June 6, 2016
A day of diving on the Ranger
From a boss’s point of view – and that is indeed my role on-board – it’s been a quiet day. At least that is what I can say for the amount of attention I needed to pay to the controls today. We’ve also wind sailed today (and we went a lot faster than we would with the motor on), which is something we haven’t managed to do since crossing from Barcelona to Ragusa, Sicily.
I suppose by now you are all familiar with the ROV, so I’ll leave that aside for now. But what I can tell you is that in order to film at such depths, what we really need is for the boat to sail at a set speed (which is almost never faster than 0.5 knots) and on a set route.
This is mainly my role here. And to do that you have to keep monitoring three things all the time: the route the boat is taking and the speed, the wind and the problems that brings with it and sea current and drifting. So, being at the control can be interesting and fun yet a bit strange too, but it can be also stressful and tiring.
Another thing that is a little less curious to share with you is, as a seaman, I’m used to looking up at the stars and sky and trying to interpret them and name the clouds, stars, birds, marine mammals or fish or whatever happens to appear before our eyes. But on this campaign I’m starting to learn what lies at the bottom of the sea. And of course I’m not talking about what’s in the shallow waters but at 100 meters-deep! It’s truly incredible what life there is there and just how beautiful it is.
So, if at times my work gets a bit monotonous and stressful, I remember the goal behind all this is to protect that life, so then it’s all worth it.
So, that’s it until the next diary entry!