In this project, I am measuring mixing caused by ocean turbulence using a temperature microstructure profiler. At least I try to. Things happen in the Arctic and the vast support network that I rely on back home to maintain equipment is not here with me. I just have to do my best with what I have, with the help of people around me. This is such a story. When I came aboard the ship ten days ago, I carried with me a watertight connector that a technician would replace on the damaged profiler that I was to use. He discovered another problem: the threads on the profiler that hold the connector were partly stripped. Nevertheless, after a successful pressure test, I decided to deploy the profiler and I obtained a good cast of data. Things were looking good.

However, during the first cast on the following day, the instrument flooded with salt water. This is never a good thing. Such a catastrophic event usually means that your own research is finished on the ship. After seeing salt water run out all over the floor while opening it, that was exactly my thought. I rinsed out the electronics with filtered water, itself an act that goes against your very instincts: water and electronics don’t mix. This is when I would normally ship the severely damaged instrument back to the manufacturer for massive repair and move on to something else in my busy schedule. But I’m up here at the top of the world for a number of weeks with no way off, I’ve only been here for a few days with little data to play with, and I have been planning this sampling for a long time and really want it to succeed. Therefore, I let the instrument dry out and set through the procedure of replacing blown fuses, removing circuit boards to clean them and fixing various connections. During all this, I’m lucky to be in contact via email with the manufacturer as they guide me through the repair process. I am amazed when the instrument blinked back to life after two days of tinkering.

After figuring out a way to seal the instrument properly with a bolt and o-ring, I was up and running again. Data was flowing. Bypassing the troublesome connector meant opening up the instrument each time I needed to download data, but it was working.

My troubles are over, right? I didn’t think so last night when, winching the instrument back to the surface, the cable got stuck in the hinge of the moonpool door, 8 m below the surface! In the end, a resourceful seaman and I recovered the instrument with a very long pole made by screwing four long pieces of wood together, with hanger wire at the end of it to use as a hook. We even managed to pull the cable out of the hinge. Still, I wonder what other surprises are in store for me before I leave the Arctic.