Thursday 29th. Over the last couple of weeks we have been dodging bad weather, in and out of Stanley a couple of times and getting the work done.
I have been learning how to use the DP system on board. It uses reference systems e.g. GPS, beacons on the seafloor, etc to maintain the ships position within a couple of meters in most weather conditions. As well as the references the ‘desk’ receives input from wind sensors, heave, pitch, roll sensors and gyro compasses. It is amazing what the system can do, once it has built up a model of the situation it can calculate which heading will require the least amount of engine power to maintain. The part I found strange is you don’t have to be pointing in the direction you want to go, the ship can point and move in any direction, it will even spin on the spot whilst moving. You can also take the controls in manual DP, the ship is then controlled via the joystick.
The ship sails this evening for Rothera to deliver the last of their cargo before winter and to collect approximately 20 FIDs.
The forecast for Drake’s Passage doesn’t look great.
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