Day 1: Seattle-Newport

Sunset during the transit from Newport, OR to Axial Seamount. (photo by Martha James)

Transit Sunset

The R/V Thompson in port at the NOAA facility in Newport, OR. (photo by Martha James) 

The Thompson in Port

Yesterday, Friday the 19th, the new Leg-2 participants took the long drive from Seattle-Newport, OR. All of the undergraduates, myself included, were clearly ecstatic to finally be on our way to the Visions ’11 research cruise. After a few hours of loading gear onto the ship and organizing on board, we set off. Fog was thick, and we quickly lost site of the shore. But, a few hours after leaving shore, the fog lifted and we got a glimpse of a beautiful sunset.

Until we reach Axial Seamount, which will take us about 30 hours from leaving Newport, we are mainly acclimatizing to the rolling ship, getting a more clear idea of our research projects, and slowly meeting people on board. Many faces are familiar from last year, but about an equal number are people I have yet to meet. It’s always interesting hearing individual stories about how people ended up on this particular research cruise. Mainly, I’m just excited to see Axial for the first time!