April 2, 2010 - Jarvis Island

I missed yesterday not because I wanted to take a break but had problems with CTD computer. This is a situation where the right hand knows not what the left hand does. A typical example of implementing technology designed for the nine to five office environment to a 24/7 operation of collecting scientific data. The automated windows update server installed updates that required a reboot. I had the server set up last year to where computers that collected data were exempt and updated when we returned to home port. It rebooted and corrupted the CTD parameter file that collected data from the sensors and fired bottles to collect water samples. After three and a half hours the computer was up and running. Survey did CTDs on the south side of Jarvis Island. To fix the problem, I retrieved an old file with parameters from a backup I made last year before leaving the ship. My solution worked and the Survey department was back in business.

Floating around Jarvis Island. No trees or tall bushes.

Shade is a premium.

Here are photos I took yesterday of where we are at. Today it was cloudy with rainsqualls. We got close enough to Jarvis where I could make out the old airfield control tower. This island is a piece of desert out in the middle of the ocean. At least the desert in the Great Basin has color and shrubbery. As for here, you can see grass but no signs of tall plants. I will have to talk to two bird scientists from Fish and Wildlife who are camping on the island as we float around Jarvis about their observations after we leave here. I presume they are coming with us at least to Palmyra since there are no active airfields at Jarvis or Kingman Reef, our next stop. Plenty of birds though and you can hear them singing as they fly around the ship in droves both night and day. It seems they are happy to have company.

Jarvis Island on the equator. No solid black line or

signs to indicate we are on earth's waistline

Four weeks from tonight I will be home. I told “L” that as we both looked at the calendar and clock. The waiting builds up, I get home, and then what? I do not mean to be anticlimactic but last year I was anxious to meet “L” and “I” in Hawaii and spend a week together. A week went by and next thing you know it was over and I was sailing again. We are only going to be reunited for seven weeks as she and the son return to Samoa for a visit and I go back to sea for two months four days after they leave.

Close up of the old airlfield control tower

These four months are miniscule compared to tours I had on the Ka’imimoana in 2003 for nine months and in 2006 for eleven months. At that time “L” was still in Samoa, we were not married. The children were living with their mother in 2003 and my daughter moved in a year later. “M” did get a sense of independent living while I was gone. When I returned I hardly saw her as she was working, going to school and doing the student socializing scene such as grunge clubs, losing a shoe in the mosh pit and all. Today she is married to a great husband and has a son. I haven’t seen my grandson for quite some time but I know I will see him at my son’s high school graduation in June.

I bid you goodnight from Jarvis Island on the equator at 0 and 160w.

Time is in GMT and notice the six minutes difference between

sunrise and sunset on the GPS. Attribute that to the equinox.

GPS shows that I am camping out on the equator.