Behind the scenes

Now that we are almost back to the States, I thought I would take some time to look back on some moments from this cruise that did not make it into other blog posts. We don’t do science 24/7 and down time opens up the chance for some fun moments.

Sheri with the day's crossword

In between mooring deployments, water samplings, and rosette management, there were things that became routine to the members of the science party. Everyday has started off with a new crossword puzzle from The New York Times, and despite the various degrees of difficulty our chief scientist Sheri White has never failed to finish a puzzle (Claire and I have only finished two this whole trip). With a record time of 8:00 she is truly a crossword wiz.

Another staple in the Armstrong schedule, and a crowd favorite, is cheese-thirty (or cheese o’clock depending on who you ask) which starts at around 2:30 and extends until dinner time. They put out fancy meats and cheeses and some fruit along with different types of bread and crackers. Some people plan their dessert eating schedules around cheese-thirty and others see it as a “pre-dinner dinner.” No matter what it is a high point of people’s days and great for ship morale.

cheese-thirty!

One of the best spots on the ship is the bridge, and if you are out there at the right time, the captain just might let you drive the ship. There was a day where we had to do glider maintenance after we had deployed them, so we set out to find them and as we were searching our captain Derek Bergeron let Claire, Shawnee and me each have a turn driving the ship. While it was terrifying at first, we were assured that nothing bad would happen and it all worked out smoothly.

Shawnee, Claire, and me each taking a turn steering

On our transit back, once all the science was done there was a lot of down time, and during in that down time we filled it with a bunch of different activities. We’ve had a scavenger hunt, a photo contest, a very intense game of Pictionary, a planking contest, and a game night, amongst other activities. One day I realized the ship stopped moving and when I went outside people were fishing off the side of the ship we were out there for a while trying to catch fish and we did catch some. It took me a couple tries but eventually I also caught one!

Me with the pollock I caught

Hilary posing with a cod 

From movie marathons to dance parties, dull moments on the Armstrong are few and far between, and there are only a couple more of them to go.

Signing off,

Thanda