Return

Well, my apologies in a delayed final response. As many of you probably know by now we have returned from our trip at seas. Bad weather/ high chop forced us to return on August 14th :( We made it to shore on the 15th and unpacked the following two days to return home on the 18th.

Overall, I believe our teacher at sea (Steve Allen) (www.teaheratsea.wordpress.com/category/noaa-teacher-at-sea-2/steve-allen) stated the trip succinctly in saying that we have learned alot and it was amazing how our group came together under such conditions.

The expedition truly was a trip of a lifetime and please follow the mercyhurst webpage for more information and press releases concerning our results!!! We'll be back at it next year upon the R/V Weatherbird :)

4th Dive Completed

Today we completed the third and fourth dives, both of which were conducted at locale Brown Stone. We are currently excavating test units in various locations across the landscape. We have a great area with what appears to be possibly the edge of a filled in channel or river. Excavations have been completed along the exterior of this feature and into what is hopefully the filled in channel. As of now, no archaeological materials have been recovered, but the potential remains. We will spend the next day or two here and depending on weather and finds, we will then move on the next locale.

Well that's a wrap! Talk to you tomorrow. GOOD EVENING! :)

Operation RSN Tubeworm Set Sail!

And the floating dock has been released! After many revisions in design and function (we no longer are using the john boat to hold the pump engine and batteries) it has set sail. We are still docked at our first site, Brown Stone. The first three dives have been completed and the site appears to be an area of interest. There appears to be the typical features in identifying sites under approximately 40 feet of water, as are often found at terrestrial sites today.

At this time we will complete a second dive today (or fourth overall) after dinner in hopes of setting up the dredge and test units in preparation for excavation tomorrow. The weather is currently holding and keep your fingers crossed that it will continue.

I'll plan on updating this, this evening upon the completion of the next dive. Until then adios!!!

And...We're at Sea!!!

After several days delay we are out to sea. I would have posted yesterday, but alas the mighty sea sickness had taken it's toll. Wednesday and Thursday we were delayed from leaving dock due to weather conditions, in addition to extra preparation. The dry screen dock was shall we say, redesigned, several times in hopes of creating a more stable dock. We also spent extra time preparing the dredge pumps.

Anyways, as of 18:00 August 11, 2011 we set out. We spent the entire evening heading towards our first site of interest, named BrownStone. We're here now and are gearing up to see what's beneath.

Preparation for Movement

Hey Folks. So we're here in St. Petersburg, Florida and have been since Sunday evening. Yesterday we were busy building the screens and floating dock for sifting all sediment recovered from our four sites we're out to investigate. Today we fixed a few of the errors involved in that and put together the pumps and generators. We've been pushed back a day due to generator issues on the boat and preparation of all our archaeological equipment, but should set sail by tomorrow afternoon. We even plan on our first group dive to get used to the depths and equipment. In all there will be 8 of us diving the sites in group of 3 or 4 at a time.

On a different note, the delays allowed me to celebrate my big 3-0 birthday on dry land (pretty nice so I wasn't suffering sea sickness for the big day (I do have meds with me and hopefully they help prevent sea sickness). We were able to go out for a group dinner at an Indian Restaraunt and also afforded us the opportunity to discuss of plan of attack.

For now, this is it, but stay tuned as the excitement most certainly begins tomorrow! (Cross your fingers for midden or archaeological deposits!)

NIGHT :)

Excitement abounds and preparation underway!

Alright folks, bear with me as I'm new to this blogging thing (yes I understand that this may be astonishing, but I do not twitter nor have I blogged), but here goes!

So preparation is underway. I leave Sunday around noon for Tampa to begin the expedition with Adovasio and Hemmings. The level of excitement is too hard to put into words, as this really is a dream come true, a once in a lifetime chance to say the least.

Anyways, I've been preparing for this particular trip for the past few months, but have also been enthusiastically reading up on submerged shore line studies and submerged prehistoric studies for years. Since April I have been busy updating my CPR, First Aid, AED, and Bloodborne Pathogens American Red Cross training; I have taken an Oxygen Provider class with PADI and DAN; completed an Enriched Air Diving class with PADI; have become and Advanced Open Water diver with PADI (I completed my Open Water certification in 2002); and have completed a series of checkout dives and water skills in order to certify as a scientific diver with the University of South Florida to have permission to dive from their boat, the R/V Bellows. It has been a terribly busy couple of months, but I am more than certain it has all been worth it!

Beyond the training classes, I am now preparing to take leave on this adventure, and since I leave on Sunday, I'm beginning to pack my bags. I'll spare you the details of this, as I'm sure many of you reading this are aware what packing entails. But let me tell you, it can definitely be difficult to pack for a two week at sea scientific trip.

Oh yeah, and for those of you who don't know what I'm preparing for: A team of archaeologists under the direction of Dr. James M. Adovasio and Dr. C. Andrew Hemmings will be conducting the third installment of the NOAA funded archaeological investigation - Exploring the Submerged New World. The first expedition was in 2008, the second in 2009 and here we are with 2011 for the third (Aug. 9th to 18th). It is our hopes to find evidence of submerged prehistoric sites and we are continuing the work started in 2008 off the coast of Florida. For more information on this expedition please see the previous post with Press Releases and continue to follow this blog. I will be posting daily about the day to day goings onboard the research vessel and will keep you aware of all upcoming press releases.

For now I bid you adieu.