Documenting the first years of research vessel Sally Ride
Owned by the U.S. Navy, R/V Sally Ride is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography under a charter agreement with the Office of Naval Research. The National Science Foundation provides additional substantial support for scientific equipment and instrumentation. Part of America’s Academic Research Fleet, Sally Ride is managed by Scripps as a shared-use research facility within the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), serving scientists and students from across the United States.
R/V Sally Ride was delivered to Scripps on July 1, 2016, following a four-year design/build process by shipbuilder Dakota Creek Industries and naval architect Guido Perla and Associates. Sally Ride underwent shakedown and science verification activities, and was accepted by UNOLS for scientific service in the U.S. Academic Fleet on October 28, 2016
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Recovery of a Boat AdriftJune 17, 2018R/V Sally Ride is currently home to the scientists from CalCOFI’s teams from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and NOAA. It’s their fourth time aboard, and CTD casts, net tows, and marine mammal observations are underway as usual. Today, however, was far from a normal day.... -
Geology of the Ocean FloorMay 17, 2018R/V Sally Ride is doing work out of her first foreign port – Manzanillo, Mexico. The ship arrived after a recent cruise and stayed for a well-deserved few days of rest and relaxation for the crew, as well as resupplying food, and fuel. A new...
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BioluminescenceMay 9, 2018The last few days, the San Diego coastline has put on a gorgeous light show. Tiny creatures called dinoflagellates have shown up in droves. During the day, the ocean turns the color of red wine as they congregate near the surface. But at night, they...
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Sally Ride to the RescueApril 30, 2018Today was a big day for R/V Sally Ride, as the ship and her crew carried out a Coast Guard-coordinated mission to assist a catamaran in distress. A report from Third Mate Randy: “We received a call from the Coast Guard two nights ago, asking if...
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Mapping and CoringMarch 6, 2018Group photo of graduate students, scientists, and technicians aboard Sally Ride.Photo thanks to restech Jeremiah Brower. Many of the recent cruises on R/V Sally Ride have been student-led, thanks to the UC Ship Funds program. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) graduate student James Holmes was awarded ship...
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Studying the Thomas Fire From SeaMarch 6, 2018The attention garnered to the team of graduate students who sailed on R/V Sally Ride in December has been well above normal. That is what happens when a research project happens to time up with a natural environmental event. In this case, a long-planned cruise...
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Student Cruise Visits the Central CoastMarch 6, 2018On a recent research cruise aboard R/V Sally Ride, Scripps Institution of Oceanography graduate student Angel Ruacho acted as Chief Scientist. He, along with a team of other students, graduate and undergraduate alike, headed out to collect water and sediment samples along the coast of...
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An Opportunistic MissionDecember 15, 2017R/V Sally Ride heads out this weekend with a full science party made up mostly of graduate students from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Chief Scientist Nick Huynh and Co-Chief Kelsey Bisson have been planning the cruise for over a year. The main purpose...
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Notes from the FieldSeptember 17, 2017The current project on R/V Sally Ride has made SIO’s photo of the week! I’m currently assigned to a different research vessel in the Southern Atlantic Ocean working and writing for the SOCCOM project, so it’s hard to keep in touch with the goings on of...
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Sally Ride, Team PlayerAugust 30, 2017R/V Sally Ride is finishing up mooring operations for Chief Scientist Dr. Bill Hodgkiss and will soon be headed back to port. It’s another quick turnaround, the ship heads out next week to an area just off the coast of Southern California between Point Conception...
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The Study of SoundAugust 25, 2017Technicians Gabriela and Jeremy deploy a surface buoy. Below the surface is athermistor string, along with floats and weights to keep it vertical in the water column. Dr. Bill Hodgkiss is back aboard R/V Sally Ride, along with engineers and technicians from his group at SIO’s...
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Shipyard Upgrades In ActionAugust 18, 2017R/V Sally Ride has successfully completed two science cruises since leaving the shipyard last month. The first involved visiting a research site in the Gulf of Alaska in order to switch out long-term moorings. That cruise off-loaded in Newport, Oregon and the ship then headed to...
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Commissioned Art on the ShipAugust 11, 2017Living and working aboard R/V Sally Ride involves a lot of transiting through hallways and stairwells to get between labs, staterooms, the lounge, the galley, etc. One could be forgiven for not noticing the beautiful piece of artwork in the main stairwell, but it would be...
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A Quick TurnaroundAugust 3, 2017Last week R/V Sally Ride returned to San Diego after months away. But that doesn’t mean that the ship or her crew got much of a break. Within 72 hours, they were underway again. The summer CalCOFI research cruise will spend 17 days at sea, occupying...
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Reunited in NewportJuly 27, 2017This week, two of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s research vessels – Sally Ride and Roger Revelle – were in Newport, Oregon in order to offload gear. Both Oregon State University and NOAA have wharf facilities on Yaquina Bay, where their own research vessels live, and...
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Mooring Work in the Gulf of AlaskaJuly 18, 2017R/V Sally Ride is back out at sea after months of upgrades in the shipyard. This first research cruise has scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Oregon State University working on site at an array of moorings in the Gulf of Alaska to recover and...
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Back to Work!July 6, 2017The final steps of the new paint job were done with theentire ship under cover. Photo by 2nd Mate Randy Christian. R/V Sally Ride is back in the water after two and half months in a shipyard dry dock in Alameda, California. As you may remember...
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She is with usJune 29, 2017“Most scientists that I know are passionate people because they’re working in a field that they’re interested in. And the environment you work in is important. So if you’re on an expedition in the high seas and you’re on a ship like this that is...
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Shipyard Status ReportJune 15, 2017R/V Sally Ride is entering the last few weeks of a planned shipyard period. Crew members and technicians involved in the process have shared that the ship is almost unrecognizable as work is being done from top to bottom to make it a more efficient and...
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On the East CoastJune 8, 2017The view from the fantail of R/V Neil Armstrong. Active amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and four YP (yard patrol) boats are tied up in the background. Midtown Manhattan looms in the fog. The oceanographic equipment in the foreground includes a REMUS autonomous vehicle outfitted...
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Upgrades in the ShipyardMay 30, 2017R/V Sally Ride is currently in the shipyard for some upgrades. It was always part of the plan for the new research vessels to spend a few months there at the end of their first year in service. R/V Neil Armstrong, which was delivered to...
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Crew Introductions: ElectricianMay 23, 2017“Sometimes it feels weird to be home. And when I get back to the ship, it just feels normal again. I really do enjoy going out to sea. I used to get homesick, but I’m glad I stuck it out. I actually found a job...
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Commemorative CoinMay 13, 2017As you know, Sally Ride was America’s first woman in space. And now R/V Sally Ride is the only member of the academic research fleet named after a woman. Carrying her name is an important legacy, and one that we here at Scripps Institution of Oceanography are excited to...
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Technicians At Sea: Computing ResourcesMay 4, 2017“Yeah, it’s one big adventure, to travel the world, that’s cool and all – but the rewarding aspect I didn’t know until later was seeing the research I assisted with on the news. I felt proud to be part of something greater.” Computer tech Daniel can often...
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March for Science!April 25, 2017“Science is essential for our community, for our world, for our economy. There is a distrust in the objectivity of scientific advice, there’s also a lack of understanding of why it’s useful. This rocks us to our core, those of us who understand and appreciate...
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Back to the ShipyardApril 17, 2017R/V Sally Ride has entered a shipyard period as it ends its first year in service. Upgrades and refits will be made over the next few months. After that, it will be back to science cruises! Follow along here for photos from the shipyard, including...
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Net Samples Join SIO's Invertebrate CollectionApril 10, 2017Scripps Institution of Oceanography is home to some of the preeminent biological and geological collections in the world, which are important repositories for samples from around the planet. On a recent R/V Sally Ride research cruise, biological samples (animals, in this case zooplankton) were collected using...
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Crew Introductions: OilerApril 7, 2017“I like the people at Scripps. It’s a tight knit family, which makes everything much more enjoyable, especially when you’re living here for two-thirds of your life, maybe more.” Willie Brown has been working in the engineering department of Scripps research vessels for 13 years. His dad...
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Photos from the Collaboration with Sproul and FLIPApril 6, 2017The collaboration between research vessels Sally Ride and Sproul and research platform FLIP, all members of the Scripps fleet, wraps up in the next week. The three vehicles will return to port having run ~ 25 Remus missions, deployed and recovered wave buoys ~10 times,...
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Week 3 Report from FLIPApril 4, 2017The small boat from R/V Sproul pays a visit.Photo by Jeremiah Brower. **Guest blogger Randy Christian is a crew member on R/V Sally Ride, but this month is working on FLIP, Scripps’ FLoating Instrument Platform. FLIP is deployed on a project offshore of Southern California, accompanied by other members of the SIO fleet,...
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Working with R/V SproulMarch 30, 2017R/V Sally Ride is out at sea studying surface waves and currents as part of a collaboration between scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Washington (UW). R/V Sproul as photographed from R/P FLIP during their collaborative operationswith R/V Sally Ride (not pictured)....
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Crew Introductions: Senior CookMarch 28, 2017“I have traveled all over the world. I get to work with a lot of interesting people. It’s what I do, it’s not only work for me, it’s part of my life.” TGIS. A typical Sunday dinner menu,plus a cheese plate and ginger beer. Mark Smith has...
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AUVs Studying Waves and CurrentsMarch 24, 2017Sunset recovery of a wave glider. The float portion is up nearthe top of the crane arm, while the sub portion is at the rail.Photo by Dr. Sophia Merrifield. As you may recall, Dr. Eric Terrill’s group was onboard in December to test drones and a... -
Report from the FLIPMarch 20, 2017**Guest blogger Randy Christian is a crew member on R/V Sally Ride, but this month is working on FLIP, Scripps’ FLoating Instrument Platform. FLIP is deployed on a project offshore of Southern California, accompanied by other members of the SIO fleet, R/V Sproul and R/V Sally Ride. You...
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Trace MetalsMarch 13, 2017Scientists set up to bring metal-free water onboard. R/V Sally Ride has its first bubble! It consists of a fort of plastic sheeting with filtered air fed in through a flow hood to create positive pressure (see header photo). Dr. Kathy Barbeau and her graduate students...
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Zooglider ScienceMarch 12, 2017The zooglider is deployed and recovered using a small boat launchedfrom the Scripps pier. It’s 6 feet long with a 4 foot wing span.Zooglider photos thanks to grad student Ben Whitmore. Leg 3 of this R/V Sally Ride cruise is underway after switching out the science...
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Ground-TruthingMarch 11, 2017Onboard R/V Sally Ride, and in oceanography in general, a lot of sensors are used to collect information. In order to check that inferences made are backed up with data, ground-truthing is required. Grad students deploy a hydrophone to listen for marine mammals,while others scan the horizon...
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Buoys in the California CurrentMarch 10, 2017Dr. Uwe Send’s lab group at Scripps Institution of Oceanography consists of grad students, scientists, technicians, and engineers that fabricate, maintain, deploy, and recover instruments all over the world. This week they’re on R/V Sally Ride recovering a mooring, and deploying a new one in its...
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Crew Introductions: Able SeamanMarch 9, 2017“It’s so awesome – the research, the science…you feel like you’re doing something good with your life. Just to know I’m part of it – loading the gear on, making sure everyone’s safe when they’re operating. It gives you that satisfaction of bettering the world....
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International Women's DayMarch 8, 2017AB Natasha keeps a lookout on the bridge Gabriela preps a mooring, and shows off her guns Chief Scientist Sophia operates the A-frame Jen analyzes seawater for dissolved oxygen 2nd Engineer Sue transfers fuel Liane, Amy, and Valerie process a sediment core Marine tech Melissa operates the winch OS Elysia preps line...
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MOCNESS TrialsMarch 7, 2017The starboard handling systems (T-rex arms) as seen from the bridge.The forward (left) usually handles the CTD using cable while the aft(right) is connected to a drum of wire. The crew of R/V Sally Ride works hard to make the ship as capable as possible. The science plan for...
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Night-Time Net TowsMarch 6, 2017Red indicates the reach of each frequency, for 18, 38 and 70 kHz this isthe seafloor. Higher frequencies don’t penetrate as far so show a “false bottom”much shallower. The trace indicated by the black arrow is another false bottom. There is a migration of “prey” species...
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Technicians At Sea: Resident Marine TechnicianMarch 5, 2017“I get to work with the world’s smartest people, the top scientists. I ask a lot of questions, I try to learn what they’re doing just for my own insight. These are the professors I could have taken grad school classes from. Over dinner I...
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SIO Acoustic Ecology LabMarch 4, 2017Simone and Jenny recover a hydrophone,which will be cleaned off, tested, and redeployed. Sometimes when R/V Sally Ride leaves port in San Diego there’s a long transit to the first station and the science party gets some downtime (the crew is always working). Not so on this trip...
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Seafloor Images from ROV TridentFebruary 25, 2017Brittle star party! Sablefish, also called black cod Brittle stars and tuna crabs Dover sole, a flatfish Thornyhead Baird’s top shell, a deep sea snail Large crab Shrimp Sea cucumber, with a small squat lobster on it SIO technicians took ROV Trident to the seafloor multiple times during the week-long cruise on R/V Sally...
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Crew Introductions: Ordinary SeamanFebruary 24, 2017“I’m going to work on deck, I’m going to move forward. I am one day going to be captain of a vessel. It might be twenty years down the road, but no one’s going to stop me from doing this.” Elysia is the ordinary seaman (O/S) onboard...
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Overnight Ops: CTD Yo-YosFebruary 23, 2017Chart of the work area along the contours of the La Jolla Canyon. Deep station marked with atriangle on the left, intermediate with cursor in center, and ship icon on shallow station. There’s a lot of different groups of Scripps scientists onboard R/V Sally Ride this...
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Technicians At Sea: My StoryFebruary 23, 2017“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring If I’m going to write a series of blogs about technicians at sea onboard R/V Sally Ride, I may as well start with myself. If you’ve read the brief intro in the...
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Let the Games Begin!February 21, 2017” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]Crew and scientists alike work long hours out at sea onboard R/V Sally Ride. We don’t get weekends or holidays off, and there’s no sick days....
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Overnight Ops: Mapping a FaultFebruary 21, 2017A map of offshore faults in the Southern California Bight.Figure from the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. For three nights on this research cruise aboard R/V Sally Ride, John DeSanto, a graduate student in Dr. David Sandwell’s lab at Scripps, used the ship’s multibeam...
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ROV TridentFebruary 19, 2017For the next week, Scripps’ remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) will be aboard Sally Ride. Named Trident after UC San Diego’s mascot, it’s rated to a depth of 2,000 meters. Technicians from SIO plan to deploy the ROV each day using a small crane bolted to the port side...
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Crew Introductions: Second EngineerFebruary 11, 2017“Not many people can say they love their job, that they like to work. I can.” Second engineer Sue Swader has been on the water since infancy, and loves it. Her grandparents have a sailboat and she spent summers sailing with her family to the Channel Islands, including Catalina and...
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Multi-Corer TrialsFebruary 10, 2017As part of this science verification cruise, groups from Scripps, WHOI, Oregon State, Sacramento State, URI, CSU Bakersfield, and the USGS are testing out various coring devices using R/V Sally Ride. This requires a very specific setup on the fantail, with two small cranes bolted down for...
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Crew Introductions: Second MateFebruary 10, 2017“This is the job I wanted…it’s just a great environment, great people, involved in interesting work that I feel is contributing to the bettering of the world. I feel like I’m part of something big here.” The SSV Corwith Cramer, one of SEA’sschooners. Romantic indeed. R/V Sally...
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Logging Core SamplesFebruary 8, 2017Gus, Amy, and Liane cut the core sample into smaller sections (left), which are then processed by Emily (right) in the MST (multi-sensor track) van. The core samples taken so far onboard R/V Sally Ride have utilized either a 20 or 30 foot long cylinder with PVC...
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Photos from the Multi-CorerFebruary 8, 2017One of the many instruments onboard the multi-corer frame is a 24-megapixel camera that take flash photographs every 10 seconds. The camera belongs to the NSF-funded MISO (Multidisciplinary Instrumentation in Support of Oceanography) facility at WHOI, and is designed to visually document the area of the seafloor where...
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Shrinking Cups!February 7, 2017Styrofoam cups (not onions) were attached to the multi-corer before deployment.After recovery, USGS tech Valerie holds up the bag “full” of shrunken cups. On many research cruises, the science party creates fun souvenirs out of styrofoam cups decorated with Sharpies and then sent to the bottom of the...
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Choosing a Coring SiteFebruary 6, 2017Coring operations are taking place mostly during daylight hours, with the ship running overnight survey transits. An echo sounder mounted to the bottom of the ship sends a 3.5kHz ping and records the return, producing sub-bottom profiles. These images typically show the types of sediments 20-50 meters below the...
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Hitchhiker's GuideFebruary 5, 2017No matter how many years we work out here, it's always great when dolphins come for a visit Posted by UC San Diego R/V Sally Ride on Friday, February 3, 2017 Have you ever considered what super powers you would choose if given the chance? Mine would...
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Sediment ScienceFebruary 4, 2017Restech Lee directs crane ops as the gravitycorer is shifted to the stern. The current science verification cruise aboard R/V Sally Ride will test the ship’s ability to support coring operations. Seafloor sediment cores reveal information about the history and behavior of off-shore fault systems. They...
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What it Takes to be Chief ScientistJanuary 19, 2017I’ve heard people describe being assigned as a research cruise’s chief scientist as anything from a great honor to drawing the short straw. It’s undisputedly a lot of work – coordinating schedules to optimize valuable ship time, adjusting that schedule every time something changes due...
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All That WaterJanuary 19, 2017Aboard R/V Sally Ride, we’re always studying the ocean as part of the science – but that’s not the only water we have to be concerned with. Thankfully for those in the science party, the engineering crew takes care of all the rest (in addition to...
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The Internal Waves of La Jolla CanyonJanuary 17, 2017As you may recall, last month R/V Sally Ride was easily visible from La Jolla and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The science mission was to recover moorings (strings of instruments anchored to the seafloor) that were deployed in the La Jolla Canyon area a few months earlier. Belonging...
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ROV Jason visits the Del Mar SeepJanuary 16, 2017In 2012, a methane seep was discovered by a group of SIO graduate students on a UC Ship Funds research cruise onboard Scripps’ now-retired research vessel Melville. SIO’s ROV Trident was used to take video of the site as well as collect samples from the seafloor. Now called the Del Mar...
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Experiments on the Seafloor with ROV JasonJanuary 6, 2017ROV Jason is deployed using a special crane mounted on the back deck of R/V Sally Ride.Picture by SIO grad student Kirk Sato. During last month’s cruise aboard R/V Sally Ride, an ROV named Jason (after the Greek mythological hero and explorer) was deployed in order...
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Ecological Insights from ROV JasonJanuary 4, 2017ROV Jason is loaded onto R/V Sally Ride for a science verification cruise. Last month, R/V Sally Ride went out to sea for a week with the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason onboard, which is owned by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). One of the science...
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The Ever-Changing LabDecember 29, 2016The lab space on R/V Sally Ride is on the main deck, just forward of the fantail. There is a “wet” lab and a “dry” lab, separated by a door. The wet lab connects right to the staging bay via water-tight door, where equipment to be deployed...
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Drones for ScienceDecember 26, 2016Engineer Daniel launches a drone from the fantail of R/V Sally Ride. During a recent science verification cruise, Dr. Eric Terrill’s group from here at Scripps Institution of Oceanography tested out some of their suite of remote-controlled oceanographic equipment – modified aerial and aquatic vehicles that...
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Kayak Upgrade!December 23, 2016The remote-controlled kayak takes off after being deployed from R/V Sally Ride. During a recent science verification cruise a remote-controlled kayak from Dr. Eric Terrill’s group at SIO was tested, using R/V Sally Ride as a platform. It sits in a custom-built frame, which was lowered into...
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Outreach with ONRDecember 19, 2016Those of us who work and live aboard research vessels know that many of them are owned by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and operated by oceanographic institutions such as Scripps, Wood’s Hole, and the University of Washington. ONR is a division of the United...
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La Jolla Canyon OperationsDecember 13, 2016For the next few days, R/V Sally Ride will be doing science operations as part of a verification cruise in La Jolla Canyon. Just outside of the marine protected area, the ship will be recovering moorings for...
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Unmanned and AutonomousDecember 9, 2016Dr. Sophia Merrifield is Chief Scientist aboard R/V Sally Ride this week. A postdoc in Dr. Eric Terrill’s lab at Scripps, she organizes and watches over every deployment and recovery. Other members of the lab are out here on a science verification cruise, to make sure...
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Loading ROV JasonNovember 29, 2016The CalCOFI cruise ended on a Tuesday, after successful completion of all 75 science stations. We arrived back at the dock before 9am that morning, and the scientists worked to offload their gear right away – everything was back at the labs in La Jolla...
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Cheers to our Volunteers!November 21, 2016Bringing volunteers on a CalCOFI cruise is generally a win-win for everyone. For the scientists, having help deploying and recovering gear, sampling the CTD, and filtering water is key. For the volunteers, it’s a great way to gain experience working in the field. The usual applicants...
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Project of Opportunity: Quantifying Carbon ExportNovember 20, 2016Since the CalCOFI program is well-known and proceeds on a predictable schedule (once per season), there are often scientists who ask for bunk space to come along – but they often have to settle for water samples to be collected on their behalf. R/V Sally Ride, however, has a higher...
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Science Focus: Long Term Ecological ResearchNovember 20, 2016Network of LTER sites throughout the world. The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collection of 26 sites throughout the United States and its territories, plus Antarctica and Tahiti. Studies spanning decades provide insight into environmental changes over seasons and years across a variety...
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Science Focus: Plankton sensorNovember 18, 2016The LOPC is mounted in the opening of the right side ofthe bongo net. R/V Sally Ride has 25 bunks for scientists. The ships that CalCOFI usually sails on have less, only 18 on the retired SIO vessel New Horizon and 15 on NOAA ships Lasker...
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Science Focus: Marine Mammal ObservationsNovember 17, 2016What a difference a day makes. The morning after having to move operations inside due to weather, the marine mammal observers aboard R/V Sally Ride were out enjoying the sunshine while 3,000 long-beaked common dolphins surrounded the ship, spread out from horizon to horizon. The chief scientist and...
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WeatherNovember 16, 2016Sunset off the back deck. Note that the horizon is flat in this picture. Whatever I was planning to do and write about today (plankton) got superseded by the weather that found us. About 200 miles west of LA, 30+ knot winds kicked waves up to...
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SunsetsNovember 15, 2016Saturday’s sunset off the coast of LA was particularly photogenic. On the other side of the ship,sunset colors and a moon rise. You may think that as oceanographers and mariners, the scientists and crew members aboard R/V Sally Ride might be immune to the beauty of the natural...
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Science Focus: FisheriesNovember 14, 2016NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is a partner in the CalCOFI program, sending out four scientists who work in pairs, each for 12 hours per day. After the CTD on each station, nets are deployed. Samples are preserved out at sea and then processed...
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Science Focus: HydrographyNovember 13, 2016Samplers swarm the CTD. The first operation at each science station during a CalCOFI cruise is a CTD cast. Conductivity (salinity), temperature, depth (pressure), oxygen, nitrate, and chlorophyll sensors are strapped onto an aliminum rosette frame, along with 24 niskin bottles that can be closed via a computer program run from...
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Steak on SundaysNovember 13, 2016Nick, one of Sally Ride’s cooks, prepares the steaks. Steak is the traditional Sunday dinner, and when the weather allows it, grilling takes place on the back deck. It’s an unofficial duty of the Chief Engineer, onboard Sally Ride that’s Paul Bueren. The cooks prepare the...
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19 PointsNovember 13, 2016It’s a time honored tradition on SIO research vessels to play cribbage. On my first cruise on the since-retired R/V Melville, I entered the tournament before learning how to play the game. If you’re coming aboard, I recommend brushing up on the rules. How to Play...
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Veteran's DayNovember 11, 2016Today I’d like to highlight some of the military veterans onboard R/V Sally Ride, who work as members of the crew. CJ, an oiler, was a US Naval officer on nuclear submarines for 7 years. He became interested in sustainability and, upon leaving the service, saw research...
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Rolling in the troughNovember 11, 2016Axes of rotation. Aerial shot of R/V Sally Rideby Mark Holtzman Photography. The CalCOFI grid lines are famously “in the trough” which means that the ship heading is perpendicular to the swell, and the ship ends up rolling side to side. Roll is different from pitch (the...
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Adventure on the HiSeasNetNovember 9, 2016R/V Sally Ride underwent many upgrades and additions during the month of October. The most obvious are two huge domes now on the flying bridge (the deck on top of the wheel house) that add uninterrupted satellite internet capability to the ship. Most other ships only have...
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Fun with FlagsNovember 9, 2016View of downtown San Diego from the bridge of dressed up R/V Sally Ride. If you were one of the over 4,500 people who toured R/V Sally Ride in late October, you saw the ship decked out in her finest – red, white, and blue bunting...
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Let's Science!November 6, 2016The first official science cruise aboard R/V Sally Ride is underway! Just after 0800 the ship left Point Loma. As we left a fogged-in San Diego bay, the restech Keith gave an overview of the ship to the science party, including safety and drill information, situational...
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The Talk I was Going to Give...November 3, 2016Tam O’Shaughnessy is Cofounder of Sally Ride Science and Executive Director of Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego. She was Sally Ride’s life partner. The Talk I Was Going to Give for the R/V Sally Ride Commissioning Ceremony on Friday 10/28/2016. Unfortunately, I fell ill with...
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CTDs vs XBTsOctober 10, 2016XBTs are deployed from the back corner of the shipwhile underway. A sound velocity profile is helpful for calibrating instruments that rely on a ping sent from a source that reflects back to that source’s location. In some cases, it’s enough to assume sound travels through seawater...
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WIRED tour and unanswered questionsOctober 10, 2016Scripps Ships Operations director Bruce Appelgate gave WIRED magazine a tour of the R/V Sally Ride while it was docked in San Francisco. It was done via Facebook Live, so there were a lot of questions asked in the comments. The videos below cover many...
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SVC2 - testing the shipOctober 6, 2016time lapse of ship's departure for @calcofi SVC2 last week. Shore power cables disconnected, gangway retracted, lines tossed, bon voyage! pic.twitter.com/13FvnjROws — R/V Sally Ride (@RVSallyRide) October 6, 2016 The usual CalCOFI grid of 75 stations. The second science verification cruise took place on R/V Sally Ride last...
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Making it OfficialOctober 1, 2016Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy breaks a bottle of champagne against the bow of research vessel Sally Ride during an August 9, 2014 christening ceremony at Dakota Creek Industries, Inc. shipyard in Anacortes, Wash. O’Shaughnessy, the ceremonial ship’s sponsor and long-time partner of Sally Ride, was joined...
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Deploy, Recover, Repair, RepeatSeptember 28, 2016Restech Matt Durham prepares to deploy an acoustic array from the fantail of R/V Sally Ride. The first science verification cruise (SVC) took place on R/V Sally Ride earlier this month. If you’ve read the earlier posts, about the project goals and loading of the ship,...
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Saluting ScrippsSeptember 20, 2016Photo taken by Erik Jepsen, UC San Diego publications, as he rode in a small boat around R/V Sally Ride off the SIO pier. At least a hundred people came out to welcome the ship to La Jolla.Photo by Erik Jepsen, UC San Diego. R/V Sally Ride’s...
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Cup RackSeptember 20, 2016The cup rack is ready! Present on many of the oceanographic research vessels I’ve sailed on, the cup rack keeps you honest. If there is just a stash of cups, many people leave them behind all over the ship. Make coffee, take it to the...
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Loading the ship for science!September 6, 2016Crew members remove cleats from the back deckin preparation for bringing science gear aboard. The R/V Sally Ride leaves tomorrow morning for its first science verification cruise (SVC)! Click here for the previous blog post with more information about the project. Today was spent loading all...
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(Seafloor) Mapping the Way HomeAugust 31, 2016Map showing where my oceanography career has taken me.Winkel tripel projection of course. I love maps. When my family drove across the country when I was a kid, I was the navigator, tracking how many miles until the next junction, or Dairy Queen. When my dad asked...
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#WelcomeSallyRideAugust 25, 2016Second mate Jeff Kirby has plotted our course home to San Diego Bay. But first, the R/V Sally Ride is going to come in close to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Pier in La Jolla. Come wave hello and welcome the ship home on Friday,...
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Wanted: More Board GamesAugust 23, 2016Win by sinking the most ships –or lose because the ship moved during your turn. Down time activities are an important part of life at sea. As such, the lounge onboard is usually occupied by scientists and crew alike, enjoying their free time before and after...
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Homeward BoundAugust 22, 2016R/V Sally Ride’s lines were cast off and we got underway at 10am This morning the R/V Sally Ride left San Francisco after a short port call that included nearly 800 people touring the ship. Next stop is our home port of San Diego! In the few...
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Gearing up for Science!August 9, 2016The first science verification cruises (SVCs) scheduled on the R/V Sally Ride are fast approaching. September will be the month to test out various winches, wires, and pretty much every other system in the lab spaces onboard to make sure everything’s ready for the ship...
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Ready for Sundays!July 26, 2016Shiny new BBQ Just before I left Anacortes last week, a very special delivery was made to the R/V Sally Ride – the ship’s grill! A tradition on all SIO research vessels, Sunday night is steak night and the Chief Engineer grills out on deck. If...
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Owned by the Navy, Operated by ScrippsJuly 17, 2016That’s a lot of keys!Picture by Chief Engineer Paul Bueren On July 1, operational control of R/V Sally Ride was transferred to Scripps Institution of Oceanography. A few signatures on a contract and the handing over of a few dozen keys marked the occasion. So much...
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Ships carry boatsJuly 17, 2016For anyone who’s ever wondered what the difference between a ship and a boat is, or gotten reprimanded for using the wrong term, here’s a tip for remembering it: ships carry boats. The R/V Sally Ride is a ship. Onboard are two boats, the work boat...
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Stores!July 15, 2016The R/V Sally Ride can be out at sea for up to 40 days, so it has to be loaded with food and supplies to last the entire journey. Called ship’s stores, fresh food and other provisions are ordered in each port. The delivery is often...
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Engine Room TourJuly 15, 2016I find the engine room to be the most interesting place on any ship. It’s full of hundreds of valves, knobs, and buttons – none of which you’re allowed to touch. Chief Engineer Paul Beuren (referred to simply as Chief) was nice enough to show...
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Moved inJuly 13, 2016Bunkmates Room FD-14 has its very first occupant! I even had to remove the plastic from the mattress, pillows, and blankets. The sheets are so crisp that I accidentally brought two sets to my room without realizing it. I am excited to spend my first night...
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Lab ViewJuly 6, 2016For now, a quiet lab As of now, the laboratory space on the Sally Ride is bare-bones. The countertops are still wrapped to protect the surfaces, shelves and drawers lay empty. An area that will soon be covered with up to 15 computer monitors, showing readouts from...
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It's the Little ThingsJune 30, 2016The focsle deck of R/V Sally Ride (one level up from the main deck) is home to the science party staterooms, where I will spend ten or so hours each day when I’m at sea. Generally, scientists work on the opposite watch from their roommate...
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First ImpressionsJune 29, 2016On June 18, 1983, Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. On June 27, 2016, I walked the gangway onto R/V Sally Ride for the first time. It’s a research vessel being built in the Dakota Creek Industries (DCI) shipyard in Anacortes,...