STS Bodrum at night. When the lights come on after dark, we know we won't be in Cape Gelidonya when we wake up. Each white bundle shows someone sleeping on deck. Photograph by Ryan C. Lee
Well, we evacuated again last night, but the STS Bodrum crew was able to bring us back to Cape Gelidonya by 7:00 am, our usual breakfast time. The Virazon and Millawanda had remained (the long time interval between when our last dive surfaced and when we evacuated was long enough that we did not need the chamber immediately available), so it took very little time to get up and running. The captain of the STS Bodrum was not comfortable mooring in his usual spot east of the island, so after breakfast we all transferred to the Virazon and Millawanda, and the Bodrum left to seek safer waters.
Dawn at Cape Gelidonya: Virazon and Millawanda. Photograph by Ryan C. Lee
It was noticeably windy and choppy throughout most of the day today, but not enough to be an actual problem. Getting in and out of the dinghy was a bit more interesting than usual, and we made sure to have each diver escorted to a bench as soon as they ascended the dive ladder, to prevent anyone from stumbling. The system worked quite well, and we have definitely gotten the diving routine down: each dive team was in the water and started their descent just after the previous team reached the decompression stop, while other team members attended to timekeeping and barge duties aboard the Millawanda.
Ania Kotarba-Morley monitors the decompression stop from the deck of the Millawanda, one of many duties that need attending throughout the day. Photograph by Marilyn Cassedy.
Dr. Cemal Pulak and Kim Rash preparing to dive on the site. Photograph by Ryan C. Lee
Marilyn continued chiseling at the pithos, which is very heavily concreted and poses a challenge. Dr. Pulak continued working his area this morning, chiseling concretion around some pottery which may belong to the wreck, but is so heavily concreted it is difficult to tell at this point. Other dive teams continued hand fanning and air lifting in their respective areas, and increasingly more objects are turning up. In preparation for finding more, many idle members of the crew spent time creating marker flags, using bright yellow or orange markers that can be driven into the seabed using bicycle spokes, or left on bedrock with a small lead weight.
(Back left) Ryan C. Lee, Ania Kotarba-Morley, Laura Gongaware, (center) Haley Streuding, Marilyn Cassedy, and Kim Rash fashioning artifact markers, while timekeeper Matthew P. Dames stands his post. Photograph by Dr. Nicolle Hirschfeld.
Marilyn Cassedy and Kim Rash making survey markers. The more artifacts we find, the more markers we need, so their excitement is evident on their faces. Photograph by Ryan C. Lee.
Many green objects are coming up, some of which are copper or bronze concretions, some artifacts, and many many stained lumps, where copper corrosion has bled into the concretions and rocks. The other major source of green on our dives is from scrapes and cuts when we accidentally brush against the sharp rocks while airlifting. They’re minor scrapes and cuts, but it is quite shocking to watch a scrape bleed green underwater when you’re not expecting it.
(Blood, and many other red-coloured objects appear green under water due to the filtering effect the water column has on sunlight).
Constant use takes a toll on dive equipment, and periodically regulators need servicing, hoses need changing, and o-rings need replacing. Our Dive Safety Officer, John Littlefield, is kept quite busy with all the service requests. Luckily, we have spare parts, and a real-life ‘MacGuyver’ in the form of Zafer Gül, captain of the Virazon.
An always-busy John Littlefield repairing dive equipment aboard the Millawanda. Photograph by Ryan C. Lee
John Littlefield and Zafer Gül replacing a faulty oxygen regulator. Photograph by Ryan C. Lee.