today, i walked on a research vessel!

In fact, I did a lot more walking than I'd planned, as I parked at the research building rather than near the dock.

I'll see how my right leg feels about that tomorrow.

For now, I'm pretty elated about the experience!

 

This was an 'Open Ship Night' at the SkIO and I was one of the first to arrive for the first tour!

The ship is the R/V Savannah and it's been out to sea for 110 days so far this year, so it took some planning on the part of Jackson Schroeder, the Public Relations Coordinator to make sure it would be in port.

Dr. Mark Frischer, one of the researchers that I met last year, kept the group entertained as each set of 8 awaited their turn.

He was telling us about the gear off to his right.

I was in the second group to board the research vessel.

That's his graduate student, Alyssa Fritz, on the left; beside her is Claire Eilers, a graduate student of Dr. Nicholas Foukal.

They were in charge of our herd of cats.

(smile!) 

They first talked of the equipment on the newly-extended stern.

That work was done in 2024, to lengthen the ship by 11 feet to make more room for NOAA gear on their missions.

That's nice extra income for the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography!

That's good, since the refitting cost 4.6 million dollars - which is a million more than the ship cost in 2001 when it was brand new!

The two young women didn't tell us that; nope, that came from a old Brit in our group who was well-read on such matters.

Very interesting!

After we'd looked at all on the stern, we were led in to the Wet Lab, aptly named as it was the first room in.

The Dry Lab was next, before we turned another corner into the dining area and the galley, which was quite well equipped.

It would need to be, as some of the trips were month-long ventures!

Then we went upstairs to one of the bunk rooms.

It was pretty petite - only half our party could enter the space!

We went up yet another set of narrow, steep, stairs - more of a ladder, really - to the bridge, where Morgan talked to us about the missions.

What a marvelous view!

And did I say "missions"?

Yes, this ship serves not only the researchers here at SkIO, but also marine researchers at other universities, as well as weather missions for NOAA.

Busy as bees they are!

Like I said, that's a good thing, given the cost of the recent overhaul.

We climbed down from that lofty perch on a twisty set of narrow, steep, stairs back to the stern.

That's Claire, pointing out some of the controls in the conning tower. 

The view is toward the A-frame at the back, capable of holding more than two tons of gear and research equipment.

Someone asked her if anyone ever got seasick on the voyages.

Most definitely!

The ship is tall and narrow, with a wide bottom, so it rocks like a child's toy in choppy waters.

She said someone always gets seasick, but you just deal with it.

I remember getting so sick on that little, fast, hydrofoil that ferried us from Naples to the Isle of Capri - that was rough!

I feel for those who sailed on R/V Savannah!

The end of the tour was down in the engine room.

We were advised those steps were even steeper and more twisty than the ones that came down from the bridge.

I told Claire and Alyssa that I would abstain from that trek!

So, I stayed on the stern and talked to Jackson for a while.

When he was called away, I was joined by Terrell Scarboro, the ship's engineer, and we spoke for probably 15 minutes!

I'd been talking with him about the water testing tubes on the deck, telling him that I recalled doing such years ago...

when I was with a high school science group called STERI...

and his eyes lit up...

he had been with that group, too!

I told him there had been two of us from Jenkins High, at least four from BC, and two from Johnson High...

and Johnson was his school!

He'd graduated in 1976, same as me!

But neither of us remembered the other from our time with Charles Schuberth and the Student-Teacher Environmental Research Initiative.

Hey, it's been just over 50 years ago, as that program was for high school juniors, so it's understandable that we wouldn't recognize each other.

Plus, I was busy dating two of the Benedictine Cadets, so, there's that.

Still, it was really nice to run into someone who shared that bit of history with me and was also a Savannah native.

That's really rare for me.

And he gave me a parting gift: a sighting of a dolphin chasing a fish dinner almost into the water's edge as I was headed to the pier!

Wow... what a great shot that would have been!