Off we go!

Posted Monday 25th Feb, Describes Thurs 21st Feb
Ok, I’m back! Apologies for the long wait, unfortunately I did get a little sea-sick, but more of that later, I’ll try to keep chronological order!
So I think we were up to Thurs: The day we set sail….
I think I missed breakfast that day, got up late and watched an episode of stargate atlantis before lunch. Sorry for the foodies, my memory of the food has gone… Did a couple of bits and bobs, before a short walk along the coastal path in winds that could blow you over – I kept away from the edge… Shore leave ended at 4pm and we had a group meeting at 3pm so I didn’t have much time, however I still managed to find the cara-cara again, this time with its mate, not quite so friendly as before though! Then it was back to the ship. At the meeting we discussed what the plans were for coring and who would have what shift. I got the 4pm-4am shift, with 9pm-11pm on the swath and TOPAS watch. The TOPAS also images the sea-floor but can penetrate into the sediment to get a picture of it, how deep it goes depends on conditions, but several metres can take you back thousands of years! It is not terribly efficient and often ‘loses’ the seafloor at which point you have to tell the software where it is!
Then it was time for a tour around the labs for everyone to explain to everyone else what they are doing in their bit of the lab, when to keep out and what is dangerous. So I had a chance to utter a dire warning to anyone daring to use my lab space as a corridor between 2 other labs as it is temperature controlled – use under pain of death! It was a very interesting tour and I think everyone found that too. I know I plan to visit the bios while they sort and photograph the catches of their epi-benthic sledge (a sledge which dredges the ocean floor to see what is down there!).
As the tour finished, the ship set sail, so I scrambled back to my room to put my laptop in a drawer! Then it was up to the monkey island to watch Stanley drift away. Apparently all the scientists normally watch until we can no longer see the Falklands, but this time we ‘heave to-ed’ and put down anchors for a couple of hours to test the engines one last time. We watched the seascape and surrounding islands for a while, taking pictures. Then there was a cry of ‘penguin’ from Claire, which I instantly photographed until someone pointed out it was flying, and therefore must be a shag. I thought it was a little odd…..Most of us then disappeared down below for dinner (again my memory fails me), then I went to the bar to just sit, as I was starting to feel a little light-headed. Went off to bed at 9.30, Hilary had already gone as she was starting to feel sick and then came the first day of sailing/being sick…