WORK OF THE CARNEGIE AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE SCIENTIFIC CRUISES 



BARBADOS, WEST INDIES TO BALBOA, CANAL ZONE, OCTOBER 1 TO 11, 1928 



Leaving the Bridgetown mooring buoy at llh 30m, 

 October 1, 1928, vuider her own power, the Carnegie 

 headed up northwest to sight Martinique for a fine view 

 of this mountainous island the next day, Mount Pel^e 

 showing up clearly except for a cloud bank at the top. 

 For one brief moment the mist lifted enough to see the 

 jagged peaks at the top of the cone against the white 

 cloud background. After squaring away for Colon at 

 noon October 2, fine weather, broken by occasional 

 squalls with heavy rain, lightning, and thunder, prevailed 

 to within twenty-four hours' sail of Colon. One squall 

 took the vessel at 11 knots for two hours. 



At the first ocean station after leaving Barbados, a 

 good bottom sample was secured on the long water-sam- 

 ple series, using the Vaughan sampler. At the next sta- 

 tion, after hauling in seven hundred meters of the first 

 series, the first bottles jammed against the davit block 

 and before the winch could be stopped, the wire parted. 

 Four thousand meters of wire, eleven Nansen bottles, 

 five unprotected and seventeen protected Richter deep- 

 sea reversing thermometers, and the second Vaughan 

 snapper-type sampler, were lost. During work at an 

 ocean station two half-meter nets are put out and towed 

 from the after davit on the port side, one one-meter net 

 is towed from the starboard side at the stern, the plank- 

 ton pump is operated from one side platform using the 

 port reel of heavy wire, and the two thermometers and 



water-bottle series are operated from the other platform. 

 At times the pump is being lowered while the first bottle 

 series is being brought up, or vice versa. The townets 

 are being hauled in with the wire around the gypsy head, 

 and the wire reeled up by hand, while the second bottle 

 series is being brought up, the water samples drawn off, 

 and the thermometers taken off the bottles and carried 

 to the control room to be read later. Thus the fraction 

 of a second lost in signaling to shut off the current when 

 a bottle came to the surface caused the loss. A thimble 

 was clamped on the broken end of the cable and some 

 bottles were sent down to 1650 meters--all the wire left 

 on the drum. The next day seven hundred meters of the 

 6-millimeter wire were spliced on the end of the 1650- 

 meter length, using one bottle at the end, and the next 

 bottle above the splice, with the messenger and chain 

 long enough to reach below the splice. The reel of spare 

 wire will be wound on the winch at Balboa. 



Totals of four ocean stations, fifteen declination 

 measurements, five inclination and horizontal-intensity 

 measurements, and twenty-nine sonic depth stations were 

 occupied. No atmospheric-electric series was made be- 

 cause of rainy weather and poor insulation on the ion 

 counter. Radio contact with station WIMK was maintained 

 as usual, and station NKF was overheard on several 

 nights working the Byrd expedition vessels. The biologi- 

 cal and chemical work was carried on successfully. 



BALBOA, CANAL ZONE TO EASTER ISLAND TO CALLAO, PERU, 

 OCTOBER 25, 1928 TO JANUARY 14, 1929 



Anchorage was made in Limon Bay, Atlantic en- 

 trance to the Panama Canal, at 4h, October 11, after 

 having used the engine for twenty-four hours because of 

 calms or head winds. There surely is a thrill in coming 

 into this harbor at night, steering by chart courses, 

 picking out the lighthouses on the ends of the two break- 

 waters which protect the bay and form a narrow entrance 

 which must not be missed or shipwreck will follow, 

 then coming into the bay, following the course as indi- 

 cated by the excellent range lights back along the canal, 

 one fixed and the other flashing, and feeling our way to 

 an anchorage clear of the other vessels and of the buoys 

 marking the shoals. 



By llh the same morning we had arranged for a tow 

 through the canal, had cashed a check at the bank to pay 

 canal tolls, had completed all arrangements for clear- 

 ance, pilot, etc., had hoisted the anchor and were on our 

 way to our fourth passage through the canal with the 

 Carnegie . By 19h we were alongside the dock at Balboa, 

 everything having proceeded with its usual clockwork 

 precision. Our mail was delivered to us at Miraflores 

 during the afternoon, a courtesy on the part of the canal 

 officials which was very much appreciated. 



A busy two weeks followed. Records must be com- 

 pleted, abstracted, and mailed. Reports must be pre- 

 pared. Biological specimens, bottom samples, and ap- 

 paratus in need of repair, must be packed and forwarded 

 to the office. New equipment must be brought aboard, 

 unpacked, and installed. Vessel repairs and dry-docking 

 must be supervised. Discontented members of the crew 

 must be brought before the U.S. Shipping Commissioner; 

 some paid off, others sent to the hospital, and some per- 

 suaded to remain. New men must be secured and signed on. 



Leaving Ballx)a at noon October 25, the Carnegie 

 had over twenty-four hours of fair wind l)efore facing 

 two weeks of head winds, heavy rains, squally weather, 

 tacking back and forth, and running the engine in an at- 

 tempt to get away from the Gulf of Panama. We stood 

 southward for five days, then northwest for three days, 

 with no change of wind. This made it apparent that we 

 should have to use the engine and fore-and-aft sails on 

 a long tack to the south in an effort to win past the coast 

 of Ecuador, south of the equator, into the region of the 

 southeast trade winds before we could make our way 

 westward. So the route was changed to go south of the 

 Galapagos Islands instead of north. Malpelo Island was 

 sighted on our tack to the north and again was passed 

 near by on the long tack to the southward. This island 

 is an isolated, barren rock, one mile long and 846 feet 

 high. There was more rain during these first two weeks 

 than during all the preceding five months of cruise VII. 

 The engine operated well except for two days' delay due 

 to a burnt -out bearing in one connecting rod. Before 

 clearing the coast and getting a favorable change of wind 

 for sailing, the gasoline supply became very low, ac- 

 count l)eing taken of requirements for the three months 

 before a new supply could be obtained. 



The delay in the Gulf of Panama gave splendid op- 

 portunity for securing a number of ocean stations in this 

 interesting region. Salinities of surface water were low, 

 owing to the enormous supply of fresh water poured out 

 by the rivers emptying into the Gulf and from the heavy 

 rainfalls. With the shift of wind November 8 from south- 

 west to south, the engine could be shut down, the vessel 

 proceeding westward under sail. 



While occupying the ocean station on November 3, 



