Smile when you say 'Damn Yankee!'

I left my office at 5:00 am this morning, and climbed up onto the dark bridge deck to see a wide string of lights before us, stretching across much of the northern horizon. We were heading due north: the Big Dipper accompanied the city lights; the Southern Cross was just off our stern. I was unsettled, however, by what appeared to be a mountain right in front of us! If it hadn't been 80 degrees, I would have been thinking iceberg...

Fortunately, the hill that I saw was just an island that we passed by a couple hours later. As we approached the harbor just south of Panama City, we discovered that the "city lights" we'd seen from 12 miles distant were actually ship-borne lights of a small flotilla of cargo ships, tankers, and all sorts of strange looking vessels. Present company included, of course :)

The most impressive moment of the morning was when the city began to appear in the distance. As twilight turned to day, we could suddenly see a huge assortment of tall buildings along the horizon. I had no idea that Panama City had such an impressive skyline.

We dropped anchor at 7 a.m., and spent the rest of the day waiting for our turn to traverse the Canal. We should head for the locks at about 6:30 tomorrow morning. Until then, please enjoy today's photographs. Click on the picture below to see more!

Skyline of Panama City

Father Time's on my back...

... at my heels... behind every door...

I turned 36 today... my first birthday at sea. I have to sing the praises of the JR's staff & crew: they went out of their way to make me feel special all day long.

The galley staff surprised me with a birthday cake (only two candles, bless their hearts), and everyone who was having lunch at the time sang Happy Birthday. Ginny was kind enough to take a photo, and took another in my "decorated" office.

Of course, everyone who celebrates a birthday out here receives the same treatment: I'm not a special case by any means. But as a first-timer, it's easy to feel like an outsider amongst crewmates who've sailed together for years. I'm grateful that Mike and the other techs have made me feel right at home - not just today, but for the entire leg. This is a great group of people with which to live and work. With folks like these, I can do two months out here standing on my head. :)

Mike & Mike in the Office

Take me back to your Ocean...

Jose Batista snaps a photo of our departure from Acapulco Bay .
We departed Acapulco on Saturday morning - I was still sleeping off our visit to town, so I missed the departure. Instead, I emerged to find nothing but wide-open Pacific Ocean surrounding the ship. We sailed for a little over three days in sunny weather, until we reached our site on Tuesday morning. Since then, far from the docile sunny weather we expected, we've been treated to almost constant cloud cover, ocean swells and rain! Oh, well...

The bad news is that I've contracted the CRUD that's been going around the ship since we left Victoria. Mike and I finally went on shift this week, so I ended up staying up for over 24 hours at one point. By the time I ended my shift at noon on Monday, I was coughing a bit and feeling wonky, and things have only gone south from there! More on that later.

The good news, is that we are now at Site 1256-D: a hole drilled into the bedrock of the ocean floor over two previous visits. On legs 206 and 309, the JR drilled down to a depth of 1255 meters (just under three-quarters of a mile).

Our mission is to deepen this hole as much as possible, bring up cores of material through the hollow drill string, and quantify & record the characteristics of the cross-section of rock. Scientists may examine our findings to learn more about the ocean floor's history, its original composition, and what changes it undergoes as it cools and becomes part of the earth's crust.

Called a "superfast spread zone", this site was chosen for its proximity to a rapidly-spreading rift in the ocean floor. This proximity allows us to drill directly into bedrock - without drilling through kilometers of sediment - and get an as-pure-as-possible snapshot of the recently-generated ocean floor. This profile can be compared to other locations around the globe, to confirm or enhance our understanding of the processes that create the earth's crust.

So... that's why we're here. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll try to explain in words & pictures how it's done...

SITE DETAILS:

Latitude: 06° 44.1631' North
Longitude: 091° 56.0612' West
Water Depth: 3634.7 mbsl; 3645.4 mbrf
Target Depth: Core as deeply as possible in the time allotted.
Penetration: Presently 1255.1 mbsf.

DRILLING PLAN:

The basic plan is to reenter Hole 1256D and clean out any fill that exists and deepen it with RCB coring until time expires or hole conditions become untenable. Before coring is resumed, a bottom water sample and temperature will be obtained. A core barrel will be dropped and any fill removed after which RCB coring will be initiated.

LOGGING:

There will be Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) experiment at an intermediate period to be determined by downhole results. The IODP Marine Mammal Protocol will be observed during this experiment. A complete log of the hole with four tool strings will be accomplished prior to departing site.


TIME ON SITE:

TBD. We project a minimum of 37 days on site. Actual departure is dependent upon resolution of pending contract negotiations with the Indian Government.

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Far beyond these Castle Walls

Acapulco, Part II - Dwight Hornbacher and I ventured up into the Fuerte de San Diego, an old Spanish fort that sits right across from our port berth, just off the main street that runs through the city. You can't see more than an old stone wall from the sidewalk, but I'm very glad that we decided to investigate - visiting this landmark is a must for understanding the history and significance of Acapulco.

Originally begun in 1614, the Fuerte de San Diego was rebuilt in 1783 after an earthquake destroyed the old fort in 1776. The fort was designed to protect the port of Acapulco from attack, in order to safeguard the lucrative Spanish trade with the Far East.

Nowadays, the fort houses the Museo Histórico de Acapulco. Each compartment of the fort featured a different aspect of its history - the importance of the Manila Galleon, trade with the Far East, its strategic significance in the War of Independence from Spain. The fort is in pristine condition - you can climb to the roof and look down upon the city; the guns are still in place, and the chapel and kitchen have been restored in period style.

There's a fascinating piece about Piracy, in particular the notorious "Pirate" Francis Drake. I spoke with one of the museum's hosts, and pointed out that in American schools, Sir Francis Drake is never called a Pirate; rather, one of the greatest English sea-captains of all time, and a hero in the fight against the Spanish Armada. The host acknowledged that when a British tour group comes through, he's careful to blame the term on a poor "Spanglish" translation... otherwise they often get upset at the epithet.

But the reality is, of course, that one nation's pirate is another's hero, and Sir Francis Drake was rapacious in the hunt for Spanish treasure, and infamous for devastating raids on the Spanish Main. The fort in Acapulco was conceived specifically to protect Spanish ships from this kind of privateering.

The museum also taught us about the strategy and historical significance of the fort. For example, its ingenious positioning atop the northwestern bluff created a huge tactical advantage: as invading ships entered Acapulco Bay, prevailing winds prevented them from bringing their guns to bear until AFTER the Fuerte de San Diego's guns could launch several volleys in their direction. This and the rugged surrounding terrain made the fort a formidable target.

In fact, the fort only fell once - it succumbed to siege during Mexico's War of Independence from Spain. We learned that Vicente Guerrero, after whom they named the State of Guerrero (in which Acapulco lies), distinguished himself with insurgent tactics to defeat the Spanish ... thus the term "Guerrila warfare".


Here are a few pictures...










Exhibits from Acapulco's trade with the Far East (15th - 19th C.)
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Fuerte de San Diego sits atop a bluff directly overlooking Acapulco's main thoroughfare
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The Spanish Fort's dry moat surrounds its 40-foot walls
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A single cannon guards the courtyard, where Acapulco's citizens would quarter in case of invasion
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The drawbridge is lowered for tourists to enter...
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The JR's derrick rises over the walls of Fuerte de San Diego
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I pose with one of the fort's guns on the roof, overlooking the city
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Dwight Hornbacher stands in one of the fort's five parapets...
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The view from atop the rampart... .

Where the palm-ah trees sway

Port call in Acapulco allowed us to walk on land for a few hours (I caught myself slightly swaying back and forth while standing on land); the crew, staff, and science parties fled the vessel like rats from a sinking ship. Mike Hodge, Dwight Hornbacher and I wandered a few blocks into the town to find some shops, and quickly found ourselves mired.

We weren't in the high-dollar tourist area, which is in the eastern half of the city and dotted with large luxury hotels and American chain stores & restaurants. Rather, we stayed in the more humble part of town, which is full of local vendors and places to eat.



The thriving economy there is based on fishing tourists who routinely pour off of the cruise ships in port. You can't walk more than 30 feet without being approaced by several locals trying to lure you towards their shop or stand, or selling something directly. I will never again believe the claim that the U.S. is the most commercialized society in the west - I've never gotten the full-court press from so many salesmen and signage in my life.

We eventually found a moderately sized market of leather shops, jewelry stores, and stands full of local trinkets and memorabelia. I picked up a few gifts for family & friends, and practiced my haggling skills as the local custom requires:

"That's very nice! You can have it for $40 American."
"That's crazy! In America I can get this for three bucks."
"Okay, I make you deal... Twenty dollars!"
"Hm... I like this, but I only have seven dollars on me."
"How about 10?"
"Deal."

After shopping, we headed back down to the main strip, which circles the bay one block in from the beaches. Dwight knew of a good place that featured a long pier, on which you can sit in the shade and eat your lunch. We got to sit out on the water, watch the pelicans bathe just off the pier, and the local fishermen bring their catch to shore - sunfish, red snapper, and shark.

There's no place in Acapulco that doesn't offer an impressive view of the city - it wraps around the bay and crawls up the mountains that surround her. But as pretty a view as we had at lunch - the boats, the birds, the high-rise hotels across the bay - it wasn't as captivating as that from the top of Fuerte de San Diego.

More about that next time... for now, some pictures:




Our first view of Acapulco Bay from the sea




One of many nice views of the city from atop its Spanish fort




Our lunch companion bathed while we ate...




Locals harvest sharks from the ocean, and sell it by the roadside

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Sliding down to Mexico way

We received the following announcement from our ship's Captain:

The basic plan for the JR port call at Acapulco is as follows.

Pilot will board the JR at 1000 November 11, 2005 and after a short pilotage we can expect to be alongside starboard side to the quay (which means the gangway will be on the aft end of the vessel) by about 1030-1045. At this time Customs and Immigration Officials will board the Vessel.

The Mexican Authorities are taking their Security responsibilities VERY seriously and the following is an extract from today’s communications: Cruise Ship “Carnival Spirit” will be berthed directly astern of us from 1300 /11th till 0200 / 12th and this increases the risk of a Security Breach. The port will have 15 Private Security personnel on shift 24 hrs per day and utilize CCTV to assist.

There will be armed Mexican Military personnel patrolling 24 hours per day. Mexican navy will be checking the berth using divers and foot patrols 1 hour before our arrival. A Mexican Navy Patrol boat will be on station and enforce a 50 meter exclusion zone around our vessel to seaward.

Should the vessel be required to evacuate due to a security alert then all personnel should muster at La Reyna Park.

No visitors will be allowed on board.

All JR personnel will use Gate No.X ONLY. Picture ID cards or Passports will be required on the quay and at the gate.

JOIDES Resolution is scheduled to depart Acapulco at 1000 November 12, 2005

Have a nice stay...


Alex Simpson, Captain, JOIDES Resolution

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Let me tell you about my boat...

Our day started with a tour of the ship, intended for the educators that make up the School of Rock. Ann Klaus, deputy director of the IODP at A&M, invited me to join them since it was my first time sailing as well. Our host was Ron Grout, Operations Superintendent for this expedition. He also works with me at our department at Texas A&M.

First, I thought you might benefit from a nice full-size photo of my floating office, and a fact sheet with everything you'd ever want to know about the JR. Right off the bat, I should tell you that she's 470 feet long, not 700 as I'd previously been led to believe. Still, she's just the right size for me... Check it out!



Ron directed us around those areas of the ship focused on drilling operations (Drill Floor, Core Tech Shop, Drill Shack, etc.) and operation of the vessel in general (such as the Engine Room). Here are a few photos from the tour... Click on each thumbnail for a larger print.




The Bridge of the JOIDES Resolution




New cores are prepared here on the catwalk (adjacent to the Drill Floor), immediately after being removed from the ocean floor.




View from the Drill Floor, looking up within the 200' derrick. The heavy machinery compensates for ocean heave during drilling.




One of three cranes on board the ship...




Ops Superintendent Ron Grout points the way




Bubba and Ron explain some of the mechanics behind drilling on the ocean floor.




Our Chief Engineer explains his equipment in the Engine Control Room, but never tells us how long things really take...


* EPILOGUE *

Our satellite feed is now up, so we're getting three channels of the Armed Forces Network (AFN). I was thrilled to find that AFN broadcast my Texas A&M Aggies' football game against Texas Tech... until the 56-17 final score :(

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