Freo!

I have arrived! My transcontinental journey went by without a hitch and I arrived in Fremantle (aka Freo) at around midday yesterday. It's summer here. The air was a toasty 100 degrees F when I stepped out of the airport and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The warmth and scenery reminded of southern California. After a 30 minute cab ride, I finally made it to the Revelle.

The R/V Roger Revelle!

The ship was already bustling with activity when I got there. Both the science and tech crew were making final preparations for the journey ahead.  Alison, our chief scientist, greeted me on the deck and introduced me to everyone within sight. I met my fellow student helpers and instantly made new friends. I eventually met up with Rick (see last post) who is only here to ensure that the floats make onto the ship in working order; he flies back to the US in a few days. He informed me that one of the floats had a mechanical failure and will have to shipped back to Seattle. That means we will be deploying a maximum of 6 floats on our cruise.

One of the main streets in Fremantle

Later that evening, we had dinner in town and I got to do a bit of sightseeing. Fremantle is one of the major port cities in western Australia and has a rich history of European settlement. The British influence is obvious but there are visible traces of Italian and Portuguese influences as well. The atmosphere is very laid back. Everyone seems to just want to relax and have a good time.

Street artist in downtown Fremantle

Loading cranes in Victoria Quay. Don't they look like
mechanical dinosaurs?

Tomorrow is our final day in port. We set sail at 16:00 and all hands must be on deck two hours prior. Rick will also host "float school" at 08:00 where he will teach everyone, who cares to learn, the proper procedures for deploying an Argo float.

Till next time,
EW