Toby Martin
Marine Technician OSU
 

This story begins with me heading to the galley for a nice leisurely
lunch, before reporting for my 12 o'clock SeaSoar watch. On the way to the galley the Chief Scientist intercepts me, "We should be coming up on some of our drifters in 30-45 minutes, would you set up the radio direction finder so we can find them?"

I haul the equipment up to the bridge and get it set up. When it's
turned on, we are already getting a faint signal from ahead. Five
minutes later, after tying everything down, the signal is still
ahead of us.

I rush below and wolf my lunch. Afterward I go back to the bridge
to check in on things, the direction finder still indicates the
drifter is dead ahead. I ask the Chief Scientist, "Are you going to
post observers to look for this thing?"

He answered, "No we'll wait until it starts to fall by our side."

"We have a range of about 4 miles with this equipment, the ship is
doing 8 knots, for the last 30 minutes the drifter has been straight in
front of us. Therefore we are right on top of it, now. By the time
it starts to fall aside, it will be behind us." I then went below to
stand my watch flying the SeaSoar.

As I sit in the pilots chair the SeaSoar starts acting up, struggling
to dive or surface. I call the bridge on the intercom, "What was our
last fix on the drifter?"

"Well, it was right in front of us but we haven't gotten a signal from
it in a couple of minutes."

"I think I know were it is."