ORCA Field Day: Solar Panel Installation

Maintaining the Oceanic Remote Chemical Analyzer (ORCA) buoys requires semi-regular field days for UW Field Engineers.  Today, Gretchen Thuesen and Rachel Vander Giessen head out to install a solar panel on the Dabob Bay buoy.  They spend the days leading up to the field day getting supplies, instruments and electronics ready, lining up an appropriate vehicle and checking the tides and wind forecasts.  This morning they do one last wind check then meet at the Ocean Science Building to load the truck before catching an early ferry to Bremerton.  From there they drive to Belfair where the M/V Mackinaw is stored at the Pacific Northwest Salmon Center.

Hitching the M/V Mackinaw and trailer to the truck and saying good morning to PNWSC staff

The trailer is hitched to the truck and the engineers head north, towing the 20’ boat over the Hood Canal Bridge to Quilcene where they’ll carefully launch it in the narrow marina and motor out to the buoy.

The boat and buoy have to be lined up just right for transferring the heavy solar panel

Maneuvering heavy equipment from the boat to the buoy is difficult and time consuming… calm winds help by allowing the boat to be tied up on the correct side of the buoy regardless of wind direction.  The solar panel and frame housing is large and heavy and has to be carefully laid out on the boat so that it can be transferred to the buoy without incurring damage.  Rachel holds it in place on the buoy platform while Gretchen secures it with U-bolts.

Gretchen preps hardware and tools for the solar
panel installation

Dabob buoy with a newly installed solar panel

Eventually, we get the hardware installed and all of the electronics wired up.  Now Dabob is equipped with two 75 W solar panel that will recharge the battery bank, supplying predictable power to the oceanographic instrument system.

A Day at Sea

Members of the science team help the Resident Technician retrieve the CTD rosette aboard R/V Melville

My alarm goes off at 0600 and I lay in my rocking berth listening to the jingle bell sound of the Chirp Sonar.  Swinging through the main lab on the way to the mess hall I glance at the white board for updates and messages.  Coffee is enjoyed on the fantail while searching for whales with some of the crew and science team.  I do a run through of the morning's sampling supplies before heading back into the mess hall at 0730 for a quick breakfast of bacon, eggs, potatoes and fresh fruit.  We then prep the rosette and computer for the 0800 CTD cast.  We're scheduled to sample a line of stations along the coast so this will be the first of three casts today.  Radio checks between bridge, winch, lab and deck, then the rosette goes over the side and down to a predetermined depth as we watch the PAR plot for the chlorophyll max.  Then the winch brings the rosette up in increments and all niskin bottles are fired, collecting water at different depths.  

Gloves are important when taking water samples to avoid contamination

Once the rosette is recovered and secured on deck, the science team circles around it in waves, taking seawater samples to be analyzed for things like dissolved oxygen and carbon, nutrients and chlorophyll.   Once sample collection is complete, everyone gets busy at their stations in the main lab, running through their different analyses while the ship motors on to our next station.  

Maintaining the deionized water system in the analytical lab

Running water sample analyses in the main lab

The rest of the day follows this pattern: CTD cast, water collection and sample analysis in the lab with an 1130 lunch break. A day at sea revolves around mealtimes so the quality, quantity and diversity of options is important... fortunately we're well taken care of and on today's menu is chicken fajitas.  Members of the crew take their coffee breaks at 1000 and 1400 and are an endless source of stories if you're able to step away from your lab bench.  Some people are able to wrap up their work by dinner at 1700 and we all settle down in the library afterwards for a brief science meeting.  The chief scientist gives an idea of how the big picture is forming and where we're headed from here.  It also gives us the opportunity to describe our individual roles in the expedition and learn about different areas of research.

Today was a light sampling day so we take the opportunity to start a load of laundry, clean our cabins or get caught up on paperwork.  We meet on the forward deck to watch the sunset and enjoy an impromptu guitar solo.  The rest of the evening is spent playing cards in the mess hall or watching a movie in the lounge.  Working at sea is more tiring than you'd expect so everyone heads down to their berths early for a good night’s sleep.

Relaxing after a long day