Last night I slept on my trusty hammock on the top deck of Tortue. I was awakened at 3AM by what felt like 30kt winds. I felt like I woke up inside of a wind tunnel. I moved inside, and crashed on the bench seat in the galley for a few more hours rest before the early start to training day.

Today we did a prelim check of our equipment and scouted the area for a suitable training dive site. We had a very full day in the field, but got a lot of important work done.

Tomorrow, we’ll wrap up the class, and it sounds like we may have a small fiesta for my birthday. This is my 6th of the last 10 birthdays in the Bahamas…not a bad place to be.

Tonight I’ll be working on a dive safety and accident management plan to leave with the team as they start 6 weeks on intensive fieldwork. Being at such a remote location, extra careful attention to accident management and chains of correspondence and command are critical to ensure as smooth an evacuation as possible (worst case of course). Tomorrow, we’ll make any final tweaks to the plan, and post it in obvious places aboard the vessel for reference by the project’s support crew.

Well, back at it. Will be a late night, but as I wind down this project its value has become incredibly clear. The commitment of the team shows through, and I’m glad to be helping them get off the ground here in the Berry’s.