Healy 0602

July 20, 2006

This was the first full day aboard the Healy.  Up at 6:30 for breakfast and I was greeted by many familiar faces from the last three days in Barrow.  8:00 marked the start of watch standing for the cruise even though the day would be spent mostly backing and ramming the ice to make it a few miles farther toward the start of our seismic and coring.

Let’s back up a bit.

July 16th I left Milwuakee and my family for an all day trip terminating in Barrow, Alaska.  Barrow would be the starting point for the cruise.  All of the scientists and support staff, flew into Barrow on the 16th or 17th.  The youngest on the cruise is Matt a 15 year old that will be a Junior in high school traveling with his father Paul who will be working to support the seismic survey.  We have people from six countries and all over the Unites States coming together to blend their expertise to make the cruise a success.

College provided us lodging and food and made us very comfortable as we prepared for the arrival of the Healy.  BASC (Barrow Anctic Science Consortium) provide  us with transport and logistical support, and were an invaluable resource.  Got to the room with the sun still shining, and laid down for some much need sleep.

July 17

Woke up to find out that my laptop wouldn’t boot up at all.  Over breakfat I talked to Mark from UT ablut some suggestions to remedy the situation.  He told me to talk directly Bob the IT person at the college,  At the end of the hall from the cafeteria was the network office.  Bob took my laptop and gave it a thourough checking over.  By noon he had diagnosed the problem, a fried logic board.  Fortuantely, BASC offered to loan me a laptop for the cruise.  These jourlnal entries are due in large part to the generosity and support of BASC.

As we adjusted to the 24 hours of Arctic summer sun, we also took day excersions to see the sites of Barrow

While in Barrow the sites included the Heritage Center, AC and Oriental Trading Stores as well as restruants like Osaka or Peppe’s.    I went in with Larry to the King Eider Inn to meet Jeff Jacskon the Executive Officer on the Healy.  He would hel with logistics while we were on the Healy.  He came back to BASC with us to arrange the ship position and flight ops with Larry for the next day.  The Healy was still 30 miles out in heavy ice.  We needed the shop to get in about ten miles from Barrow to facilitate the helicopter transport of the scientists.  We would have to wait until morning for more information.

Some members hiked or took ATV’s to the point.  Others walked along the shore or took excursions into Barrow.  We all found ways to explore and pass the time. Each day we got to know one another and wrap up last minute tasks in preparation for our flights to the Healy.

July 18

This is supposed  to be the day that we start helicopter flights to the Healy.  Early contact with the ship indicated that they were still 20 miles out in varying weather conditions.  I drove down to Barrow Search and Rescue Hanger.  This would be the staging area for our helicopter flights to the Healy.  The people there were very helpful and accommodating.  They allowed me to sign out a gate opener so that I could drive directly into the hanger area with lougage and gear.

The chances of getting out this morning were bleak.  Fog had socked in the whole of Barrow.  I took back most of the people that had come down to prepare gear back to the college, and left Dave the helicopter manager to arrange things for the afternoon.  We had agreed to move people to the hanger in groups of eight.  Four people could go on each flight.  One helicopter would be used for people and the other for cargo.  

By 2:30 the fog had cleared and we sent both piolots on their first flight to the Healy to get “carded”.  This is a test to certify that they are capable to fly and able to land on the ship and return.  I headed back to the college to get the first eight people to fly.  By 3:30 we were moving scientists to the ship.  The weather stayed clear, and we were able to transport 18 people to the ship.  I had to bring 3 people back because we reached the end of the pilots flight day.  We felt confident that we would have everyone on board by tomorrw evening.  Given the weather today, we planned on our first flights to be after noon tomorrow.

Those of us left at the college headed out to the tundra to look for snowy owls.  We say about ten of these huge ground nesting birds.  The tundra was in full bloom, with floweres of yellow, white dominating.  The green of the thin grasses were a stark contrast to the gray rocks of coastal Barrow.