4 January, 2002

VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

We are aboard the Laurence M. Gould, headed for Palmer Station. The ship is controlled from the bridge (except for the part that Mother Nature plays!) We are invited to visit the bridge in normal conditions. I visited with the mate Jesse Gann. He explained the duties he has during each watch. For this trip, Jesse has the watch from 8-12 (morning) and 8-12 (evening) How many hours a day does Jesse work, and how many hours does he have off?

Jesse Gann on the bridge. You can see the charts on the table in front of him that he is using to navigate.

Sometimes the mate will sit between two large consoles that provide a lot of information. Here you see Jesse sitting where he can see out over the bow of the ship (to the left of the photo) as well as where he can see all the instruments.