The wet lab is battened-down and ready for the frequent rolls and pitches associated with the oceans motions. Up high on the ships mast are a couple of anemometers (at the ends of the array of instruments) used to determine wind speed. These have an attached wind vane that give the wind direction.

Teacher Logbook - R/V Wecoma

Missy Holzer 's Sealog:
CTD Cruise Day 14
Weather at 1630 hours PDT:
Weather at 1630 hours PST: Cloudy skies with winds of 23 knots from the northwest, and visibility of 12 miles. Barometric pressure is 1016.6, and the temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit. Ocean swells are 8 feet out of the northwest, and the seas are 4 feet out of the northwest.

Duck! Hold onto your seat! Keep both feet on the ground at the same time! No fancy footwork when the ship is rolling and pitching in high seas! Warnings sometimes aren't enough to keep yourself from moving in a direction contrary to your desired motion. Unless you're out here or have been on a Tilt-a-Whirl at the carnival for 12 hours, it's tough to get a true sense of what really happens when the ocean is in motion. Those "sea stories" that all the science staff and crew relate are merely stories unless you've seen a wave crash into one side of the ship and make it all the way over to the other. Battening down the hatches takes on immediate meaning as objects are sliding due to Newton's laws of motion. There is that one law, Universal Gravitation, which let's you know what happens when something (or someone) falls; it's that attraction thing that makes you want to stay seated while all this ocean motion is tossing the ship back and forth, right to left, etc This daily log wasn't meant to be about flying projectiles, or sliding chairs, but a rainstorm moved in from west overnight and brought with it 25 knot winds, and what appeared to be high seas. Of course, this is mere sissy stuff to those who have made a career out of working on the ocean, but it's a big deal to those of us who don't make a habit out of being out here or of going on Tilt-a-Whirl's for more than one ride!

Thank goodness the entire NeMO CTD Cruise hasn't been in the midst of inclement weather. Except for the overcast skies most of the time, we've been fortunate not to have to do all that needs to be done in hazardous conditions. The sea stories from the science staff include the challenge of deploying a mooring in 20-25 foot seas, equipment landing on the lab floor, and sliding crates that haven't been battened down sufficiently. The crewmembers of the R/V Wecoma have a number of years of experience among them and thus have a number of stories about the high seas. The galley seems to be the place where objects levitate and project themselves onto the floor across the room. There was the waffle batter incident where a full bowl of freshly made waffle batter decided that inertia was going to get the best of it, and whoop, onto the floor it went, covering the cook as plopped down right in front of him. There was another story of the projectile bar of soap in a stateroom along with occupied chairs in the lounge going on joy ride across the lounge floor. The best stories are the ones about the waves that crash onto the deck of
the ship or over the bridge. They are the ones that widen eyes, especially after seeing a wave do just that. Of course none of these stories rank up there as conditions for the "Perfect Storm." But after being out here in what appears to be the middle of the ocean riding the seas, swells, ridges, and troughs, a new respect is conjured towards the ocean and those who work out here. When they say to batten down the hatches, it's time for a drill, or put on your life jacket, it's guaranteed they know what they are talking about. It's sometimes better to hear sea stories than to have experienced them first hand!