' ' MARION ' ' EXPEDITION TO DAVIS STRAIT AND BAFFIN BAY 9 



From Bulldog Island the course led northward along the shore 

 toAvard a point near 56° north latitude, whence a 575-mile line of 

 stations was to be run to the northeastward to the west coast of Green- 

 land in latitude 63° N. About 200 bergs, most of them grounded 

 along the Labrador coast, were seen wdiile on the run toward the 

 fifty^sixth parallel. In the Labrador current offshore a few large 

 bergs Avere drifting southward. 



The surface water ranged from 48° to 50° F. throughout the mid- 

 dle part of the run between Labrador and Greenland. There was no 

 ice and no cold surface water in Davis Strait from 80 miles off 

 Labrador to 85 miles off Litchtenfels, Greenland. The Marion was 

 engaged on the above-mentioned long line of stations from the eve- 

 ning of July 25 until daylight on July 31, 1928. 



Due to the comparatively warm water, the air temperatures were 

 rather high over Davis Strait, ranging from 42° to 51° F. Cloudy 

 and overcast weather prevailed most of the time, but it was fre- 

 quently possible to get observations of the sun through the thinner 

 parts of the cloud blanket. The wnnds were in general very light, 

 and there were no storms or general rains, but the ocean swell out in 

 the middle of Davis Strait was always present. 



All hands became thoroughly familiar with their special duties 

 in connection with the scientific program; nevertheless, the first 

 really long line of stations was not taken without mishaps. At 

 11.30 p. m. on July 27, while over the deepest part of the basin 

 between Labrador and Greenland, we lowered out three Greene- 

 Bigelow w^ater bottles with the small winch to a depth of 3,000 

 meters, while the large winch with the heavier wire was being used 

 to take observations down to 1,200 meters at the same time. When 

 we started to heave in on the small high-speed winch about 10 meters 

 of the wire w^as reeled and then w^ithout warning the shaft coupling 

 connecting the drum to the motor snapped. The 3,000 meters of 

 wire were " stopped off " at the rail and a cut was made back on 

 the drum. The new inboard end of the TfV-irich wire was carried to 

 the large winch, which had meanwhile finished taking the portion 

 of the station down to 1,200 meters. It reeled in about 600 meters 

 when the side flange on the big drum burst outwards, jamming the 

 drum and the wire against the housing of the apparatus. 



Here was a fine mess ! Dark ; rainy ; rough ; all of the hoists 

 broken down one way or another, and about two miles of wire with 

 three valuable instruments dangling over the side. It looked as if 

 the expedition was about over, nevertheless, all hands were turned 

 out and set to work. The first thing w^e did was to " stop off " the 

 small j/ry-inch wire a second time. After much backing and filling 

 with the engines, w^e got it to the ship's windlass, when for nearly 

 three hours we heaved ]n w^ire, finally getting it all on board and 

 reeled down on a portable wooden drum. The three Greene-Bige- 

 low water bottles were recovered with their deep-sea thermometers 

 intact. 



In the meantime another group of the crcAv had been working 



on the main deck dismantling the spare ice patrol winch in order 



to take the drum from it to replace the broken one. The broken 



drum was removed after much trouble, not only because it was 



6S16.5— 32 2 



