Matthew's Journal

It's been a week coming. A fire and some electrical problems pushed back the sail date a week, but this morning the Ronald Brown finally left harbor to start the VOCALS research cruise. Next stop, Rodman, Panama and then the southeast Pacific Ocean.

Before we left port this morning we had a Rabbi come aboard the ship to bless it, it's crew and scientists, and it's journey. The Rabbi prayed for safety, productivity, and good fortune all while cracking jokes about how Jews are not a sea fairing people. I'll have to take his word on that last part. Everything I know about Jews and their maritime traditions, or lack thereof, I learned from watching Ben Hur. Somehow, I can't imagine a Charleton Heston film set in ancient Roman times to be an authority on the matter.

The blessing of the RV Ronald H. Brown

Anyway, steering this post back to the topics of science and VOCALS, we're having a general meeting with all the scientists soon in the main lab on the Brown. I'll post a picture or two of the main lab in the near future so everyone can see my work area and how everyone who works in here has things set up. As for the content of the meeting, it's supposed to be general introduction so that all the scientists will know who each other are and have a general idea of what they're doing. We'll also discuss the updated cruise track and where we are and are not allowed to take data based on what countries have granted us permission to conduct research in their territorial waters.