nonetheless impressive.

      

By chance, we caught a glimpse of the President of Ecuador, who comes out every Monday to talk with his countrymen and wave. It had a full band playing music and lots of soldiers wearing their dress uniform and riding horses.

    

That evening we caught a flight to Manta on Aerogal airlines (one of 2 national airlines). What service! Just like flying used to be. Free checked bags, beverage service and a sandwich (in a 35 min flight!), followed by a chocolate bonbon as we de-planed.

Because we’re crazy, or half-wits, or some of both, we decided to rent a car in Manta so we could do some site-seeing. It only took about 5 minutes before we got totally lost in a neighborhood with a ton of stray cats. Bear in mind it’s ~9 p.m. and this neighborhood isn’t looking too nice or super friendly… so we continue driving until we spot a police station. I had no trouble going inside and declaring “Estamos perdidos!” [translation: We’re lost!]. The police officer inside was very kind and tried to show us how to get to our hotel using our map, but we were really confused when he kept holding the map upside down and pointing to various roundabouts. So he decided it would be far easier to just escort us there – on his motorcycle, with flashing lights! It was quite a 5 minute drive and I bet the hotel doorman was really confused when we pulled up with a police escort, but it got us there! That officer is probably still laughing at us…

 

Day 3.

We picked up a GPS from the rental agency (see Ecuadorian Driving 101 post to follow), and made our way to Machalilla National Park (their only one!) After driving through a couple microclimates of rainforest and trees that looked dead from being too dry we arrived at the Playa de Frailes which is part of the park. Pedro, the very friendly ranger, gave us a brief introduction, told us not to touch the animals or pick the plants, and we were off to explore their beach.

 

We saw a ton of small red crabs in the sand and thousands of tiny sea snails no bigger than a garbanzo bean. On the rocky intertidal we found a bunch of greenish crabs that could “hop” around and reminded us of frogs. We also spotted a very cool looking vulture or condor (we’re chemists, not biologists! None of us could ID it). We took a short hike to a lookout point and found what we thought were huge snails, until a ranger came along and told us they can be up to 4 inches long!
       

Day 4.

We decided to not brave the roads and drive up to Portoviejo, because driving is really that stressful here. Instead we walked/darted around Manta on foot. Darted, because cars definitely have the right of way and I’m mildly convinced taxis actually try to run you over… We walked along El Murcielago, which is the main beach here. 

 

We also went to the local supermarket to stock up on coffee and candy for our trip. There were all sorts of tropical fruits in the produce section that we don’t find back at home. What was most striking to me was looking at the other shoppers’ carts in the checkout lines: 90% of what people were buying was fresh produce and raw meat/seafood. There was very little pre-made food being purchased (and also very few overweight people). We also got a chance to flip through the local newspaper. We found their Op Ed section with political cartoons interesting, as it depicted their view of the USA’s recent government shutdown, and was accompanied by a short piece which seemed incredulous that it had not done dramatic damage to the USA’s own economy.

 

The elephant/ball says "Republican" and building says "Global Financial System".

Afterwards we got ceviche lunch for $3/person and trekked back to our hotel with our goods, we refueled the rental car (~$2/gallon) and returned it. Then we walked over to the port. We were driven to the customs/immigration/drug-sniffing-dog, then our ship. Once aboard, we got to work setting up lab space and our room, followed by dinner and blogging. While sitting and writing this with Claire, we reflected on the fact that Ecuador is an extremely clean country; while the sidewalks and streets aren’t super well paved, there is almost no garbage on the side of the road.

 

Later we’re going on a tour of the ship, and hopefully figuring out what keeps making loud noises right next to our bunks!

The trip

Our [tentative] plan: sail from Manta, Ecuador 25 Oct. and arrive in Pape'ete, Tahiti on 22 Dec.

Welcome to the South Pacific 2013 blog! I'm cautiously optimistic about keeping this page going during our sail from Manta, Ecuador to Pape'ete, Tahiti. To get you acquainted with the voyage, here are 7 of the top questions I've been asked lately:



1. How big is the boat?

The R/V Thomas G. Thompson is 274 feet long, which is a little shorter than a football field and about 1/3 the length of a cruise ship.

It's named for Thomas G. Thompson, Ph.D. A professor at University of Washington, he was one of the first chemists to study the ocean (ca. 1930). In addition to his research, he served in both WWI and WWII.


2. How long does it take you to get there?

We will be underway for the better part of 58 days, and we won't be docking between Manta and Pape'ete, although we will be sailing in Peruvian waters (within 12 nautical miles of shore) and might catch a glimpse of land. See the map above for our planned track!


3. That's a long time! Are there phones or internet? How about swimming pools on board?

Cell phones don't work in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, although the crew has access to a satellite phone for emergencies. We do have internet, although it is very slow compared to what most of us are accustomed to (it works through a satellite connection). And no, no swimming pool on board, and no swim calls in the ocean for both safety and time reasons.


4. Whoa, limited internet and no swimming - what are you doing that whole time???

Science! Check back during the trip to hear about the various research projects happening.

My poorly stitched together 270° view of a berth.

 
5. What's the living situation like?

A lot like living in a college dorm!
* We bunk with another scientist
* Bathrooms are shared between 2 bedrooms
* Laundry is down the hall
* Meals are prepared for us





6. Do you get weekends off?

We wish! At a cost of ~$20k per day, there isn't much room for time off on the R/V Thompson! Crew typically work 12 hours on, 12 hours off; scientists work when they need to, which is typically 12 - 18 hours a day.


7. How many people are on board?

There are 36 scientist berths and up to 21 crew members. I'll do my best to make sure you meet all of us in the coming weeks!