When Jack and Charlie got under my skin!
For 3 years every two months in the early 1980s we had a cruise to the Gulf Stream to map out the vertical and horizontal structure of its velocity field. Most of the cruises were out of Narragansett on the Endeavor. On the first cruise we set up an array of initially 7 (expanded later to 9) sites, each consisting of two transponders on the bottom that would ping a reply when it heard a ping from the Pegasus instrument. This abled us to track the instrument during its free-fall descent and ascent. From its trajectory we could determine the velocity profile (see the description of the Pegasus operation under Instruments).
Of course, we were subject to the whims of nature so there were times when we had to just sit still and ride out the storm. This happened to us once when we were in the middle of the Gulf Stream. Wind, waves and swell all conspired against us such that we couldn’t maneuver, we were stuck there for a full 3 days. But, seriously, it wasn’t as bad as it might seem for between the Endeavor’s excellent sea-keeping properties and expert handling by the bridge the vessel would smoothly pitch up and down like riding on a rocking horse. The scientific party couldn’t do much at these times and had to wait out the storm, either resting in the cabin or reading a book in the library. The crew went about its usual chores whether on the bridge, in the engine room or the galley. For some reason, two of the crew, Jack Buss and Charlie Parks decided to take down and revarnish the big wooden Endeavor signs with gold lettering mounted to either side of the bridge. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but because of the storm many of the ventilation hatches were shut tight so the fumes from the varnishing down in the aft hold permeated all the living quarters including the library and the galley. I asked them if this was really necessary on a day like this; the fumes were extremely unpleasant if not toxic. I have little doubt Jack and Charlie were having fun teaching us another angle about life at sea!