Diary

R/V Pelagia Cruise BSIK/CAMP/LOCO/CIS

Monday – 3 October 2005	Back home…
The back garden of NIOZ... When you look out of the window, you can see the Wadden Sea. We entered the Marsdiep, the entrance to the Wadden Sea around 13:00 METS. Normally the ship is in the NIOZ harbour about 15 minutes later, but in the harbour a huge ferry is moored and the tide doesn't allow us to enter in safely. So we have to wait until tomorrow morning at high tide. During the turn of the tide the current stops and it is easy to go in the harbour.
To lay anchored so close to Texel is not very nice, but it gives people time to make all preparations before leaving the ship tomorrow. This moment is also a good moment to think back about this cruise. In many aspects one can say that it was a great success. We have recovered and re-deployed all the moorings. Except for a less important part of the transect, we have done all CTD-casts. Lots of floats were deployed. We could even help another ship that ran out of time due to bad weather. We experienced the beauty of Greenland with an iceberg. We went through some big storms. And we all are glad to be back. This is also the right moment to thank a lot of people. In particular the crew with so much experience in handling instruments such as the CTD/rosette system, complicated moorings during heavy swell. The experience is a combination of the deck crew together with the bridge. Oceanography cannot be done without these guys. The science group was also nice. Many people I didn't know earlier, but I have the feeling that everything worked out very well. I could rely upon everybody. So, in short: "Dear cruise party, science and ship, thanks a lot for these excellent four weeks"…