PICASSO final test

It was an ok day today. The people leaving left at 10 instead of 11am, as they had about an hour's boat ride to get to the dock. I was happy to stay on the big boat, as the little one was jumping around all over the place on the waves. They had all gotten into plastic clothes and had their bags in plastic bags, so guess they were ok.

After that we all kind of stood around not doing much. I had a good nap, and read up on some siphonophores. I've finished sorting the plankton samples and we're going too fast to get more now. I guess I'll look at the ones I have already, before they digest themselves up and disappear. But right now I'm feeling a bit queesy, and the 5pm fish dinner is aproaching, so I'll avoid locking myself up in the lab for now. Maybe after dinner.

Another use of a good fishing rod : CTD depth calibration.

And a little comic note : the ship rules when in port at Guam or Saipan (where they have water discharge restrictions) :

" All toilet stools are permitted, but don't use hand washer"

I don't even want to speculate about that one.....

After dinner proved to be full of excitement! Yoshida-san has managed to fix the ARGOS transmitter, and we had the first PICASSO check with only the scientists in charge. Although Yoshida helped out and the engineers were there to help out. A couple more things need adding or re-ordering on the checklist, but otherwise things seem good. I am even getting the hang of what to check, and helped Dhugal do a mini test last night. Not understanding the japanese commands makes checking things a bit difficult of course. As soon as he’s got the check-list stabilizes Dhugal will write it in English, but it’s a lot of work for nothing right now.

Everyone was so happy of the evening’s work that they all retired for raw tuna at 11pm, but I thought I’d go to bed instead. We have a big day tomorrow, with 2 PICASSO dives planned, untethered, and without the engineers helping out. Actually they’ll probably be helping out anyway, but they won’t be the ones driving. If you have the man who made it driving, there are always less bugs. Also he is the one who built the control room, so of course he knows where and when to press.

It’s marmalade this morning, so will go down early!