As we awakened to Day 4 of our Mission it quickly became obvious that the weather had deteriorated during the night. Tropical Storm Gabrielle skirted the Florida Keys to the north and "feeder bands" from the storm generated 35-40 mile an hour winds in the Florida Straits. The sea state in the Atlantic Ocean changed quickly from the calm conditions that we had during the week of training and the first 3 days of the Mission to 10-12 foot waves over the Aquarius Habitat.

The decision was made by 0700 hours by Mission Control (Watch Desk) to abort diving operations for the day. The visibility had decreased from 80 feet the day before to less than 5 feet. Fine sediment had been suspended in the water column and increased turbidity, thus reducing the amount of light reaching the bottom and affecting the horizontal visibility. These conditions, combined with an enormous amount of surge from the wave action, increased the level of risk if the Aquanauts continued with dive operations and the collection of data.

The National Undersea Research Center has a stellar safety record for the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory. This record is largely due to wise decisions such as this, combined with excellent Aquanaut training, and a highly professional crew of program managers and technicians. Their motto is "Safety is paramount, Safety, Safety, Safety" and the NURC crew continually remind the Aquanauts of this imperative. Mark Hulsbeck, our lead trainer, routinely echoed a couple of other reminders during our week of training. He frequently reinforced the fact that once we were saturated with nitrogen, the surface is not an option. In the event of an emergency, we have to stay at or below the habitat depth and if humanly possible, always make our way back to the habitat. "Remember," he would say, "the surface is not an option." We also spent a considerable amount of time learning how to use cave diving reels that are used by the Aquanauts to navigate around the Aquarius Underwater Laboratory. The reels can be a little difficult to use underwater and they sometimes get tangled with a backlash if the diver is not paying attention. Mark would remind us, "slack is your enemy" as he trained us in the use of the reels. These words still echo in our minds every time we use the reels.

All was not lost by spending a day inside the habitat. The Aquanaut scientists, educators and managers spent the day transferring data from underwater slates to paper and computer copies. We studied the data and compared notes with field guides of fishes, corals, and other marine life. We discussed our observations, compared notes, and shared our exciting observations with each other. There is no way to describe the feeling of total immersion in the marine topics discussed inside the habitat during a saturation mission. You are surrounded by the marine environment that you are studying and discussing, while glancing out the portholes at the fish swimming past the field of view. It is an incredible feeling and a spectacular opportunity. As I write this log, a 3-foot long snook just swam passed my porthole. Cruising by, on the search for prey that we watch them capture with voraciousness like nothing I have ever suspected for the species.

Even though we did not get to conduct any biological or ecological observations during the day, we did make several scientific observations. However, the science was physics and not marine science. For example, one of the things that woke us up in the morning was not an alarm clock, but rapidly changing air pressure inside the habitat. As waves would pass overhead, the pressure would rapidly change inside the habitat and would pop our ears. This continued until the Aquarius Technicians closed the pressure tight door to the outer wet porch. As the waves surged in the wet porch well, the pressure changes rapidly.

Another observation was when I climbed out of the wet porch shower and was toweling off my head, I noticed a fine mist that would quickly appear and just as quickly disappear. I soon noticed the appearance of the mist coincided with the wave surge in the wet porch well. The change in pressure inside the well would cause the atmospheric moisture to condense into a mist and would dissipate as the pressure was relieved. We had a full day of such observations and interesting discussions about our temporary abode on the ocean floor. Periodically, we would feel the habitat shutter and shake as a large wave passed overhead. Simultaneously we would all glance at Jay Styron for reassurance, because he is a veteran of 10 Saturation Missions.

Another example of technical wonder took place when we had a live web cast with the Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina. Our Aquarius Technicians Jay Styron and Mike Smith were both students at Cape Fear and Mike served as MC and host. Mike gave an orientation tour of the Aquarius Habitat and fielded questions from the college students and faculty. Ray Brandi, Director of the Marine Tech Program for the College, helped coordinate the live web cast and direct questions to Mike. What marvelous technology we have at our fingertips today!

We all finished the day in a variety of activities. As for myself, I used a little of my "down time" to re-read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. It is an old edition that was published in 1943. My wife, Laura, bought the book for me in a used bookstore in Boston. The book and the story remind me that the dreams of yesterday are the realities of today.