Notes from the chief scientist's desk by Alison

Notes from the chief scientist's desk, March 8, 2018: For the last few days, we have been collecting ourselves in Hobart, coming together each morning on the N. B. Palmer to load, unpack, set up, and stow. Getting to the ship requires us to grab a fluorescent safety vest from a bin, pull out our ids, which we present to a camera to be buzzed through the gate. We walk across the dock avoiding cranes and forklifts, sign in at the guardhouse, and put our vests into another bin before heading up the gangway. It’s a complex enough procedure that some of our party didn’t make it through the first time they came to the ship.

My days have been filled with lists; making lists, checking lists and rechecking lists. Each of the science groups has a different set of procedures, obligations and responsibilities for preparing for the cruise, but as lead of the CTD watch I have been working with our co-chief and MPC (ship-science coordinator) to coordinate all the efforts. We’ve set our students to work carrying boxes and containers onto the ship. We assist in finding shipments, which haven’t arrived or may have arrived but have been placed in the wrong space. Likewise we have been seeking out members of the science party who have not shown up when we expected them. We have figured out what shifts our group will work and how to assign bunks so that everyone has a little bit of private time and/or space during their days at sea. And we continue to update our cruise plan.

In the evenings we all have been splintering off into smaller groups to gather over dinner at the restaurants over looking the water.  Last night we attended a delightful reception hosted by the Tasmanian Polar Network, an eclectic group of local business people, academics and government officials with a strong interest in supporting the collaboration amongst all those exploring and living in Antarctica. Now, if we have not laid eyes upon, we do at least know where all our instrumentation and people are.  We have had our last night on land and today we will board the ship in expectation of tomorrow’s departure.

--Alison