Whisps of cloud hover low over the water on a clear day around Swanson Bay.
/ mist on the water
A small break in the fog reveals a dense low altitude fog bank further ahead.
/ heavy fog around oona river
A sort of 'rainbow' forms off of the bow while the vessel is submerged in a fog bank, with the uppermost bank dissipating to show the clear sky overhead.
/ rainbow in fog bank
The symmetrical appearance of the framing that reinforces the ship's bow visor.
/ Inside the Bow Visor
washing the ship's overside windows from on the dock during the final night of a 2-week watch.
/ Window Washing
In the northern latitudes the sun hardly sets during the summer, and during the solstice it is dark for only 3-4 hours at night.
/ 3am During the Summer Solstice
A view of Work Island and the historical site of Butedale seen from overhead, on a commercial flight to northern British Columbia.
/ A View of Work Island from Above
The northern lights are seen around the world; I was in Vancouver and watched the aurora all night with a friend of mine from the roof of his building.
/ Northern Lights over Vancouver
/ northern lights
A view of the ocean from rural Dunsfield, Newfoundland, where a dear friend of mine spent his childhood.
/ Dunsfield, Newfoundland
The southern and wide end of Grenville Channel, which is only ~250 meters across at its smallest point.
/ Southern Grenville Channel
A rainbow seems to touch down onto Storm Island, one of the small islands directly subject to weather in Queen Charlotte Sound. No treasure to be found here!
/ Rainbow over Storm Island
/ Rainbow Follows Alongside the Vessel
A view of the internal wiring for the navigation equipment in the bridge. Modern ships use an integrated bridge system which contains multiple different systems connected for ease of use.
/ Wiring Inside the Navigation Equipment
There is an extraordinary amount of cables laid within ships; a vessel of comparable size used over 15 kilometers (9+ miles) of cable to connect her various parts and systems. This is a small fraction of that.
/ the 'guts' of the navigation equipment
An underside view of one of the minor navigation stations, used for docking. There is one station on each side of the bridge, where control of the main systems is tranferred during docking.
/ underbelly of a 'docking' nav station
A labyrinth of pipes in a domain far from my expertise. The main engine room of the 'Adventure' is cramped and I had to crawl about while inspecting the firefighting equipment onboard.
/ pipes in the main engine room
The chain lockers are a hazardous confined space onboard where the anchor chain is stored. This locker was wide open, as it was vented and freshly painted during drydock maintenence.
/ a rare view of the port chain locker
The anchors and chain were completely detached for maintenence and upkeep in drydock. I arrived too late to see them reattached but did get to watch the drydock crew heave them home.
/ heaving the anchor home
One of the new propellors installed in drydock to improve fuel economy. This is a 'variable pitch propellor' that can adjust the angle of the individual blades to alter speed while maintaining the same RPM.
/ new port side propellor
Two new propellors were installed on the 'Adventure' in drydock, smaller than the previous propellors. Each propellor has a matching rudder for each side.
/ new propellors and fresh hull paintjob
A view of the freshly painted hull, which was inspected in drydock. The 'bulbous bow' protrudes from the front, and 2 'cages' conceal the dual bow propellors.
/ a view of the bow in drydock
A rare view of the starboard side stabilizer fin, which can be deployed to help soothe a ships rolling. The stabilizers, widely lauded as ineffective, were completely deconstructed and rebuilt during drydock.
/ starboard side stabilizer fin
All other days of drydock, we would ascend a series of scaffolding and enter via the 4ft 'pilot door' on the port side. On the floating day, we had to board via gangway from the very top of the dock sides.
/ boarding the ship on her 'floating day'
/ sunset view around fisher channel
Due to the force of the wind heeling the vessel over, sometimes the outer decks will begin to drain built-up rainwater inside the ship. Luckily, the ship is well equipped to deal with severe weather and wet conditions. We don't usually sail in rough weather like this if we know in advance.
/ rough crossing with severe heel
