Since yesterday we had some problems with the communications system with Houston, we tried again today. Greg and I waited for over an hour in full dive suits in the wet porch (too hot to be in neoprene...too cold to be in the water) for the word from Jeff and Byron to start with the testing. Then finally the word came in, "comm problems unresolvable again, press to plan B." Greg and I regrouped and after we discussed the plan with Jeff we headed out to the Northeast excursion line to lay transects and collect coral data.

As we headed out, we were hit by a killer current that had come upon the site during our wait. Greg and I struggled against the current, making constant communication checks along the way with the Hab. By the time we arrived at the way station to top off our scuba tanks, and a quick check-in with the Hab, Greg and I decided not to risk getting pulled off the main line by the current. As we headed back from our aborted mission, Greg and I performed a quick sanity check. Greg was twenty feet ahead, up current, so I swam as hard as I could and it took almost 3 minutes to get to him! Good call to abort! On our way back to Aquarius we ran into Jeff and Jonathan along the excursion line, and as a group, we decided to completely abort coral science for the day. On the way out, I remember thinking "man... I am not looking forward to fighting this current."

Anyway, that's about it for tonight. We just got a bunch of changes for tomorrow (changes to the construction project, another attempt to get the com situation fixed) and I probably need to review them before bed.