Day 8

Yes, that's right - nothing more on the Day 7 log. We've been pushing hard enough that I just couldn't muster the effort to summarize and type for a bit.

We're definitely winding down, and each dive (around 3 hours a pop) is taking more mental effort to get going. On the other hand, just as was the case earlier, once we're in the water it's fine. It's the grind of pasting on the wet neoprene yet one more time that's toughest. Every little scrape and scratch dating back to the beginning of the trip is clear and present with each brush of fabric. It's only once you're floating free that you can focus more on the environment and the science to be done than on the bodily whining.

Parts of today (our last full science diving day) were spent prepping for getting out. A crew is coming out from shore in a few minutes to "pot" out whatever gear we won't be needing for the last day of work and the 18 hours of decompression. Off go videotapes, equipment spares, tools and supplies we didn't need, etc.

We've been remarkably unsuccessful with regard to spare equipment: we didn't need it. Despite our expectations that we'd be flooding housings, blowing up electronics, and bashing flow probes, we've managed to keep using the initial set we fielded. Now, don't misunderstand me, I think our policy of redundancy was wise. I'd be really, really upset had we assumed things would all last the trip and they hadn't (and hence we didn't get data). Once in a while, things run well.

In a sense it's been a fairly uneventful day or two: swapping dive pairs in and out, data streaming in. That last is key. Having a routine that's working is less interesting to relate, but in the long term more satisfying than debonaire troubleshooting. I do wish for more current, though... Too bad: something to order up for the next mission.