Right before Alvin surfaced from the last dive, I went up to the bridge of the ship to see how the ship is steered, maneuvered, and to take in the pretty views. This is the highest part of the ship, so it is most affected by the waves. Even on a pretty calm day, it was swaying back and forth quite a bit.
There are always two people on watch in the bridge. Both are qualified to steer the ship if necessary. Many times, the GPS coordinates of where the ship needs to go are put into a computer and the ship goes to the GPS coordinates on its own. Other times, the ship requires special maneuvering, which is when the captain comes and steers the ship manually. You can steer from three places on the bridge, the center, and both side have steering capabilities. The captain, A.D., has done a wonderful job navigating the ship through the open water. When the ship makes port somewhere that may require extra navigation or knowledge of the area, a pilot is necessary to successfully navigate the ship into position. For departure, the pilot is waiting at the dock, and after successful navigation is usually picked up in a smaller boat (although ours was picked up in a helicopter outside of Astoria, none of us are sure why). For arrival, the reverse happens, a pilot is dropped off in open water by a smaller boat and navigates the ship to port, where someone is waiting to pick up the pilot.
The Alvin monitoring station called Top Lab is also located on the bridge in the back half of the room. The submarine is in constant contact with the surface and through coordinates we have a rough idea of where Alvin is at all times. At least one of the Alvin crew members is always monitoring this station during a dive.
You go up a lot of steep steps (called ladders) to get to the bridge.
Corey at Top Lab
The front of the ship from the bridge.
The back of the ship from the bridge. The big white ball is the internet.
The bridge itself. Windows are all around. You need sunglasses on a sunny day, just like driving a car.
A.D. steering from the starboard side to retrieve Alvin
Steering a ship is one thing, but determining how to maneuver to pick up a submarine is a different story. While Alvin is on it’s way up, they call their coordinates into the bridge. The ship tries to be about 100 meters down-wind from the submarine so that the waves will draw the sub closer to the ship. It’s dangerous to activate the engines and drive while Alvin is in the water. When the submarine is about 200 meters from the surface, the captain blows a horn, signaling to the crew it is time to release the Avon with the two divers to go locate the submarine and get it ready to be hauled out of the water. Once the sub surfaces, the Avon drops off a diver, then moves back next to the Atlantis to wait for the water to bring Alvin closer. One of the divers remains standing on the submarine, the other stays in the Avon until the sub gets close enough to Atlantis. The second diver then attaches a tow line from the ship to the submarine, which draws the sub close to the back of the ship. The A-frame is lowered, the divers hook everything up, Alvin is brought out of the water, and the divers dive off of the top of the sub into the water, where the Avon will come pick them up. The Avon remains in the water until the sub is secured on deck, Then it is hoisted up onto the deck using the crane on the starboard side of the ship. A.D. has to steer the ship the entire time during this process and is also on the lookout for large swells that may be dangerous to those operating the submarine and the Avon.
Jerry with Alvin passing by the bridge.
Alvin and divers, Avon and driver Mark, who is taking pictures.
