*1 July

R/V Pelagia Cruise LOCO/IW 2009
	Diary overview
Wednesday, 1 July
On our way to the next station in the program. That station is just some 2000 miles further, which means that we will be steaming for the next 9 days. Today is Wednesday and we have covered nearly 1 day of this transit. The sky is grey and it rains heavily. What�and you are in the tropics? Yes, that was my reaction as well. It seems to be part of it. We are sailing through the inter-tropical convergence zone, also called the doldrums of areas of no wind. Here winds from the Southern Hemisphere collide with those from the Northern and vice versa. This passage takes some 2-3 days and that rains can be moderate, they say. Well! They aren't. Rain, rain and more rain. For the first time in my life on the Southern Hemisphere, because at NIOZ we thought we had to invent a new closure system of bottles for the water sampling. And if the mechanism has been manufactured it has to be tested too. Edwin, you join! Luckily this message did not come just a week before we departed. Work on board is like in the workshop at NIOZ, everything following the same routine like at "home". Waking- up, breakfast, onto the job, coffee break etcetera. Really nothing special, the way it feels. But, if I think about it the feeling becomes different. Flying 18 hours to a different continent, return sailing over the ocean. Its an adventure, even though you do not notice at work. Than we do what we have to do, support the ocean science, so that they will return home with the highest possible score (preferably 100%). Alright, that is mere theory. In practice�it is not very different. Everyone on board knows what he or she has to do, it comes across as a smooth routine in which the inexperienced and/or newcomers quickly adapt themselves. Its always a pleasure to participate. Well, after typing this I will join the others on deck again. They are probably cleaning up. The deck is full of boxes with instruments from the recovered moorings, and we will get more of that on board in a weeks time from now. In Las Palmas it will be a madhouse during the change with the new party. So, everything we can clean-up now is an advantage. �From the Atlantic�Greetings! �Edwin