Juneuary

June has been a bit of a let down here in Washington.  Some beautiful days in May got our hopes up for a nice June but it has been slow to deliver.  We have still been able to get out to some buoys to conduct field work.  I apologize for the recent blog silence, but last Friday a buoy was serviced and pictures were taken so here we go!

Morning Traffic

After dealing with some vehicle problems in the morning we made it to the ferry and got the day going.  The sun was out and the winds were calm.  We were in for a nice day on the water.  Pulling away from Seattle we got a good view a new project taking place on the city's waterfront.  They are building a huge Ferris wheel right on the water!

Seattle new Ferris Wheel

After picking up the boat we made it out to the buoy and took care of some business.  First we addressed the intermittent communication issue.  It was an easy fix since we had the problem narrowed down to the PC card in the buoys computer.  Next we got the oceanographic instruments on the boat and cleaned them up.

Cleaning it up!

We got the package back in the water and took some water samples to calibrate our instruments.  It was another long day on the water but we got some good work done and the weather was quite enjoyable.  We also saw quite a few porpoises, sorry no photos, I'll try to get a shot next time...

April Showers

We have been pretty busy here in the ORCA lab.  The month started out with a couple trips to the Hoodsport buoy.  Previously we had observed a damaged solar panel.  Water had made its way into the junction box where the electrical leads are attached.  When we discovered this we took many of the major components of the buoy home with us to avoid any damage while the buoy was down. 

Working in the rain.

After two very long days on the water we were able to get all components of the buoy installed and working.  Currently Hoodsport is profiling two times a day.  As the days get longer and the sun shines brighter we should be able to increase the profiling frequency. 

We are also collecting our weather stations from the buoys to send to the manufacturer for repair/re-calibration. 

Colin retrieving a weather station.

Despite the rainy day on the water the evening and sunset were very pleasant.

The next buoy we visited was the Carr Inlet buoy.  It was another rainy day.  On the upside the winds were very calm.  We were conducting a package swap, water sampling and some general maintenance. 

Old instrument package.

New instrument package.

The buoy was in good shape overall.  No surprises, which is a surprise in itself.  We completed our goals for the day and brought back the old instrument package for some much needed cleaning.

Finally this month Colin and his dive partner Dave were able to dive on the Twanoh and  Hoodsport buoys.  The goal was to inspect the anchor lines for evidence of weak spots.  Some signs of wear were spotted but nothing alarming.

Anchor chain.

Dave heading up the anchor chain.

 

Despite the rainy weather we were able to get some good work done this month.  On another note, after leaving the Carr Inlet buoy we found some litter in the water and did a good deed and picked it up.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, I assume this wasn't thrown in the water purposefully.  Here is what we found...

Birthday balloons!

 

Weather Window

We had a small weather window a little bit back and we able to get out to a buoy to address an intermittent CTD communication issue.

Seattle Sunrise

 The buoy computer was failing to send commands down the cable to the CTD.  The buoy computer and package of oceanographic instruments had been recently deployed so this left either the cable itself (called the hydro-wire) or the slip-ring on the winch.  The slip ring was inspected and appeared to be functioning properly so that remained on the winch.  The hydro-wire was taken off and a new one was put on. 

Since the nature of the problem was intermittent numerous test casts were conducted.  Each cast came back successfully, so we felt confident we had addressed the problem.  On one of the casts though the winch struggled a bit bringing the instruments up, we will have to wait and see how this plays out. 

Upon arriving at the buoy my hands were instantly covered in grease and the by-products of numerous Cormorants enjoying their time perched on the buoy.  So, I have no pictures from the buoy that day.  But, the sunset on the way home was pretty nice...

Windy!

Here is a plot of the wind speed at the North buoy for the last 72 hours.  We would really like to get out to do a bit of work at the buoy but 30 mph winds are not conducive to small boat work.

Leap Day Letdown

My co-worker and I made an attempt to service the North Buoy on Wednesday February 29 but the weather became unpredictable.  The previous evening the forecast was calling for light overnight snow transitioning into rain throughout the day with the winds being fairly calm.  What we woke up to the next day was slightly different.  My co-worked received about a foot of snow at his home making travel difficult.  And I towed the boat down the road going in between periods of pouring rain and heavy wet snow.  When I arrived at the dock the winds were fairly calm but as the storm moved through in the next hour or so the winds on the edge of the storm picked up and the weather became unpredictable.  We made the decision to stay off the water.

Stormy Seattle

The weather is looking better towards the end of this week.  Our fingers are crossed...

Go North!

At the end of last week we were able to make it out to the North buoy.  The North buoy is located at the entrance of Hood Canal near Hansville, Washington.  It was a remarkable day in terms of weather.  Not more than two weeks ago we had cold temperatures and a few inches of snow on the ground all over Western Washington.  On this day we had calm seas and warm temperatures all day.  Just beautiful.

Calm seas, and warm temperatures.

The work completed at the buoy was fairly routine.  We swapped the package of oceanographic instruments and collected water samples for the calibration of the new instruments put in the water.  Before reaching the buoy we were having communication issues between the buoys computer and  the CTD.  Electrical continuity and voltage values were measured at various locations.  Everything looked as it should so we only replaced the buoy computer and instrument package.

A prepared dissolved oxygen sample.

But wouldn't you know it, we are still having intermittent communication issues.  The buoy is up and profiling but the system is failing out when trying to download the data every few casts.  So, the buoy is up and collecting data but just not functioning at 100%.

Cormorants love this buoy.

All in all it was a good day.  It can be frustrating when you think you have a buoy up and running only to come back to the lab to find that it's not working perfectly.  The buoy is collecting data and it was a beautiful day on the water, not too shabby.

The Hood Canal bridge and the setting sun.

Snow Day

They called it "snowpocalypse."

Ocean Sciences Building, University of Washington

The storm did make the city a bit difficult to navigate, quite a few people are going without power, and the mountains got loads of snow.  So "snowpocalypse" did cause some problems but it also made skiers and snowboarders very happy.  But all that snow and stormy weather made it impossible to do any field work at the buoys last week.  Our fingers are crossed for some good weather this coming week.

Friday the 13th

This past week we had some fair weather and we were able to visit two of our buoys.  Early in the week we were able to make it to the Pt. Wells buoy.  A problem arose at Pt. Wells recently that involved a derelict fishing net wrapped around two of our anchor lines.

Bumpy ride.

We were able to remove a portion of the net with the help of an additional boat.  Although we got a good size length of the fishing net out of the water we can't be sure of what exactly is left down there.  We have deployed a package of oceanographic instruments and will continue to collect data but the profile depth will be shallower than usual.  The shallower depth will reduce the chance of the instruments getting tangled in any netting that may be still tangled in the anchor lines.  We are working on solutions to address any netting that remains.

Pt. Wells

On Friday (the 13th) we made our way to Hoodsport.  We left in the morning with the intent to swap the on deck computer with a spare.  We were experiencing a communication problem that we were able to trace to the computer.  When we arrived at the buoy the computer was replaced and our communication problem was solved.  But, we began discovering a number of new problems...

Heading into the eerie Friday the 13th fog.

I am by no means a superstitious person but if things were going to go wrong Friday the 13th seemed like the day it would happen.  With that being said the problems we encountered were brought about by a harsh saltwater environment and not bad luck associated with a particular day.  Ultimately we were unable to get the buoy profiling partly due to water getting into a solar panel junction box and causing corrosion on the wires and terminals.  This is likely the reason why we have been having difficulty keeping a charge on our batteries recently at this site. 

At this point it is back to the lab to troubleshoot some problems and come up with a plan on which buoy to focus on next.  The weather is calling for some stormy snowy weather this coming week which may make visiting a buoy difficult.  If that is the case it will be a good time to drink hot coffee and work on projects in the lab.

Old Man Winter

On the buoy we need to power a package of oceanographic instruments, a winch to move the instruments in the water column, a weather station, an on deck computer, and a communication system.  All these aspects of the buoy are powered by four 12 volt marine batteries.  The batteries are wired into two 24 volt battery "banks."  By utilizing solar and wind power we are able to maintain a charge on batteries.

Wind Generator 

 During the winter months our days are shorter and the sunlight is less intense.  That means less power delivered to the buoy and in response we need to decrease our sampling frequency.  We do get some pretty windy days in the winter though which can at times compensate for the lack of sunlight. 

During these winter months we are busy chasing power issues while trying to keep up with the maintenance of all the buoys.

Morning Commute

Welcome!

Welcome to the ORCA Buoy Project Blog.

Carr Inlet

The ORCA Buoy was started in 2000 and provides a near-continual stream of high resolution water quality data from locations in the Puget Sound.  Currently there are six buoys throughout Puget Sound.

This blog will explore the trials, tribulations, and joys of maintaining and operating six buoys.