We left out of San Juan Puerto Rico and crossed the Sargasso sea and the
abysmal plain to our first station for the last NAAMES cruise. Here
the North Atlantic is our mistress and her secrets we will explore. As
ships crew we find ourselves in some of the most remote locations on this
pale blue dot and few are more remote feeling than the desolate ocean
between Newfoundland and the Azores.
A tumult of rough seas and blustery storms being blown down from the
Arctic. Here is where we will settle in for the next twelve days, here is
where the science happens.
The R/V Atlantis cruising across the North Atlantic Ocean
I am always amazed at the orchestration of these multi platform trips, as
it is beyond difficult to get every piece of gear and every person at a
start point let alone an end.
We live in close proximity for nearly thirty days at a time with a lack of
sleep and long hours but we do it together and we do it for a cause bigger
than our creature comforts. A fact that helps me sleep well at night.
NAAAMES is personally one of my favorite trips and it isn’t for the cold
winds or the confused seas, it is for the crew of people, determined to do
something amazing, coming together as a family. It is my fourth trip out
here and I can safely say that they are in fact family now and could even
pass as ships crew themselves.
Derek Coffman (in front) and other members of the NAAMES scientific crew on the bow of the R/V Atlantis.
Written by Ronnie Whims