This update finds the TOWNSEND CROMWELL anchored about a half of a nautical mile west of Laysan Island. After a frustrating few days waiting for the high surf to subside, we were finally able to safely land the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) scientists ashore here. We also shuttled boat-loads of supplies and equipment they will use to run their field camp for the next several months.

These last few days were frustrating because a large northwesterly swell had been breaking on the reef and beach, making it impossible to run small boats ashore here. Hurricane winds hundreds of miles away in the northwest Pacific created large waves that became swells, traveling across the ocean and crashing upon the shores of Laysan. While waiting for the storms to move east and for the swell to diminish we continued on to Lisianski Island and offloaded the field camps there. The large expanse of reef west of Lisianski served to protect the approach and the channel to the beach making it possible, though still difficult, to make it ashore. After leaving Lisianski and the NMFS field biologists behind, we headed back to Laysan to see if the surf had calmed down.  It hadn't. The next day, was the same. We took advantage of the opportunity and did a CTD south of Laysan Island, calibrated equipment, and held emergency
drills to sharpen out fire fighting, abandon ship, and man overboard skills.

Finally, Monday morning dawned on a calmer Laysan Island.
Even though it was much calmer today, it was still a very tricky task. The swells were about six feet (half the size of the previous day) where the ship was anchored making launching and loading the small boats difficult and potentially dangerous. The beach breaks made unloading difficult as well. One or two people have to hold the boat steady while others lift heavy water jugs, supply buckets and equipment out of the boat and lug them up the steep beach slope. Luckily it was a beautiful day and with a lot of sunscreen and fresh water, we were able to move everything from the ship to the camp. We also hauled lots of stuff back to the ship from a USFWS camp that has been occupied by two sturdy fellows since early October. Among the things we brought back was a few hundred pounds of marine debris (old nets and line) which had washed ashore. We are also bringing the two USFWS biologists back to Honolulu with us.

Last Modified 3/8/01

http://atsea.swfc2.nmfs.gov/