At the Service of NOAA (5/17)

So in the morning we finally reached the Azores. These dramatic looking,
mist-shrouded islands rose pretty much straight from the sea and are
dotted with rural communities and bustling towns. I’ve taken some
pictures that I shall post upon my arrival to Malaga on the 21st.

When we entered the Azores area, almost every cadet whipped out their cell
phones, since reception came to those (not including me) who had an
international plan. This was good timing, at least for the staff/faculty,
since our emails are apparently down, while the students’ accounts are up.

Today was a mostly quiet day for me, probably because everybody wanted to
look at the Azores (we stopped the ship here for a while), and also
because the ventilation down here was cut for much of the day making it
unbearably hot. Just as I was about to call OSHA it came back on, but it
is as I’ve said many many times, ridiculously hot in the library and there
is not much that can be down about it. The fans I did request, came, but
of course they are wall mounted, so I now have a work order in for that.
Can you tell I’m in a rather cantankerous mood? Perhaps the fact that the
email is down has me a bit blasé.

So now on to the title of this post. Today I got to assist my roommate in
launching a weather buoy for NOAA. While this initially may seem like a
complex procedure, it is really rather dull. You unwrap the buoy from
plastic. Go to the side of the ship, and throw it overboard. The
throwing part was the most amusing part. The buoy itself weighs about 45
pounds which I impressively lifted clear over my head.

These buoys apparently last for about a year before they have to be
replaced. They take water temperature and other readings and send it back
by satellite to NOAA who use it in their scientific research. My roommate
has been traveling with schoolships like ours all over the world giving
presentations on the weather and launching his buoys. A rather unique
profession and all the cadets know Tim the Weatherman well.

Today I also had lunch with the ship’s doctor. He’s a rather interesting
guy, from New Jersey who lives in Saipan, but has property also in Maine
and Hawaii. He’s been in and out of the Navy for years and has lots of
stories. He’s definitely filled with a wanderlust.

In fact, most of the people on this ship have a certain degree of
wanderlust and to an equal amount a noticeable antipathy toward being
‘trapped’ in any given place. The irony of this of course is that you are
more trapped aboard ship than anyplace else that I could imagine except a
prison. That however, is not the view that the maritime mind takes of the
ship. Rather, I think the general attitude is that the ship is a device
to provide for freedom instead of it being an end of itself. Also, the
sea is representative of that liberation because it is a road which has
many ports of call. This type of outlook I think is mostly subconscious
in nature… or perhaps I am getting delirious from the heat.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe