AL 08-03 Fall Bottom Trawl Survey

Leg V

WHOA-HO! Have no fear, for your favorite Operations Officer is here! Yes folks, after a long hiatus, I, ENS Jonathan Heesch have returned to my favorite mission aboard ship. Cruise Notes and the Picture of the Day! A very special thanks to LTJG Chad Meckley for covering this duty over the past month as I was on travel and handling the finer points of the Decommissioning Ceremony set for November 20th. Regardless, we set sail yesterday November 3rd on a fair wind out of Woods Hole. After completeing a test tow at Menemsha we cut through Quick's Hole and up towards the Canal where we received a grand send off for our final trip through the ditch. We were met by one of the Army Corps of Engineer's Patrol Craft which escorted us up the canal with lights and the occasional siren. Once under the Bourne Bridge we received a vehicle escort on the shore side from one of the Canal's Patrol Cars, lights-a-blazin'! We also had some great cheerleaders on the other side who greeted us with sparkler's and flashlights and cheers abounding. Thanks for the great support ESB! We even had some other well wishers on the far end of the canal flashing us with the old high beams! All in all it was a great send off for a great ship; we headed off to the northeast to start towing stations one last time! More tomorrow!

PS: Don't forget to checkout the Cape Cod Times for a story they recently ran on the ship and if there are any concerns, please contact me at ops.albatross@noaa.gov. Thank you!

Tuesday, November 4th, currently located 65NM NE of Gloucester, MA. Air Temp: 12°C, Water Temp: 10°C, Winds: SE at 8 knots. Things have gone well out here since we got underway and have been making great progress. We have completed the all of the BTS stations with the exception of one in the Great South Channel just north of Great Round Shoal. Catches in general have been decent with a wide variety of species including Long Horn Sculpin, Dogfish, Winter Flounder and even some Cod, not alot, but some. Weather is coming along nicely and we are enjoying calm seas and nice skies. We are expecting some weather later on in the week but for right now we are doing good. Standby for the final chapters of this incredible journey!

Wednesday, November 5th, currently located 45NM NE of Gloucester, MA. Air Temp: 12°C, Water Temp: 10°C, Winds: SE at 8 knots. Conditions remain beautiful though overcast out here. Waters are calm and the towing is going smoothly. Our abounding species variety continues though we still see our old friend the Dog on an all to regular basis. All in all it is smooth sailing though once we move onto Jeffery's Ledge it could go down hill. Only time will tell!

Thursday, November 6th, currently located 30NM E of Boston, MA. Air Temp: 11°C, Water Temp: 11°C, Winds: E at 12 knots. Amazing how things deteriorate! The seas picked up considerably overnight which threw some folks for a bit of a loop, though overall they are holding up well. That and we are again mired in fog. We are tearing up nets at a rapid pace. Lost an entire cod end with it's chaffing gear and ripped out a belly on a different net. Jeffery's is not playing nice with Albatross on her last time fishing here! We have still managed to get some tows with Spiny Dogs as the predominate species in the catch, though we continue to see Cod on a fairly regular basis. Hopefully tomorrow things will improve. See you then!

Friday, November 7th, currently located 8NM E of Highland Light (Outer Cape Cod), MA. Air Temp: 11°C, Water Temp: 11°C, Winds: Light & Variable. Fog bound; the monotonous blaring of our fog horn followed by the higher pitched dah, dit, dit of the Bigelow's horn in the distance. The murky gray calm that surrounds the ship in dense fog, calm seas and a light wind; long rollers coming in from the southeast give some ease to the surreal nature of being mired in this purgatory between night and day. The fishing continues on in this wary condition when many others would cease, we continue to fish. Repeatedly the bottom has gotten the best of us or the Bigelow. Rimracking, tearing, you name it, it happened today. Needless to say, things are moving along and we have been catching Spiny Dogs predominately. However, we have had a reasonable showing of Cod and a few tows that were primarily Pollock. We will push through in the fog and hope for a sunnier day tomorrow!

Saturday, November 8th, currently located 35NM E of Nantucket, MA. Air Temp: 11°C, Water Temp: 11°C, Winds: SE at 12 knots. The fog continues but the bottom has greatly improved. Our nets are thankful for the softer bottom here in Closed Area 1. Catches have been good with the occasional large tow. Dogs continue to predominate but we do see the occasional Sea Raven and Red Fish. We finished the final Bottom Trawl Station today with some emotion as we had a moment of silence when the net came aboard. That tow, #346 was the final tow in a string stretching back 45 years! We sent off two bottles with a picture of the crew, the last tow coordinates and a contact address for anyone who happens to find it. Chief Scientist threw one and the Captain threw the other. It was pretty emotional for all involved and to top it all off we hoisted a broom from the Starboard Yardarm. This tradition was started by Lord Admiral Nelson when he would return from defeating the French and Spanish Fleets symbolizing that he had swept them from the sea. Much like we have swept all of the BTS Stations from the face of the Northwest Atlantic! THREE CHEERS FOR ALBATROSS IV!!! HUZZAH, HUZZAH, HUZZAH!

Sunday, November 9th, currently located 42NM ESE of Nantucket, MA. Air Temp: 10°C, Water Temp: 13°C, Winds: S at 8 knots. It took long enough but the fog has finally lifted and we have enjoyed a bright day out here for once. Though some of the folks' eyes burned while the large bright ball in the sky roused their curiosity, most everyone came out of the fray unscathed. Fishing wise we continue to make progress though we continue to see large catches of Dogfish as we move along which does slow our progress. Needless to say the data continues to be collected and we look forward to this final week of Calibrations aboard Albatross!

Monday, November 10th, currently located 35NM E of Nantucket, MA. Air Temp: 12°C, Water Temp: 11°C, Winds: SE at 18 knots. Things continue to roll smoothly with the smooth bottom of Closed Area 1 assisting us in maintaining a smooth operation. We are continuing to knock out stations though we consistently have large amounts of Dogfish coming on deck. We have also been seeing a reasonable amount of Haddock, Redfish, and some Cod; as well as our favorite squid Loligo! All in all things are moving along swimmingly and as always, more tomorrow! PS: Happy 233rd Marine Corps Birthday! (Your favorite Cruise Note Writer did that for a few years before coming to NOAA.)

Tuesday, November 11th, currently located 45NM E of Nantucket, MA. Air Temp: 8°C, Water Temp: 10°C, Winds: W at 22 knots. The winds have picked up and things are a tad choppy. Other than that though, things are good. Communications with the Bigelow have been free flowing and we have been knocking out stations in Closed Area 1 with little trouble. Tows have been good with continued bountiful hauls of Dogfish. All in all things are good and we are looking forward to scallop dredge searching tomorrow before working our way home one last time. We also took a little time to recognize our Veterans Today at the 1200 Watch Change before conducting drills. We read off the names of those that have served in the Military and then at 1200 we dipped the Ensign to half mast and ET Tony Van Campen played Taps on his bugle before we hauled it up again. It was a great way to recognize our Veterans' that continue to serve their country through their dedication to NOAA. Stand tall, Stand Proud, OPS Out.

Wednesday, November 12th, currently located 33NM S of Nantucket, MA. Air Temp: 10 °C, Water Temp: 11°C, Winds: NE at 5knots. Things are coming along well. We have started the push home, heading south out of Closed Area 1 and attempting to grappel for a lost Scallop Dredge right on the edge of Little Georges. No luck though, regardless, it was a nice break from the monotony of Calibrations Work. We continued to head down and began our tows near the Nantucket-Ambrose Traffic Lane. Dogs are again the predominate species though we have been seeing some tows of Loligo and the overall size of the tows has become much less. One more day and we head back to "The Barn" one last time.

The Final Entry…I have towed my last tow aboard Albatross IV. It is currently Thursday Night and we are about 70NM SSE of Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard. There is a Gale Blowing and the seas are quickly picking up to over 6 feet. Of course, what better way to end her final cruise! Today I was all too aware of the fact that it was my final day aboard Albatross IV, sure I will come back to work next week and we will do our little day cruises on the 21st, but never again will I sail on her and stand a full day of watch again. I never thought it would hit me like it has, but I am definitely feeling very in touch with this good ship at the moment. My wife always asks me, "What's the big deal, it's just a ship?" This morning I found the answer. It's her railings that keep me standing in high seas, it's her rack that let's my weary body rest between standing the watch and guiding her on the set course. It's her galley that keeps well fed, probably too well! It's her bulkheads that keep me warm and dry, she is my shelter in the storm and she always sees us through. Forty-six years of watching her crew and her scientists, I hardly think that our little ceremony next Thursday will do her justice, but we will try dear Albatross. She has been good to all of us and touched each of our lives very closely, whether it was for 2 weeks or 35 years we will not forget the name Albatross IV!