Yet another tropical low forming in the northern territory near Darwin has triggered cyclone demobilization #3 for Barrow Island and all vessels. Currently the sea surface is a mirror and the weather pleasant, but the placid conditions are forecasted to turn nasty by Wednesday; winds upwards of 50 knots are possible. The slower vessels, the barges and their tugs, packed up and left for the mainland yesterday; along with the small transfer and survey vessels. The only ships remaining are the Finnmarken (where I am now), the Taurus which is preparing to leave this evening, and the Gateway also preparing to sail away at sunset. The Finnmarken will set out on a cruise into the Indian Ocean to avoid the weather, not sure what direction yet. I have a GPS handy so I plan to plot our course as we go along.
It appears I will be stuck on this floating hotel for the next 5-7 days. I may post myself on the back deck and continue to observe marine fauna, the odds of seeing albatross increase as we move offshore (assuming we go offshore and not towards the mainland). Ben, the other MFO, spotted a few palm sized turtle hatchlings yesterday from the 20 meter high bridge of the Gateway; I have yet to see one so that will give me a goal to work towards over the next week…there’s really NOTHING else to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment