Monday: 1999 Ship Schedule and Planning Meeting.
Report by Peter Wiebe

During the Workshop, a session was held on Monday morning to discuss the current ship
schedule for the 1999 field season and the work to be conducted on the cruises.  The most
recently posted schedule, as prepared by Don Moller (WHOI), Bill Hahn (URI), and Tim Askew
(HBOI), was reviewed.  This schedule was a modified version of the one prepared during the 20
July PI meeting.  Several problems with the present schedule were identified.  

1) The timing of the first Jim Irish cruise of the year (28 Feb. to 6 Mar) comes too early in the
year.  A principal activity is to clean the bio-optical sensors on the mooring which accumulate
bio-fouling organisms during the winter/spring period.  It appears that as a result of the Schlitz
cruise being moved later into the month of March, the Irish cruise could be moved so that it
occurred between 6 to 13 March.  Whether this adjustment is sufficient needs to be discussed
with Irish.

2) The February Ted Durbin cruise on Endeavor (11-26 February) is a bit too early and according
to Diane Gifford,  Durbin would like it moved more into the March/April time-frame. 

3) The pair of cruises led by Dian Gifford (on Endeavor 27 March to 13 April) and Hebert &
Barth (on Oceanus 27 March to 11 April) comes a bit too late for the work proposed.  They need
to move into an earlier period in March, if possible.  

4) There was a mis-understanding of the work requirement for the Madin et al predation group
on the June cruise aboard the Endeavor (15 June to 2 July).  No provision was made in the earlier
planning for the use of the MOC-10 and hence there is insufficient shiptime allocated for this
cruise.  It needs to be extended to start 2 days earlier and end one day later to enable all the work
to be accommodated (i.e. from 13 June to 3 July).  These extra days may be offset by adjustments
to other cruises associated with mooring work. 

5) The Hebert & Barth June cruise on the Oceanus (15 June to 2 July), needs to be adjusted 2 to 3
days earlier to provide enough time to send the equipment being used on the cruise to the west
coast to participate on another cruise. The recommendation is that the cruise start on 13 June and
end on 30 June.  This would allow a 2-day in port turn-around which is very tight, but doable
under optimal conditions.