Wil's job at sea: Introduction

Here is the introduction to my job at sea for the Deep Submergence Lab (DSL) at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Basically, this is everything I know before I leave.

Where and when it's happening

I leave from Boston 7:00 Friday morning, 28 February, and arrive at Guam 9:15 Saturday evening, 1 March (gaining a day as I cross the IDL, the trip takes about 22 hours real time). The research vessel Thomas Thompson meets us in Guam Sunday, and we load it up with gear and head out.

The work site is at 133.53 East 25.86 North, between Japan and the Phillipines, not too far from Okinawa. We will be out there for two months.

When we're done, the Thomas Thompson will dock at Yokohama around the end of April. My plane reservations say I'll leave from Tokyo 6:30 pm Tuesday, 29 April, and arrive in Boston 10:00 pm Tuesday, 29 April (losing a day as I cross the IDL, again the trip takes about 22 hours real time) but these plans may change, depending on how the job goes.

What we'll be doing

We will be gathering data (mostly images) of the wreck of the UK cargo carrier Derbyshire, which went down in a typhoon in 1980. Ship builders, European departments of commerce, and the families of the crew all want to know more about what happened, to help prevent further accidents. We will be using JASON, a remotely operated submersible "sled" to investigate the wreck (JASON is piloted and maintained by Will Sellers, my brother-in-law) as well as towed cameras and other instruments.

What I'll be doing

My job will be to help manage the computers that gather and store the data. In addition to data management (collating and storing all the images and information), there will be lots of interface issues, data conversion, and so on. A big part of the project is creating a photomosaic of the wreck site, which requires lots of images, and some interesting image processing to get them to all fit together.

It should be varied enough to be interesting, without being terribly difficult. Our satellite link to the Internet is very expensive (you pay for your email by the byte). What I intend to do is keep a journal using HTML, and upload it to this site whenever possible. Watch these pages for further details!

This page maintained by Wil Howitt
Last updated 30 March 98