Long-term Logger Retrieval
At 0602, the gold glow of imminent sunrise lured me on deck. Forty-seven minutes later, our star the Sun, graced us with her warmth. We were certainly on track for another stunning Pilbara day. The air was dry and the early morning sun had a bite, even in the middle of winter. While grappling for two loggers throughout the day, shade was my friend, as often as possible.
Endless coiling on the foredeck of the grappling line.
Meanwhile, many dwarf minke whales continued to call on our sonobuoys. By staying nearby, as we searched with our sonar and grappled for the loggers, the life of the sonobuoys was extended dramatically. Rather than sailing over the horizon away from the sonobuoys, we stayed right nearby and thus continued to collect the continuous calls.
A tiny green turtle (the size of a cereal bowl) zooming along at the surface, distracted while we looked and looked, ever-hopefully at the grapple!
Over the course of the day we did eight grapple runs, one at one site and seven more at a second site. A variety of factors influenced the difficulty of these operations, being the hardest ones we have ever undertaken, however, in the end nous and determination won and after many hours, one of the loggers was securely on deck!
And here is the line of the logger, secure in the shaft of the grapple, Yea!
With great relief at sundown, the team assembled for a meal I called Chicken Something (!), since it was chicken with green beans, chile, mushrooms, Hoisin sauce and coriander served with steamed jasmine rice and oriental noodle salad. Everyone flopped into bed, if they weren’t on watch (!) after a long day!
Dawn heralded a busy day with two loggers to grapple from the seafloor.
Looking forward to being at Ningaloo tomorrow afternoon,
Mich
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