Grid of the Hydrothermal Hunt Crew and their essential items.
Anyone’s first experience traveling on the open ocean can be strange and overwhelming, but I’ve been so well taken care of onboard R/V Falkor, it has basically become a floating home away from home. The crew have gone out of their way to help with everything. You don’t hear people saying “That’s not my job” —everything is truly a team effort. Spending a month (for the scientists) or two (for the crew) with the same people in a relatively confined space could quickly lead to mutiny. Fortunately, everyone here is ridiculously smart, interesting and competent, which makes it easy to get along and make friends. I get the impression that if my camera broke, the engineers and technicians could repair it using soda cans and electrical tape. If there’s one thing we couldn’t do without, it’s the crew. So I wanted to see what they couldn’t do without.
Fitter Edwin Pabustan’s workshop is the place we get spares and repairs. He can’t do without his welding mask, it allows him to build his way out of the various technical problems inevitable when working in a tough ocean environment.SOI/Thom HoffmanTodor Gerasimov the Electro Technical Officer (ETO) is also the ‘king of the internet’ on the ship via satellite. He keeps the data flowing for everyone, from the Sentry AUV team downloading firmware updates, to annoying filmmakers using up the bandwidth. He marshals the web traffic and keeps everyone connected. His essential piece of equipment is his laptop. ‘If the internet goes down, the scientists will come after me with a fire axe!’SOI/Thom HoffmanMildred Dadis, one of our two awesome stewardesses chooses salty crackers, underlining the importance of food on the ship. The movement is like constantly being on a yoga ball, and good stocked supplies and snacks are essential to fuel 24-hour science.SOI/Thom HoffmanThe crazily talented chefs Greg Kuberski and Arek Ochocki do incredible work in a moving galley. The most essential tools of the trade are still your best pan and your best knife.SOI/Thom HoffmanThe crazily talented chefs Greg Kuberski and Arek Ochocki do incredible work in a moving galley. The most essential tools of the trade are still your best pan and your best knife.SOI/Thom HoffmanJoyce Young, our other stewardess, couldn’t live without the gym, she’s even been spotted getting boxing lessons on the monkey island.SOI/Thom HoffmanMick Utley the bosun has to get involved in most over-the-side operations on the ship, his calmness under pressure is put down to his, quintessentially British, morning cup of tea.SOI/Thom HoffmanMarine technician John insists ‘Do not skimp on your multimeter!’SOI/Thom HoffmanAdriana Zamudio the Purser is the glue that holds the ship together. She takes care of everyone and ensures everyone is comfortable—even in emergencies. In that rare case, she’s poised ready with everyone’s passports if we have to abandon ship.SOI/Thom HoffmanDeckhand Jack is the newest recruit and clearly loves the sea, despite being rocked around by big waves the last couple of days, he’s back up on deck on his break, reading a book about sailing.SOI/Thom Hoffman3rd Engineer Ramon can be found entertaining the crew at one of the many social events at sea that keeps everyone entertained. His cover of La Bamba is spectacular.Colleen, Lead Marine Technician, is all about control, as she has mastery over all the inputs to the video matrix on her tablet app, keeping everyone connected to the science. Rumours are that she can control the CTD remotely from the sauna.
I couldn’t fit everyone from the awesome SOI team in this post, but rest assured they are all fantastic. From the guys who “encouraged” me to do karaoke, to those who sang sea shanties, and ran christmas decoration competitions. All the while keeping us fed, informed, educated and entertained.
All the scientists on board also greatly appreciate all the help they have been given during this expedition by the Falkor crew. We couldn’t do our science without you!
