Teacher Logbook - NOAA Ship Ron Brown

Jean Marcus and Amanda Bates are packing up during the 28-hour transit to Victoria. Jeff Goodrich, all packed up and ready to go.

Jeff Goodrich's Sealog:
Steaming toward Victoria, B.C.
July 31, 2001

ROPOS came up from its last dive at 3 am and we immediately started for the beach. We're now steaming at 13 knots toward Victoria, B.C. to offload. During transit motion is intensified and we usually lose a lot of people to their berths. However, everyone was pleasantly surprised with the smooth ride back. Scientists pack up instruments and write final NeMO discipline summaries. The ROPOS team disassembles gear and prepares ROPOS for its next cruise. The ship's crew guides us and keeps a lookout for marine traffic. Everyone is preparing for the wonderful experience of dock rock (when the person finally sets foot on land and it seems that the land is moving, just like the ship was - a sort of seasickness on land).

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Bob Embley, Bill Chadwick and Susan Merle for the opportunity of a lifetime. Seeing the ocean floor in real-time is something that very few get to experience. My classroom will be enriched with a link to oceanographic research and my students will be the better for it. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend the last few weeks and will cherish my time at Axial and the people who study it forever.

My thoughts now turn to my lovely wife, waiting for me with two sea kayaks in Victoria. As one adVENTure closes, another begins.