ALTEX Arctic Cruise
October 7 - November 7, 2001
Tromso, Norway to the Arctic Circle
Logbook
November 5, 2001: Day #30
Cruising the fjords
Mike Pinto writes: The Healy arrived just outside Norwegian waters early Monday. It was sure nice seeing the sun for the first time in over three weeks! Just after 9:00 am we received approval from the government to enter Norwegian waters and head for the test area inside the fjord. Unfortunately, just as we arrived, the Norwegian Navy declined our request to test the AUV due to naval maneuvers being held in the area. We saw several naval vessels operating nearby just after getting the word. We had hoped to test the AUV with the buoy launcher but that was not to be. The good news is that since the test is not ice dependent, it can be held in Monterey Bay at a later date.
The extra time allowed us to get an early start on packing the equipment since we will be departing the Healy on Tuesday morning. Our first casualty of the cruise occurred during packing. Our Farley Shane suffered a slight cut below the lip that required six stitches by the ship's doctor. The patient responded well to treatment and was enjoying our final dinner on the Healy.
Earlier in the day we had a little excitement when a Norwegian submarine commander contacted the bridge requesting our intentions. The captain radioed back that we were just traveling through the area and would be arriving in Tromso in the morning. The submarine commander replied that they were 10,000 meters off our aft quarter and were planning to submerge and wanted to stay out of our way.