Recovering End of Segment 3

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Recovering Cable Segment 3

Close up of Grapnel

This closeup shows part of the grapnel, nicknamed "The Beast" by Cecile Durand, used to hook and recover the cable from the seafloor.

Close up of Grapnel

By 0300h the end of cable Segment 2 was buoyed off and we were headed to the end of our next cable segment (3), a few miles away. This time around, our grapnel "beast" did the trick of snagging the ground rope at the end of the cable on the first attempt: Segment 3 was on board within a few hours.

As I write this at 2000h we are recovering several kilometers of Segment 3, backing up on our track, and getting ready for installation of the second node PN1B, which will join cable Segments 2 and 3. The weather has improved, morale is back up after the long recovery effort required for the shallow end of Segment 2, and we are looking forward to our next milestone!

--Cecile Durand, OOI Marine Maintenance Manager, University of Washington, at sea aboard the TESubCom Dependable.