6:07 PM 9/23/2005
Plans change. We got a call today, suggesting it would be nice if we could head on out to Semisopochnoi and refuel the helicopter. So, we recalled Max and Jerry and Tina, hauled in the skiff, stowed all the stuff, and headed out.
lots of discussion this evening, where we tried to make a solid plan.
We'll keep trying for Semi, with an eye to MAYBE doing LS. Continue helicopter ops across the ocean with limited flying over there. Apparently, bill is pretty worn out -- the flying has been quite demanding. At one point, Guy related a story where Bill had pulled down entirely on the collective, (reducing the pitch of the rotor blades to where they're not providing lift), yet the helicopter was still flying straight -- severe updraft.
Friday, September 23, 2005
boat bound
9:21 AM 9/23/2005 - Friday
I forgot to mention how confused I've been with regard to the days here. I thought for sure that yesterday was Thursday... that's after thinking that it was Tuesday in the AM.
Today I'll be hanging out on the boat, since Jerry's heading up to help on the station and Ed/Guy are going out to try to install the last of the Semi stations. If they do then we'll be able to finally start looking at Semisopochnoi. The weather is also looking like, after a couple 40kt days, it'll settle down a bit.
I'm thinking about fishing, but the idea of catching a 180 lb halibut and then having to deal with it is actually a bit unappetizing.
Last night, another boat showed up in our harbor. It was a bit larger than us, but was the first boat I've seen around since we left Adak (oh, except for a few we've seen from the Earth Station that were cruising far out in the pacific ocean)
I forgot to mention how confused I've been with regard to the days here. I thought for sure that yesterday was Thursday... that's after thinking that it was Tuesday in the AM.
Today I'll be hanging out on the boat, since Jerry's heading up to help on the station and Ed/Guy are going out to try to install the last of the Semi stations. If they do then we'll be able to finally start looking at Semisopochnoi. The weather is also looking like, after a couple 40kt days, it'll settle down a bit.
I'm thinking about fishing, but the idea of catching a 180 lb halibut and then having to deal with it is actually a bit unappetizing.
Last night, another boat showed up in our harbor. It was a bit larger than us, but was the first boat I've seen around since we left Adak (oh, except for a few we've seen from the Earth Station that were cruising far out in the pacific ocean)
Thursday, September 22, 2005
blah
Today was a busier day. The sun peeked out of the clouds early, portending a possibly beautiful day contrasted with the forecast of typical gloom-doom and wind. Jessica and Michelle were flown over to Semi early today. They'll be camping there for a few days while they finish up the geology.
I headed up the hill to help with stuff up there. I put conduit on solar panels, cut wires, did some soldering, worked on the vault, and such miscellaneous stuff. Meanwhile, Guy and Tina flew to semi and installed CETU (yay!)
Dinner was a great halibut soup, though it's official name was something I'd never heard before. I also got to talk to Katie on the sat phone. She informed me of some of the outside world's goings-on. Hurricane Rita is threatening to squish Houston, which in turn causes speculation that gas prices may go up to $5 per gallon.
We chatted for nearly a half hour ($$$, glad it's not mine; but I don't feel bad, 'cause I haven't talked to anyone hardly)
Not much else to report. The days are really beginning to merge and blur.
I headed up the hill to help with stuff up there. I put conduit on solar panels, cut wires, did some soldering, worked on the vault, and such miscellaneous stuff. Meanwhile, Guy and Tina flew to semi and installed CETU (yay!)
Dinner was a great halibut soup, though it's official name was something I'd never heard before. I also got to talk to Katie on the sat phone. She informed me of some of the outside world's goings-on. Hurricane Rita is threatening to squish Houston, which in turn causes speculation that gas prices may go up to $5 per gallon.
We chatted for nearly a half hour ($$$, glad it's not mine; but I don't feel bad, 'cause I haven't talked to anyone hardly)
Not much else to report. The days are really beginning to merge and blur.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Holey Mackrel
I walked outside to find a 71" halibut sitting on the deck. Apparently, Max finally caught a fish worth talking about. I'm looking forward to fresh fish for the next few days... (it came in at 179 lbs according to the chart)
Lucy, I'm HO-ome.
3:30 PM 9/21/2005 - Wednesday
Bill has arrived, back from Adak. His precious cargo: 4-5 day old newspapers, a replacement GPS receiver, and --most importantly -- a replacement pump.
Within moments of his arrival, Jerry was down the hatch replacing the water pump while the rest of us were scavenging newspapers. Gloom. Doom. Sigh. I'm not entirely sure why I was eager to get my hands on the news. The only good thing I read was that the auroras have been fantastic. Not that I've been able to see any from here, especially with the cloud cover we've almost always got.
Today has been rainy and windy. Ed has gone up on the hill with Cy and John. They even brought Josh along to help.
Bill has arrived, back from Adak. His precious cargo: 4-5 day old newspapers, a replacement GPS receiver, and --most importantly -- a replacement pump.
Within moments of his arrival, Jerry was down the hatch replacing the water pump while the rest of us were scavenging newspapers. Gloom. Doom. Sigh. I'm not entirely sure why I was eager to get my hands on the news. The only good thing I read was that the auroras have been fantastic. Not that I've been able to see any from here, especially with the cloud cover we've almost always got.
Today has been rainy and windy. Ed has gone up on the hill with Cy and John. They even brought Josh along to help.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
The score
7:44 AM 9/20/2005 - Tuesday
We've been rolling around a little overnight. The door to our stateroom wasn't closed completely, so it's been softly slamming every minute or less. I finally got up to close it, and now am up. I've gotten a lot of sleep yesterday, with the Dramamine knocking me out cold for three hours or so.
Yesterday, we must have played 4 games of scrabble, and --surprisingly-- no backgammon. The scoring is taking place under the pseudonyms which are becoming a little more commonly used. At least it's easier to differentiate "Antonio" from Cyrus than "Celso" from "Cyrus"... Whenever we're on the radio, and a call comes in for me, the name usually uttered first is Cyrus. After no response, an additional, corrected call, comes in for Me. We have several celebrity mags on board, and peruse them for stories on each other.
Recap of names:
Bill Springer -Harrison Ford
Celso Reyes - Antonio Banderas
Guy Tytgat - Steve Martin
Jessica Larson - Demi Moore (pronounced Deh-MI')
John Paskievitch - George Clooney (called Clooney, so as to not to confuse with the Skipper)
Michelle Coombs - Sandra Bullock
Tina Neal- Holly Hunter
When playing scrabble with this rabble, you've got to really keep a close eye on Clooney—I won't say publiclyhat he cheats, but -- at the minimum-- he tries to get by with 40% bluffing. Sandy is a word-master.
Some observations about the helicopter operations. I pretty much have been taking the helicopter for granted. No longer am I oohing and ahhing about working with the helicopter like I did in Okmok. However, when you think about it, it is still intense: flying from a bobbing ship.
Every time the helicopter lands onboard, Anthony has to rush out and attach a ratchet-strap-ring to the helicopter's hook. Josh, then cranks down on it to secure it to the boat. Whenever the helicopter takes off, it has to be just about ready to launch before Bill releases the hook.
When airlifting stuff off of the boat, Anthony gets under the helicopter *as it is hovering* and attaches the load underneath it: there is no room for the helicopter to land with the load also on the landing pad. And when the helicopter is swing loading stuff TO the ship, well... There's wind; the ship is bobbing, and there's not an insignificant mast not terribly far from the helipad. When the load is finally dropped on board, then people scramble to secure it before it slides off the helipad.
On land, these operations are much simpler. the helicopter would land near the load, and then the cable would be attached. Dropping the load involves only adjusting for the wind.
I'm still having trouble with working the silly door on the helicopter. It always takes me a while to get the thing shut.
We've been rolling around a little overnight. The door to our stateroom wasn't closed completely, so it's been softly slamming every minute or less. I finally got up to close it, and now am up. I've gotten a lot of sleep yesterday, with the Dramamine knocking me out cold for three hours or so.
Yesterday, we must have played 4 games of scrabble, and --surprisingly-- no backgammon. The scoring is taking place under the pseudonyms which are becoming a little more commonly used. At least it's easier to differentiate "Antonio" from Cyrus than "Celso" from "Cyrus"... Whenever we're on the radio, and a call comes in for me, the name usually uttered first is Cyrus. After no response, an additional, corrected call, comes in for Me. We have several celebrity mags on board, and peruse them for stories on each other.
Recap of names:
Bill Springer -Harrison Ford
Celso Reyes - Antonio Banderas
Guy Tytgat - Steve Martin
Jessica Larson - Demi Moore (pronounced Deh-MI')
John Paskievitch - George Clooney (called Clooney, so as to not to confuse with the Skipper)
Michelle Coombs - Sandra Bullock
Tina Neal- Holly Hunter
When playing scrabble with this rabble, you've got to really keep a close eye on Clooney—I won't say publiclyhat he cheats, but -- at the minimum-- he tries to get by with 40% bluffing. Sandy is a word-master.
Some observations about the helicopter operations. I pretty much have been taking the helicopter for granted. No longer am I oohing and ahhing about working with the helicopter like I did in Okmok. However, when you think about it, it is still intense: flying from a bobbing ship.
Every time the helicopter lands onboard, Anthony has to rush out and attach a ratchet-strap-ring to the helicopter's hook. Josh, then cranks down on it to secure it to the boat. Whenever the helicopter takes off, it has to be just about ready to launch before Bill releases the hook.
When airlifting stuff off of the boat, Anthony gets under the helicopter *as it is hovering* and attaches the load underneath it: there is no room for the helicopter to land with the load also on the landing pad. And when the helicopter is swing loading stuff TO the ship, well... There's wind; the ship is bobbing, and there's not an insignificant mast not terribly far from the helipad. When the load is finally dropped on board, then people scramble to secure it before it slides off the helipad.
On land, these operations are much simpler. the helicopter would land near the load, and then the cable would be attached. Dropping the load involves only adjusting for the wind.
I'm still having trouble with working the silly door on the helicopter. It always takes me a while to get the thing shut.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Disappointment
4:06 PM 9/19/2005
What an anticlimax. I can't complain, but the crossing was as smooth as anyone could hope for. While this was great on the stomach, it leaves you with questions... Could we have stayed longer? Would we have been in danger where we were? Will we be able to get back to the island to finish our job?
The general mood here is disappointment; disappointment at not being able to finish installing stations and disappointment with not getting as much geology done as may have been possible. I, for one, am also disappointed that I've wasted a Dramamine and am therefore in a somewhat drugged stupor.
So, here we are in Amchitka's Constantine harbor. Again. The helicopter should return sometime today /tomorrow with the part we need for repairing the fresh-water maker. (My very last item on the agenda before we left the last harbor was to *finally* take a shower. It'd been a little more than a week since we had news that it was broken, and that we were going on water restrictions.
I can't wait to do laundry!
What an anticlimax. I can't complain, but the crossing was as smooth as anyone could hope for. While this was great on the stomach, it leaves you with questions... Could we have stayed longer? Would we have been in danger where we were? Will we be able to get back to the island to finish our job?
The general mood here is disappointment; disappointment at not being able to finish installing stations and disappointment with not getting as much geology done as may have been possible. I, for one, am also disappointed that I've wasted a Dramamine and am therefore in a somewhat drugged stupor.
So, here we are in Amchitka's Constantine harbor. Again. The helicopter should return sometime today /tomorrow with the part we need for repairing the fresh-water maker. (My very last item on the agenda before we left the last harbor was to *finally* take a shower. It'd been a little more than a week since we had news that it was broken, and that we were going on water restrictions.
I can't wait to do laundry!
It's just another Monday
10:28 AM 9/19/2005 - Monday
"I'm going to start throwing up now, and beat the rush" - Ed
Well, Tuman was fogged in, and the weather we were going to avoid has started to creep around to our little island paradise. The boat, still at anchor, has swung around with the wind and is now facing the mouth of our bight. That doesn't bode too well, since with the wind comes the waves.
This morning, (A second red-sky morning), found the boat rocking a little more than usual from side to side. The plan? Drop the geologists off on the far side of the island, get a weather report for CETU, and then create two stations... hopefully before 1 or so.
Well, now it's not even eleven... the beach has been cleaned up, with everything being left here that was required. Everything else has been picked up, except (as of this typing) the geologists. The hatches are all being battened down, and the ship is being made wave-worthy again. Forecast is for winds out of the south, turning to 35 - 40 tonight.... waves in the 10' range. We'll be running against the wind, which means we'll be battered about a bit.
"I'm going to start throwing up now, and beat the rush" - Ed
Well, Tuman was fogged in, and the weather we were going to avoid has started to creep around to our little island paradise. The boat, still at anchor, has swung around with the wind and is now facing the mouth of our bight. That doesn't bode too well, since with the wind comes the waves.
This morning, (A second red-sky morning), found the boat rocking a little more than usual from side to side. The plan? Drop the geologists off on the far side of the island, get a weather report for CETU, and then create two stations... hopefully before 1 or so.
Well, now it's not even eleven... the beach has been cleaned up, with everything being left here that was required. Everything else has been picked up, except (as of this typing) the geologists. The hatches are all being battened down, and the ship is being made wave-worthy again. Forecast is for winds out of the south, turning to 35 - 40 tonight.... waves in the 10' range. We'll be running against the wind, which means we'll be battered about a bit.
Shore leave
Sometime around 1pm yesterday (today) I was picked up to fly with Guy to Tuman Head, where we were going to set up the repeater site. However, it was totally in the fog, so no-go. We did fly counterclockwise around the perimeter of this island, though and saw what looked like town sites (no photos), and a crashed WWII bomber. Anvil peak was out and clear, and the shoreline around the island is beautiful. The large boulders must give the island a reefish appearance. Supposedly there's a sea lion pull-out, also.... though I didn't see any.
We ended up at CERB and dropped off guy. My help wasn't really needed, so Bill let me off by the cache. I grabbed my lunch and waded through very heavy tussocks towards the beach. By very heavy, I mean knee-high tussocks with grass to the waist. Absolutely terrible walking.
The waves were breaking beautifully along shore, so I just sort of sat there and watched them for a while. Gull prints were everywhere, but overall life appeared scarce. The only shell I found was a single limpet. There was also a single dead fish. But all else was black-sand. I was very entertained by watching the waves rework and smooth out the sandy beach, erasing gull prints and leaving a fine rim at the edge of its length.
Guy worked a little more on CERB with Max and Ed, while Cyrus and John finished CESW. The location fogged out, so they ended up staying there a while. I could tell that bill was getting tired of running about like an errand-boy with the helicopter... no, today wasn't all that much more organized than yesterday...
Tomorrow, I think I'm going out with Guy to finish CERB and /or install CETU. Ed & Max will install the broken ridge site, maybe. After those two are done, we've got it all...
Tina found a warm-spring today, and will be hopefully taking measurements (and maybe a dip? doubtful) tomorrow. The evening's meal was spaghetti, Scrabble was cutthroat with a very narrow score, and Cyrus is continuing his winning steak at Backgammon. Now, he's only down by 4 games. The movie was It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad world, which Max seems to like as much as I do...
Practical jokes are being played a little more frequently, now. People were messing with Max's line as he was fishing, making him think he'd caught one. Josh crumpled crackers into Anthony's gloves, and apparently the duo did something or other to the chief.
Possibly, John and Cyrus will be flying back to Amchitka tomorrow. Also, tomorrow, I'm taking a shower; ready or not.
G'night.
We ended up at CERB and dropped off guy. My help wasn't really needed, so Bill let me off by the cache. I grabbed my lunch and waded through very heavy tussocks towards the beach. By very heavy, I mean knee-high tussocks with grass to the waist. Absolutely terrible walking.
I poked around beachside for a couple hours. There were several gulls that hung out nearby-- they didn't even bother me for scraps of lunch! Plenty of driftwood, and bits of rope that washed ashore. It's always fascinating how mankind's junk can arrive absolutely everywhere; There's not an Island in the Aleutians that doesn't have buoys or plastic garbage of one sort or another.
The waves were breaking beautifully along shore, so I just sort of sat there and watched them for a while. Gull prints were everywhere, but overall life appeared scarce. The only shell I found was a single limpet. There was also a single dead fish. But all else was black-sand. I was very entertained by watching the waves rework and smooth out the sandy beach, erasing gull prints and leaving a fine rim at the edge of its length.
Guy worked a little more on CERB with Max and Ed, while Cyrus and John finished CESW. The location fogged out, so they ended up staying there a while. I could tell that bill was getting tired of running about like an errand-boy with the helicopter... no, today wasn't all that much more organized than yesterday...
Tomorrow, I think I'm going out with Guy to finish CERB and /or install CETU. Ed & Max will install the broken ridge site, maybe. After those two are done, we've got it all...
Tina found a warm-spring today, and will be hopefully taking measurements (and maybe a dip? doubtful) tomorrow. The evening's meal was spaghetti, Scrabble was cutthroat with a very narrow score, and Cyrus is continuing his winning steak at Backgammon. Now, he's only down by 4 games. The movie was It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad world, which Max seems to like as much as I do...
Practical jokes are being played a little more frequently, now. People were messing with Max's line as he was fishing, making him think he'd caught one. Josh crumpled crackers into Anthony's gloves, and apparently the duo did something or other to the chief.
Possibly, John and Cyrus will be flying back to Amchitka tomorrow. Also, tomorrow, I'm taking a shower; ready or not.
G'night.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
The Red-headed stepchild
That's what I'm being called today. There's a lot of movement out and about in the caldera, but I'm just sitting here waiting. Forgotten.
Well, not really... Max and Ed went to shore to inventory, and set up a different gig. John is off finishing our site (CEPR). Guy and Cyrus are out finishing CERB. If CESW opens up, then I'll be out there with John. We'll see if that happens.
The weather has given the boat a reprieve. We were going to take off this evening, but the real bad stuff has been delayed a day. We'll be able to work on the island again tomorrow, too. I can just imagine our crossing though -- yuck.
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