Dispatches from Sea >>
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| March 2007 |  Laura Preston, educator, UNH/Salem High School, Salem, NH. |
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| April 2007 | |||||||
April 10, 2007
Around the ship…..
Have you wondered what it is like on “watch” during our Jason exploration? Well, oddly enough those of us who pilot, navigate, map, log data, and examine the seafloor visually are housed in what is known as the “Control Van”. Because of the computing power in the van, it needs to be about 70 degrees. It tends to be a bit chilly! However, this is where you will see real time seafloor footage. We have 4 - hour “watches” for each post, 24 hours a day.
 Pilot, Tito Collasius |
 Engineer, Bob Waters |
 James Brennan, navigator |
 Watch Leader, Emily Klein |
 Jess Mason and Adam Soule logging events and mapping. |
Chief Engineer, Jeff Little took many of us on a tour of the engine room. This “hub” is the place that makes the entire ship run, from making freshwater from seawater, to running the 6 diesel generators that help our ship stay energized! As we toured, it struck me that there are several places on the ship where you can take control of the ship, in case of emergency. There are at least two places in the engine room alone, to do this very thing. One of those is manual (not computerized) and the engineer has a compass to determine direction, since he or she is located in a position where they are visually unable to identify where they are headed. It is extremely loud, as you can imagine, where the engines reside, and it seems like difficult work to say the least.
 Chief Engineer, Jeff Little, shows us around. |
 Jeff answers questions. |
 Don’t touch anything! |
 A view from above the engine room. |
 The compass. |
 Exhaust vents. |
 Ed Grossman, electrician, hard at work. |
And finally, Third Mate, Jen Hickey, was safety testing the rescue boat with help from Paul Vinitsky this afternoon. Great job, as usual, Jen!
 Off the deck! |
 Flying through the water. |
 Time to come home. |
 Ordinary Seaman, Steve Berry ready to help out. |
 Bosun, Patrick Hennessy lifts the boat. |
 The initial lift up to the ship. |
 We’re there! |
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