Coordinates: 46o 48’ N 72o 12’ W
We’ve finally met the ship!
The Amundsen in port below the Plains of Abraham.
After our first sleep onboard last night, we’ve begun the process of loading the ship for the expedition. This is officially called mobilization, and it will take three days. During it, we will set up all the scientific equipment, while the crew organizes everything else we’ll need for our time in the Arctic, from canned fruit to machine oil. The crew are mostly Québecois and the scientists are from all around the world, so there’s a pleasant mix of languages to be heard as we shift our many boxes back and forth along the decks. During the previous months, we’ve sent countless emails to coordinate laboratory space between the different research groups, and now the challenge is to realize plans we made with only theoretical floor plan drawings as a guide. In short, we’ve spent today moving boxes.
A small part of the ship’s floor plan, incuding the potato room, which we later found – it’s indeed full of potatoes.
Cranes lifting pallets back off the ship.
We’ve also taken some time to get to know the ship itself, and the second officer kindly gave us a tour. It’s quite a large vessel, with three sleeping decks, and I’ve gotten lost plenty of times just finding the bathroom. Tomorrow, we’ll go on a quick test sail to test the anchor winch, but for now, we’re winding down for the evening.
The Forward Filtration lab in the process of setup.
Scientists coordinate incubation tank building.