July 13 at 8 AM the “Pourquoi Pas? leaves the wharf at Mindelo. This is the beginning of the SMARTIES adventure and there is a lot of excitement among the members of the scientific team. We anticipate the beautiful data that we will harvest in the work area. Which is still very far! We will have more than four days of transit to get there.

This day of departure is dedicated to a better knowledge of the ship and the rules of safety and life on board. During a conference, the First Officer presents the ship, its operation and the safety rules: the different alarms and the ways to proceed. Then the whole scientific team has to try a survival suit, which is supposed to protect us in case of abandonment of the ship. The tests are done at the bridge and we all managed to put it on, among a lot of fun. The sea being very calm, almost nobody was suffering from seasickness. In the same day, we had an exercise with an abandonment alarm, to clearly identify the muster area and the lifeboat in which everyone is supposed to embark in case of abandonment.

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Then, a calm day with the end of the installation of the scientific equipment and some short meetings with the leader of the Nautile team and the ship’s Master.

By M. Maia