27 May 2001 - And home again to Grimsby
RRS James Clark Ross Diary
Noon Position : 50° 02' North, 01° 42' West.
Distance travelled since Grimsby: 35,492 nautical miles
Air temperature @ noon: 15.4 degrees Celsius
Sea temperature @ noon: 12.3 degrees Celsius
So it's good-bye from them......
Tuesday afternoon saw our arrival off the town of Ponta Delgada in the Azores. A festival ashore however meant that there was no room at the Inn ashore for our scientists, so the hotel James Clark Ross remained at anchor until the early hours of Wednesday morning. They then all enjoyed an "exciting" (their words) "transfer basket" departure to the boat which was to take them ashore. By far the safest way to travel.
As soon as this was completed the anchor was lifted and course set for the UK. We hope that they all enjoyed themselves onboard and have a productive time working up their data. It was a pleasure sailing with them and hope they'll be back soon.
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The Personnel from JR63 depart off the Azores. |
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And it's good-bye from us (Just for the moment)
It has been a bit quiet onboard since Wednesday, as once more we move through empty labs and one can get to the bar again. It is still a little strange, as being by ourselves is such an infrequent experience these days, as the demands of science grow. Don't think we're complaining - it just makes completing all those end of trip details a little easier! Consequently there has been a hive of activity onboard, cleaning, finishing paint jobs and all those maintenance items that seem to crop up, along with all that lovely paperwork that everyone loves so much.
We are writing this as we travel up the English Channel towards the Dover Straits. Our arrival time in Grimsby is set for the morning tide on Tuesday morning. At which point we discharge the cargo and handover to our opposite numbers on Thursday. They will then take the ship to refit and a summer cruise before we rejoin later in the year.
We hope you have enjoyed the stories of the ship's travels during this Antarctic season and we want to thank Pippa Bradbury, assisted by Andy Barker and the ITS boys, for writing the page during the the first half of the season. We don't know at this point if the page will continue to be updated during the summer period due to personnel changes, but this crew will see you all once again after we rejoin around September sometime.
In leaving you we wanted to show most of the faces that make up the company of RRS James Clark Ross for the later half of the season. Click on the images to see the happy smiling faces in all their glory !
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The Bridge Officers:- (L to R) David Gooberman (2nd Officer), Peter Moxom (Chief Officer), Scott Baker (3rd Officer) and in the foreground our temporary Master Robert Paterson. |
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The Engineering Department:- (L to R) Mark Robinshaw (Motorman), Charlie Smith (Motorman), Glynn Collard (3rd Engineer), Norman Thomas (Electricial Engineer), Simon Wright (Deck Engineer), Dave Cutting (Chief Engineer), Steve Eadie (4th Engineer) and Bill Kerswell (2nd Engineer). |
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The Dining Saloon Operatives:- (L to R) Kenneth Weston (Steward), Ken Olley (Catering Officer), Cliff Pratley (Senior Steward). |
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The Galley Boys:- (L to R) Jimmy Newall (Steward), Tony Dixon (Steward), Frank Hardacre (Cook). |
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The Deck Crew (& Bridge Lookouts):- (L to R) Jim Baker (AB), James Kennedy (AB), Marc Blaby (AB), Derek Jenkins (AB), Dave Williams (Bosun) and John McGowan (AB). |
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The Science and Medical Staff !:- (L to R) John Summers (Deck Officer Sci Ops), Pippa Bradbury (Doctor) and Simon Wright (Deck Engineer). |
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER FROM ALL ONBOARD
AND FINALLY STOP PRESS - Doctor Regains her freedom
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Our arrival in Grimsby sees the end of the final chapter in Pippa Bradbury's (The Doctor) nine month voyage on RRS James Clark Ross. We all hope that she has enjoyed the experience and we wish her all the best for the future in whatever she does next, and thank her for her company over the season. We have included a few pictures of Pippa during the voyage, so that her family will recognise her on her return to civilisation. |
