January 20th

Log Entry by Jaqui Neibauer

Today began with an early breakfast of scrambled eggs, cantaloupe, toast and fresh-squeezed orange juice.  Most of us were sunburned and exhausted from the activities of the previous days, so the energy was a little lacking. 

We decided to rent a taxi-truck to transport our luggage to the port, where we were to meet the R.V. Thomas G. Thompson (TGT) later in the morning.  Some of us finished last-minute shopping and others grabbed a bite to eat while waiting for the TGT to pull into port.  Once the ship was anchored in the bay, the transition of leg one and leg two students began via the TGT workboat and water taxis. 

Upon boarding the ship, we were subjected to a safety briefing, followed by a greatly-desired lunch session.  It was nice to finally be able to eat veggies and fruit without having to worry about disease.  It’s surprising how much you miss lettuce/salads when you can’t eat them.  Ice cubes were another thing we were advised not to consume while on land, and it was amazing how wonderful it was to have them back.  Simple pleasures. 

Our first station was Joni’s sampling of Academy Bay, during which she discovered that the bay is “littered” with pipe lines causing complications with the hand-towed CTD profiler.  The equipment ended up getting stuck on the bottom, but most of it was recovered.  I’m not sure of the implications of this to her project.  All of Joni’s sampling will take place in bays where the water is too shallow for the TGT to venture so she has to take the work boat out and take CTD casts by hand.  Tomorrow morning Joni will occupy her second station at Puerto Villamil.

Dinner was served from 5-6pm and was delicious.  Desert was by far the highlight of the meal as Wendy got us all hooked on ice cream while we were on the Islands.  After dinner, we all parted ways, with some of us going to rest and others setting up equipment for their projects. 

Late this evening, we arrived at the first biology station at which net tows, CTD casts and VanVeen grab samples were obtained.  We were at this station for longer than anticipated because a communication error occurred between the CTD and the computers.  The problem was fixed promptly. 

Tomorrow will be our first full day on the ship and we anticipate stellar data sets.  We are hoping that everyone will be able to provide further details of their projects in the days to come.