All the crew have arrived in Galway and had their negative COVID-19 PCR test.
The Scientific Crew on the gangway of the RV Celtic Explorer in Galway Port (Photo courtesy of Eurofleets)
For the past two days the mobilisation effort has been underway. This involves lifting the large containers full of scientific equipment on board, and filling the back deck of the RV Celtic Explorer.
Thankfully so far the weather in Galway has been favourable, which makes for a much more pleasant process!
We were due to set off yesterday (6th May) afternoon, however we were delayed by the arrival of the final few containers. They eventually arrived in the late afternoon yesterday. The geophysical equipment needs to be assembled on the dockside first before being craned onto the ship.
This meant that our first night on the boat was actually spent in port. Can confirm that the food is very delicious and the beds are comfy!
Due to the tidal nature of Galway port, you have to leave the port lock during high tide. The next high tide is around three o'clock this afternoon, and we were meant to leave then...but Mother Nature has other plans.
Wind map of a storm cell off the coast of Ireland, which will make for bumpy passage!
There is a bad weather front building up and approaching from the west, with wind speeds upwards of 40 knots.
As of 19:00 this evening (Friday 7th May) there is a Status Yellow - Gale warning in place. I feel I may have jinxed us when I said "so far the weather in Galway has been favourable"...
So in the interest of Safety, the RV Celtic Explorer will stay in port for another night and plans to depart tomorrow afternoon at high tide.
Source: Met Éireann
There's plenty of mobilistion still to do in the meantime, so I best stop writing and go lend a hand!
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