Wednesday, 18 February 2004

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Cruise Preparations: R/V Melville Loaded

Hello again thanks for joining me today! We have spent the past three days loading the Melville for the upcoming cruise. Think of how it feels to pack your suitcase for a week of vacation. How long does it take, how much should you bring? Now consider packing a ship for three to eight weeks at sea! I'm amazed by how many details are required to bring a ship into dock and restock for the next part of the journey.

The captain, crew and scientists work with an agent - a person who works as a liaison between the ship and the various vendors in the area. For example, an agent helps reserve dock space and negotiate fees; basically it's like renting a room, only in this case the dock is the open-air resting place for the ship. An agent also helps to organize shipping of scientific equipment and samples collected during the cruise, and communicate the ship's location to vendors who deliver the crew's mail when they are in port. The crew was very anxious to see their mail as they have been at sea for six weeks now! There are people constantly coming and going, food supplies are extremely important. How much food do you think it takes to feed 40 hungry people, three meals a day for 21 days (the length of our cruise?) We'll talk to Chef Ed to find out more about that, as well as what we eat while at sea, later this week.

The thing that impressed me most was the amount of fuel needed. Thirteen large gasoline trucks visited the Melville with one coming right after another for about a day and a half. There are now 350,000 liters of fuel or 92,460 gallons onboard! Next time you or your parents refuel your car, check out how many gallons your car takes compared to the Melville.

"There Goes a Melville"
Visit our video section to get a glimpse of life onboard the R/V Melville. Hold onto your hardhats for today's amazing cranes!

Well, that's all for now. We are about to pick-up one last equipment container before we depart this afternoon. Click on our slide show for photos of loading the Melville. Tomorrow let's take a look at why we are here in the Gulf of Papua. Uh oh, I hear the sound of a crane - gotta run!

Today's weather and location at 0900 (o nine hundred hours, military time for 9:00 am)
Air Temperature: 28°C (82°F)
Water Temperature: 22°C (72°F)
Salinity: 31.35 PSU
Barometric Pressure: 1009.1 mb
Precipitation: 10.6 mm
Relative Humidity: 82%

Longitude: 9.47421° S
Latitude: 147.14988° E