Participant Interview:
Bruce Cowden
Chief Boatswain
R/V RONALD H. BROWN

Jeff: What responsibilities does the chief boatswain have?
Bruce: A whole bunch of stuff. Deployment and recovery of scientific equipment is probably the most important job. I ensure that it goes in safely and comes out safely with no harm to anybody or the equipment.

Jeff: Where did you learn all the necessary skills?
Bruce: I've been going to sea for 28 years so I picked up a lot of it on the way. I started off on sailboats and learned how a line works when it's tight. Then I went into the Navy on a long-side replenishment rigger and a minesweeper. The work involved big heavy loads so it was pretty dangerous. I learned to keep a sharp eye out for what's going on and look at 20 or 30 things. You can't just focus on one. You have to see everything. Back in the '80's I started working for NOAA and doing a lot of science. It turned out to be fascinating work and the best way to apply a lot of the skills that I picked up over the years.

Jeff: Is the deployment and recovery of scientific equipment weather dependent?
Bruce: Oh yeah! When you put scientific equipment in its very weather dependent, especially picking up a package like the ROPOS. If the ship accidentally gets off its heading and gets into a trough you've got 18,000 pounds flinging back and forth with a hellaceous snap load on it. It can get kind of hairy. I remember one particular time when we were putting a buoy out and we took a tremendous wave over the stern while we were hanging on to our gear. All you could see were our feet sticking out through the water as we hung on to a wire to keep from getting washed out. For anything you do that's dangerous, you want to have a good plan before hand.

Jeff: Do you ever get tired of being at sea?
Bruce: I tried to go to a semi-land job for a couple of years and it was kind of tough on me. I've been doing this so long, I'm acclimated to it. If I'm on the beach for a week, I'm ready to single up the lines and put my knees in the breeze, as they say. Being out here so long, your body gets used to the motion. It's hard for me to walk on solid ground. My knees and joints get sore because I'm used to moving back and forth all the time. When I get on something that doesn't move it can be painful (lots of laughter).

Chief Boatswain Bruce Cowden.

Bruce and crew ecovering the mooring floats used on the elevator for deploying the extesnometers.