Falkor

DATE: 13 January 2017

POSITION: 16° 28.8’ N 169° 11.9’ W

COURSE: 048° T

SOG: 9.8 KTS

INBOUND HONOLULU!

UPDATE

Today is Friday, January 13^tharound 3:30 in the afternoon. We’re back on the western side of the International Dateline which puts us back on the same day as the Vineyard. A little before noon today we finished mapping six heretofore un-mapped seamounts in the southwest corner of the Johnston Atoll Marine National Monument and are now beginning the 800 nautical mile transit to Honolulu where we will disembark. There is a beautiful long four meter swell running from the Northwest with a relatively gentle trade wind blowing out of the northeast. The period (the time between the peaks of two swells) is over ten seconds which simply means this is a great ride on a beautiful afternoon. Brock, Jr. and I with cameos by members of the crew and other outreach staff on board have done seventeen classes with not only Vineyard elementary and high school classrooms, but also classrooms in Maryland, South Carolina and the Dominican Republic. To see and hear the enthus
iasm in these students and to be able to respond to their questions livestream has been wonderful. By the way…don’t ever cut third graders short. Their energy and their enthusiasm were spectacular! We’ve also been integrally involved in the science on board, serving watches in the Science Lab, editing data that is being collected by the multi-beam sonar and backscatter imaging equipment. Talk about new skills and understanding!

OBSERVATIONS

We were asked by one 9^th grader, “What are some of the things that have surprised you?”. I’m not so sure anything has really surprised either of us, but here are some rambling reflections: The thirty-one of us on board have interacted seamlessly. The crew has been more than welcoming, participating with us in classes almost every day. The scientists have been patient while teaching us the skills necessary to actually be productive in the lab. Each of the educators, artists, athletes and students on board have shared material and ideas with each other. We have only seen four other vessels during these three weeks, a container ship and “RoRo” bound for China and two Chinese fishing boats (late at night on radar). This kind of underscores how remote the waters we have transited are. Until today we had not yet seen any marine life other than a few flying fish and now quite regularly Boobies (birds). Late this morning I was on deck and spotted a whale spout and then the back of the whale. It was really too far away to identify, but the spout appeared to be in a V shape which would suggest it was a Northern Pacific Right Whale, one of only a few hundred left in the Pacific today. The Right Whale, Eubalaena glacialis, is the most endangered of all the large whales and has been protected since 1949. In that it takes a female ten years before she becomes fertile and the gestation is a full year, population growth has not been significant. Hopefully, as we approach Hawaii we will see more whales as we would be entering an area where they breed and this is that time of year for them. The weather has really cooperated given the time of year. Lastly, we dealt with a half knot foul current as we were easting during our initial passage out of Guam. In all likelihood it was a tradewinds-driven surface current, but it could have been an equatorial counter current, although at a Latitude of 9° North probably not.

REFLECTIONS

I’ve been asked a whole bunch of times by the crew, media representatives and 11^th Hour Racing and Schmidt Ocean Institute representatives what my “takeaway” is. The short answer, “Wow, this has been an incredible experience!” But actually, the best takeaway is the result of an e-mail I received this afternoon from a former Maritime Sciences student at MVRHS who is about to graduate from college. He is majoring in a subject that is not even remotely connected to the maritime industry, and he acknowledged that he has a significant post graduate obligation. Yet here we are almost four years after his graduation from MVRHS, and he was inquiring as to the existence of “fast track” programs that would help in his search for employment in the maritime field. What this e-mail underscored for me is that we at Sail Martha’s Vineyard are having an impact on the lives of the young people with whom we work. That’s the whole reason behind everything we do. On a personal level I will return to the Vineyard with a whole new appreciation for the technical and scientific efforts that are being made to preserve and protect our oceans. What I have learned by having the opportunity to work with the scientists, crew and other teachers on board R/V Falkor is to how to better inspire young people as to the myriad of opportunities and experiences that await them in the marine sector and to have an even greater chance at having a meaningful and constructive impact on their lives.

THE SCIENCE

I am delighted to report that the results of the ship’s scientific efforts have exceeded expectation with the weather cooperating and the ship’s crew showing extraordinary seamanship in anticipating and following the mapping track lines requested by Chief Scientist John Smith. Overall, we estimate that we have mapped approximately 9,000 to 10,000 square kilometers of seabed. There is no question that the technology that allows the scientists to pursue their goals is incredible, but it’s their perspective and innate understanding of the evolutionary time line and processes of how this physical planet evolved that blows me away. They are hydrographers, geologists, mappers, code writers, technicians, and their command of their subject matter is a bit overwhelming. Plus, they are really nice people and as I have said before, great teachers.

THANK YOU

I would be remiss if I didn’t extend to 11^th Hour Racing and the Schmidt Ocean Institute my greatest appreciation for their allowing us to participate in this expedition. As our Sustainability Partner, 11^th Hour Racing has been an enthusiastic advocate for and mentor to Sail Martha’s Vineyard’s environmental efforts, in particular the development of our LOCALLY Sourced/ZERO Waste event management model that we have been introducing not only to other Vineyard non-profits but also to the sailing community across the United States. Thanks also to all who encouraged me to join the R/V Falkor expedition, especially my wife, Hope who said, “How can you not go?”

Why am I sailing aboard R/V Falkor today? There are some easy answers to this question and others that are a bit heavy; not to say that any one answer is more important or less important than the other. There is no question that I am on board Falkor because I work for Sail Martha’s Vineyard, a respected public access sailing, educational, and environmental organization that is fortunate to be a grantee of 11thHour Racing, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation. Nor is there a question as to the underlying reason I’m on board; 11th Hour Racing’s total commitment to support grantee organizations like Sail Martha’s Vineyard that place demonstrable emphasis on environmental responsibility and sustainability; or the fact that my son is an 11th Hour Racing Ambassador and I get to participate in this expedition with him. All of these responses have huge meaning and of themselves could answer the question.

Awestruck:

But the real answer at least for me lies in the fact that as I have bounced through six decades of life and entered my seventh, a time when so many would argue that they have “seen it all,” I increasingly realize how little I have actually seen, experienced and learned. As I stand on deck looking at thousands of nautical miles of open ocean in all directions, it brings home what a small speck of mankind I am. What surrounds me this afternoon opens my eyes even wider and kindles my sense of total awe for where I am, the people I am privileged to be working and living with, and the research we are doing and placing in the public domain. It is this awe and this incredible learning experience that I have embarked on that I hope to effectively communicate to the students in my classes, to the people of Martha’s Vineyard and to sailors around the world. I hope that time and words won’t escape me when that opportunity arises.

The Science – The Learning

One (of many) of the really captivating opportunities that I have almost every day is listening to the scientists’ lectures. It is like being back in college except the teaching is better. They are able to break down the myriad of moving elements of deep ocean multibeam sonar mapping and backscatter imaging to a level that I can actually understand; and in such a way that the content builds on itself and brings me along with it. It has gotten to the point now where several times a day I’m in the lab getting my multibeam “fix,” each time picking up a nuance or detail that I had not realized before. Speaking of detail, how about the fact that the multibeam resolution is so powerful that you can actually identify zones of algae rising towards the surface as sunset approaches. Incredible!

Yesterday I was sitting with scientists Dr. John Smith, Chief Scientist, Joyce Miller and Jonathan Tree at the console in the Science Control Room and really starting to understand at a basic level the reasons for and the benefits of the research we will be doing at Johnston Atoll. It really struck home the responsibility we all have to try and make a difference in the direction this world is traveling with regard to the health of our oceans. There is no question that our oceans are powerful, but they are also incredibly fragile, and it will take all the commitment, technology and funding that man can bring to the table to address what threatens them and life as we know it. My job and the reason I am here is to reach out and share the knowledge I am gaining.

DATE: 5 January 2017

Position: Latitude: 12° 13.4’ N Longitude: 176° 18.8’ E

Course: 072° True

SOG: 10.5 knots

NEW MVRHS CLASSROOM!

Sail Martha’s Vineyard is pleased to announce that a new Maritime Sciences classroom has been opened and hosted its first three classes. To find the classroom all you need to do is come out of the MVRHS library, turn left and walk and swim about 9,000 miles to a position in the Pacific Ocean that is about 2,000 nautical miles south and west of Honolulu, Hawaii and look for a 272’ research vessel steaming northeast. In all seriousness, given the incredible technology available to us here on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel, the R/V Falkor, we have already done three livestream classes with the Maritime Sciences students at the high school and have several more on the schedule, some with other schools at the same time. We used these first sessions to orient the students to the ship, explain daily operations, orient them to where we are and its remoteness, and add in little bit of World War II history. As we continue the transit, the focus will be more on the science that we are doing which is absolutely incredible. But before we get to that here are some factoids that we shared with the students that might interest you:

How and Why Are We Here?

Thanks to 11^th Hour Racing’s support of their Ambassador (Brock Jr.) and Grantee (Brock Sr. on behalf of Sail Martha’s Vineyard)
11^th Hour Racing is a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation and is a sister program to Schmidt Ocean Institute
11^th Hour Racing’s mission is to establish strategic partnerships within the sailing and marine communities to promote collaborative systemic change for the health of our marine environment
As advocates of sustainability, we are here to bring the world of ocean research to the sailing and marine communities through classes and lectures from the R/V Falkor

Ship related specifics

R/V Falkor was built in Germany in 1981 and refitted in 2012
Her displacement is 2,024 GRT
She carries 105,150 gallons US of fuel
She has a range of ~ 8,000 miles
At 10 knots she burns 2,900 gallons US of fuel per day
She has a 536 horsepower bow thruster
Her water maker can make 8,453 gallons of fresh water per day
She is manned on this transit by a standing crew of 21
At least six languages are spoken on board
The galley serves 90 meals a day plus provides food for the night watches
The entire waste stream (less compostables when beyond 12 nm from shore) is maintained on board for proper disposal onshore

Geography and Local Facts

The Brocks’ flight time Boston to Guam was 22 hours
Guam is:
- 1619 miles south of Japan
- 1551 miles east of the Philippines
- 2763 miles north of Australia
- 3,330 miles west and slightly south of Honolulu

Guam was attacked three days after Pearl Harbor and not retaken until July 1944
Guam is largest island in the Marianas (217 sq miles)
Its population is 161,000 (2015)
The two largest contributors to the economy are tourism and the US Military
There are very few birds on the island due to an introduced species of brown tree snake

Navigation

Due to sea state we were not able to sail a direct great circle route and transited south to Latitude 9°N before easting for three days and then beginning track north
The sea state (short and steep) was driven by the NE tradewinds sustained in the mid twenties, gusting higher
Our average speed has been approximately 10.5 knots (252 miles each day)
We are now fighting adverse current of 1.0 to 1.5 knots, possibly the equatorial counter current but more likely a surface current driven by the tradewinds
R/V Falkor is physically driven by a sophisticated automatic pilot that is tied in with the navigation system
Obviously, she can be hand steered but other than leaving the wharf and departing Guam, she has been electronically steered

Homework

The Maritime Sciences II navigation students are given our noon fixes each day along with our course and speed over ground (“SOG”)
Their job is to project the ship’s latitude and longitude at the next noon fix on the NGA charts we left behind on a chart table at school
This is particularly challenging given the 1:3,500,000 scale of the charts
They are more than capable of doing it quite accurately

Upcoming Freshman Project (They don’t know it yet!)

To create three dimensional models of the Johnston Atoll seamounts that we will be mapping
Much like an architect represents topography in an architectural model the students create templates from the actual maps and then trace and cut foam board and assemble the layers as determined by our multibeam mapping efforts

Next Week

The following is the description set forth in Chief Scientist Dr. John Smith’s original proposal to Schmidt Ocean Institute: by permission…“The goals of this project are to carry out additional multibeam mapping, sub-bottom and magnetic surveys…and produce derived products including interpretive geologic maps and substrate analyses necessary for habitat characterization and mineral resource evaluation.”

Update #3 – Keep the Conversation Flowing

https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/eyes-testing-uavs-mapping-johnston-atoll/

Date: 2 January 2016

Position: Latitude: 09° 33.4’ N Longitude: 161° 47.6’ E

Course: 089° T

Speed: 10.75 knots

If the routines were new three days ago, they are now becoming common. The faces familiar, the smiles regular, the conversation flowing more smoothly as we begin to understand each other and our roles on board. The fact that the seas have settled down and everyone is used to the motion certainly helps morale immensely.

Not sure how the cards were dealt but somehow my father and I were scheduled as the first onboard presentation to the crew and science team; not to say this is the worst thing but always a little intimidating to kick things off. The idea behind these presentations is that throughout the expedition each scientist and special personnel will give a 40 minute presentation on what their focus will be for the expedition. With little of our backgrounds being hard core oceanographic science but more geared to professional sailing and maritime education with our mutual understanding of, respect and passion for the oceans, we decided that we would do our presentations together, attempting to weave in and out of each other’s area of interest/focus to provide two perceptions of what it is that we actually do.

For me the emphasis lay on my work as a professional sailor and Ambassador for 11^th Hour Racing while my father’s emphasis focuses on Sail Martha’s Vineyard and the Maritime Studies curriculum. We met somewhere in the middle of sailing, sustainability and kiteboarding with our discussion on the Vineyard Cup and the ZERO waste event model. This quickly turned into a discussion as to how we all operate our daily lives both on the ship and off. In many ways the ship is just like the Island in that all waste that is not compostable has to be taken off the ship at the end of the cruise so there is a huge emphasis placed on reducing excess packaging before the ship departs port. By reducing packaging and by the ship working with the distributors to reuse the cardboard boxes we end up keeping a significant amount of trash out of the waste stream. After this discussion we were given the opportunity to assess their onboard waste system and to discuss what constructive criticism can be offered. It is these sorts of discussions between us, the Captain, the Engineer and the Chef’s that will end up making the most difference in reducing the amount of waste that is produced.

We have also been fortunate to hear two really interesting present
ations from Joyce Miller, vice chair of NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel and someone who has contributed much of the bathymetric data for over fifty islands in the US – affiliated Pacific islands, many of which are extraordinarily remote like the island of Maug (Guam spelled backwards). Go find that one! Her presentations have given us a basic understanding of deep ocean mapping and the development and use of Multibeam Sonar technology. I wouldn’t say that we are totally up the curve yet, but we are at least beginning to understand what we are looking at on the consoles and our conversations around the subject are moving slowly out of the elementary level. We look forward to hearing from Chief Scientist Dr. John Smith, Science Program Director for the University of Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory later this week.

One thing that you never forget onboard this vessel is that while Science is King safety is God. From the time we stepped on board we have drilled on Man Overboard, Abandon Ship and lastly on Fire Fighting. The captain actually had the entire crew out on the aft deck yesterday at 1200 hrs to run a fire training drill. Now this was not your average, here is where you muster drill or this is where the extinguishers are. This was oil soaked rags placed in an oil drum and lit on fire. Then members of the entire crew donned safety gear and trained with hoses and extinguishers. The goal was to not only learn how to operate all the equipment effectively but also to gain confidence in our ability to extinguish a fire without injuring ourselves or our crewmates. It was great to see everyone line up eagerly to operate the safety gear and to see the Captain enthusiastically lighting fires for us all.

The ship continues East with the tradewinds lightening up over the next 48 hours. Our primary research destination, Johnston Atoll, is still a solid five days of transit away. We look forward to sharing more in the coming days.

Brock (Jr)

We are out here on Schmidt Ocean Institute’s r/v Falkor using state of the art technology on board to understand one of the most remote areas of the world through the mapping of seamounts, ridges and other features of Johnston Atoll. Schmidt Ocean Institute works to advance the frontiers of global marine research by providing operational, technological and informational support to pioneering ocean science and technology development projects at sea.

https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/eyes-testing-uavs-mapping-johnston-atoll/

30 December 2016

Morning Position:

LATITUDE: 11° 33.28 N

LONGITUDE: 148° 21.44’ E

COURSE: 112° True

SOG 11.7 Knots

Top of the day…from a long way away,

Our first twenty-four hours at sea have been uneventful, save a short and relatively steep tradewind driven sea. The sea has now lengthened out a bit, and our ride has become a lot more comfortable. I took some time this morning to just stand on deck and it occurred to me how vast and how remote this part of the Pacific is…and then along comes a Blue Footed Booby (related to the Gannet) who hung out flying around the ship for a half hour or so, then disappears…where to?

As I begin to settle into a schedule, it’s looking like I’m up around 0530, on a stationary bike by 0600 and a quick shower and then breakfast around 0700. I’ve usually got my eyes buried in my computer by 0800. We’ve been having some antennae issues on board, so I am working to make sure the live classes I have planned for the next two weeks are sufficiently flexible/scalable in the event our hangout times are shortened. The rest of the typical day seems to get absorbed with training and reading. Not all bad!

The r/v Falkor built in 1981 in Germany and with a refit by Schmidt Ocean Institute completed in 2012, is an extraordinary platform on which to effect sophisticated scientific/oceanographic research. I was in the dry lab late yesterday afternoon monitoring our transit over the Marianas Trench. We didn’t cross over the absolute deepest part of the ocean, but we came damn close, passing just south of the Noro Deep at 10,000+ meters and north of the Challenger Deep at close to 11,000 meters. I did see a depth of 9,202 meters come across the screen. Take Mt. Everest, turn it upside down in the sea and it wouldn’t reach the bottom of where we were! That’s deep!

We start training this afternoon with John Smith, Lead Scientist for this expedition and Marine Geophysical Specialist and the Science Program Director for the University of Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, and also with Joyce Miller, vice chair of NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel. Talk about being in over my head!

We’ll be beating you into 2017 by fourteen hours, but know that both “Brocks” are wishing you a Happy New Year from the Pacific.

Peace out,

Brock, Sr.

After 21 hours of flight time and just about two full days of total travel we arrived on Guam and the r/v Falkor and immediately walked into the ship’s crew celebrating Christmas Eve. We were eagerly welcomed by the generous and festive Captain and Crew and probably looked a bit out of sorts and jet lagged. Since then we have
been using the time to acquaint ourselves with the vessel and crew. With many wrong turns down long corridors and horrific mispronunciations of the very diverse crew names we are doing best our best to acclimate to life onboard.

In an effort to better understand the Island and its
history we rented a car and over the last two days have been from one end to the other. Exploring everything from Ritidian Point Wildlife Refuge at the far North end to free diving the bomb holes off Asan Beach to visiting the War in the Pacific Historical Museum. Interestingly enough, other than a few masts across the harbor and maybe a dozen or so at a small marina at the southwest end, there isn’t much indication that there’s a whole lot of cruising yachts or live aboard sailing out here, although given how far it is from anywhere that is not entirely surprising. The real take away is the history of this island as it relates to World War II. We hadn’t quite realized that Guam fell to the Japanese only three days after Pearl Harbor and was not recaptured until mid-summer 1944. This would be an important stepping stone in the battle for the Pacific Theatre as it gave the United States a large airstrip as well as protected Harbor to launch the battle for Iwo Jima in February 1945. Guam was affectionately referred to by the US Navy as the Supermarket to the Pacific.

This morning (12/27) the ship was moved to a different wharf inside the Port of Guam in Apra Harbor for bunkering (fueling) in preparation for our departure. With a Pilot on board in accordance with Harbor Regulations the Vessel was quietly and easily maneuvered without the use of tugs. Once made fast we had an incredible view of four Japanese flagged tuna boats off-loading their catch (tons of it) destined for Japan. It does get one to question the sustainability of this fishery given the immense volume coming off only four boats in a matter of an hour.

As for the rest of today the full accompaniment of scientists and personnel arrive throughout the day. Tomorrow we will begin ship’s orientation, safety briefings and training as well initial coordination with the head scientist John Smith.

We look forward to sharing more in the coming days.