05.30 am. I wake up by a sudden shake in my bed and my clock tells me it’s time to get up and take the underway (also known as underwater or whatever) sample. I’m trying to get through my cabin without being smashed against the chairs and table by the 4m waves outside.  At 7.30 we all gather for breakfast. Matthias made it out of his room and is like every morning surprised about the cupboard and sofa (and Steffen) still being in the ship like the night before. At the main deck the waves pound the ship; they don’t allow too much sleep and regularly make cups and furniture fly around the room.
Today is an easy day- no CTD! But it’s time to get the microstructure sonde (MSS) ready to have a closer view at processes in the upper ocean layer. Yesterday the first MSS station failed due to a too high buoyancy of the sonde thus the MSS was floating at the surface without fulfilling its job. That means more work for Rudi and Matthias! But putting extra weight and fixing an oxidized contact should do it. Everybody else is getting ready for the next station tomorrow and eagerly collecting underway samples. In our free time we try to relax without worrying about broken instruments, sampling, plotting or whatever and enjoy a quick look inside the latest BRAVO magazine in the so called Geo lab (also known as party lab due to all-time favorite music).

Fun in the Geolab. Photo: Christa Marandino

by Gesa Eirund & Matthias Krüger