Bright daylight outside, grey low cloud base and misty

Besides all the cruise preparations many of us were doing other tasks like writing papers and getting data together in between meetings and practical exercises before we reach the first sampling station. Apart from a productive meeting with my supervisor this day has been a day of testing gear. We tried out the winches and saw to that equipment works as well as we have anticipated.

One of Emma’s tasks is to filter water from the surface of the ocean – but also from down at the bottom when we are below 100 meters deep (the shallow stations). This operation includes sinking down a pump attached to a really thick (1 inch, 2,5 cm diameter) tube. We call it the ”fire hose” but it’s a lot heavier and rolled up on two red carts – together they m 135 meters long. Imagine handling this hose. Not like your regular garden equipment. We used to deploy (sink down) this pump manually – my oh my, we usually count on 4–5 people sweating together while retrieving this heavy piece of equipment and making sure not to tangle everything up. Quite a tripping hazard on the deck too at times. But today we had some extra hands to make things easier to handle. Still, we are looking forward to doing a lot of physical work at the stations where we will use this equipment.

Today was also the first cold day. At the moment the temperature is 0.2°C and the wind feels rather chilly. When I went outside to do the practical exercise I was happy I packed down warm clothes I will definitely need them. The cold temperatures forced me to wear some of my ”Arctic-suited” clothing. Suddenly everything felt SO REAL. Amazing. A thought was going through my head: we are actually here! This is so great. We are doing and will be doing fantastic work!

There is also a chirping sound that echoes around the ship. This was new to me! This is the sound echo sounder makes, and is getting more and more frequent. It chirps with shorter intervals when we are crossing shallow water, and at longer intervals when we are crossing deep water.

To finish off the practical exercise we put things aside and strapped them Down. Then hurried upstairs to change, because the captain had invited us all to a welcoming dinner! The dining tables were set with glasses, white table cloths and a toasted “Skagen” appetizer when we arrived, and a lot of us were dressed up. Seven of us girls showed up in nice dresses which sparked a broad smile among people in the crowd. Atmosphere was fantastic and I think I speak for everybody when I say that we all had a great time. Oh – and we even had spontaneous entertainment. Saxofone and beautiful singing. One of our Russian colleagues also sang with his guitar. We have such multi-talented people here, and we are also getting to know each other better.

Now it is time to go to bed. More physical and mental effort to be carried out tomorrow. Nighty night.