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Long-Term Ocean Climate Observations (LOCO) – D301/302
Cruise Diary – 23rd March 2006	Theo and his 'students'… Matthijs, Tycho and Petra
Thursday - Only one more day to go before the real work starts. It is now more or less definite that we reach our first station on Friday morning. Thus the definite plans for that day can be made. The first priority of the cruise is the recovery and redeployment of an array of moorings that have been deployed across the section. These moorings consist of long steel cables attached to the seafloor (up to 2800 m deep) via a heavy weight and uplifted via a buoy floating at some 500 m below the surface.
Many instruments are connected to this cable and measure currents, temperature and salinity. The major question the coming days will be: have the instruments functioned as they should and if so, what is the result? We focus on the first question since we need to know whether instruments have to be replaced or that they can be deployed a few days later for another period of observations. Thus, busy days to come. On the ship itself all of us really enjoy the fantastic meals that the cooks prepare for us. Of course, breakfast is English, including eggs the way you like them, sausages, white beans etc. Lunch is very personal. Before 9 am each day one has to fill in a list with your personal choice for that day. We can choose from over 50 different meals. For dinner, that includes a starter and a desert, there are also always different options. And if you have not had enough, you can always finish with French cheese. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of us frequently go the gym where running, biking or rowing may help us to prevent too much overweight!
Dinner in the mess	Geert-Jan and Ulrike