Sunday, 29 February 2004

Port Moresby Harbor, Papua New Guinea

Pilothouse
Have you ever been in a pilothouse, also known as a bridge? It's the place that sits high above the ship, giving the captain, mates and able seamen an eye on the seas around. At night it feels like stepping into another planet... a cool, dark place, lit up by lights from various equipment; it's a sublime place and I'll take you there tomorrow with a look at celestial navigation!

During the day the light transforms the pilothouse, and suddenly you see farther from there then you do from the decks below. I was invited by the Captain to join them on the bridge to watch the process of navigating the Melville through the coral reefs and into the harbor at Port Moresby. When I arrived, I took a seat, out of the way, on a bench above the signal flags behind the navigation/communication station and ship's control consul. The Captain was sitting in an elevated chair in the center of the room where he had the best view of the surrounding waters below. He and his chief mate were constantly scanning the waters using sets of binoculars. Mike, the able seaman on watch was steering the ship under the captain's command. Anthony the 3rd Mate, was keeping an eye on their points of navigation and keeping sharp look out. Things got exciting as they soon noticed an approaching ferry or small boat. Anthony quickly made a call to the ship to clarify their heading and how they would handle passage. Check out today's video to get a glimpse of this situation in action!

A rendezvous with the harbor's pilot, Captain Morea Vavine, was set for 11:00 am. The pilot works for the local harbor and comes aboard to guide ships of a certain weight (which differs between the various harbors throughout the world) into the harbor or to the dock. Captain Vavine is 35 years old and has worked with the harbor for the past five years and has 13 years of seagoing experience. He comes from Kaparoko Village in the Central province. The transfer of the pilot to the ship is an interesting process. The pilot ship smoothly pulls up alongside the Melville while traveling at about 9 knots and the Pilot makes a quick step across the gap between the ships to climb aboard the R/V Melville. Check out the video to see the pilot transfer...keep your eye on the man in red!

Today we were only transferring passengers and a small amount of cargo - cores for lectures and students from the University of Papua New Guinea to analyze and study. To save both time and money on dock fees, a common practice is to remain at anchor in the harbor and have a transport boat meet us there. Today's boat brought fruits and vegetables for Chef Ed, and then transferred passengers to shore.

It is always an event when we interact with other ships and the deck was full! Jeff Babcock from Scripps Institution of Oceanography arrived today with parts for the Chirp that we hope will be back in action tomorrow! We said goodbye to John Milliman, Rudy Slingerland and our new friends from Papua New Guinea.

One more week of work here in the Gulf of Papua! Come by tomorrow for a look at the stars!

Today's weather and location at 1300 (thirteen hundred hours, military time for 1:00 pm)
Air Temperature: 31°C (88°F)
Water Temperature: 22°C (72°F)
Salinity: 30.41 PSU
Barometric Pressure: 1005.8 mb
Relative Humidity: 67%
Precipitation: 49 mm

Longitude: 9° 28.1412' S
Latitude: 147° 15.4281' E