All aboard!

Yesterday, the first group of scientists joined the James Cook research vessel in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. There are 5 of us currently on board: Dr Miguel Angel Morales Maqueda (Principal Scientist for the first cruise, physical oceanographer from NOCL), Prof Rob Harris (geophysicist and heat-flow expert, from Oregon State University), Jowan Barnes (PhD student at NOCL), Anna Gluder (Masters student from Bangor, and volunteer!), and Emma Gregory (PhD student at Durham University).  We will try and have a blog post focussed on each person mentioned above so everyone gets a chance to introduce themselves and explain what their role is on the cruise. Myself (Emma) and Jowan are first-timers aboard a research ship, so there is plenty to learn- including our way around the ship which can be confusing!

A view of the Cook from the dockside

The Cook is a research vessel owned by NERC (Natural Environment Research Council), whose home port is at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton. The ship is just under 100 m long, with 8 decks with various purposes, though currently we are mainly sticking to the Main Deck (scientists cabins), Upper Deck (labs) and the Mezzanine Deck. The Mezzanine houses the galley and mess, and the other social spaces for both crew and scientists alike: library, lounge and bar, and the TV room. There is also a gym to attempt to keep everyone active during the long weeks at sea. Everyone on board has their own cabin, complete with bed, desk, shelves, wardrobe and sink, and usually shares a bathroom with one other person. I think the cabins are bigger (and nicer) then some university accommodation I’ve seen!

A standard cabin aboard the Cook

At the moment we are still in port, so our general routine is to get up for breakfast, work throughout the day, and sleep at night, though this will probably all change when we are at sea and proper shift patterns are allocated. Main tasks for now are to set up the equipment and computers, and check all is in order for the cruise.

We all can’t wait to set sail!

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