Archive of October 1st, 2007

Teacher at Sea log for October 1st, 2007 by Linda Sciaroni

Today I talked with Cheryl Driscoll and Dave Roddy. Cheryl is the engineering watch officer. She works under the chief engineer, Joachim Heise, and is paired with an oiler on each of her watches. The 7 members of the engineering crew are in charge of all the parts of the ship that move. These systems are propulsion, electricity generation, water desalinization, sewage, and air conditioning.

To be on the engineering crew you can work your way up, serve in the navy or the coast guard, or go to maritime school. Cheryl attended the State University of New York Maritime School. Following college she completed the exams to receive US Coast Guard Unlimited Horsepower Steam and Diesel Engine Licenses. She attended classes all winter and then worked on cruises to Europe throughout school. She says the best aspects of her job are the time off, the money, and the chance to travel. As you can see from her smiling face next to the giant diesel engine she loves her work.

I asked her if she could take me on a tour of the ship's engines. We had to wear earmuffs to protect our hearing as we climbed very steep ladders deep into the lower floors of the ship. We went all the way down to where the propeller shaft exits the boat into the water. Some of the passageways between floors were tiny and I had to pass carefully not to bump my head or elbows.

I talked with Dave Roddy, the first assistant engineer who attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy, about what is the most important thing to consider before taking a job such as this. Dave said, "To make a career out of this, you have to like yourself, be genuine and be authentic. If you cannot get along with folks because of who you are trapped with, it is too small of a boat."

Science Update October 1 by Garrett Ito

(Click on image for larger resolution)

Above is a bathymetry map of Dive #7 along with some photos taken from Jason2's cameras. The geology still puzzles us, but here are some descriptions of what we might be seeing.
(A) Large (>meter size) blocks of rock often jointed in rectangular pieces. The rock shapes and jointing patterns resemble those of intrusive rocks like those in Yosemite National Park.
(B) This layered structure is sediment encrusted in manganese iron-oxide. We were fascinated by the peculiar pattern in which the sediment was eroded.
(C) This appears to be large broken pieces of hardened sediment, perhaps with lava rock rubble.
(D) The parallel cracks break up a linear rock feature that is bound on the top left and bottom right with smaller broken rock. Dikes are intrusive rocks that form linear features, however, we do not know whether this is a dike.
(E) Probably volcanic rock. Notice the crude radial pattern of jointing on the right side that resembles, but does not necessarily indicate, cooling joints of pillow basalt.
(F) A sizeable shrimp.
(G) Massive breccia outcrops on the side of the ridge extending northeast of Kauai.

Presented by the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii, with financial support from the National Science Foundation.