Day 14: Mapping continues
(September 11, 2004)
A 20-foot section on paper
This morning the winds were gusting to 25 knots with large waves breaking over site, so we spent the morning transferring our underwater sketches and measurements to paper. While underwater, each diver maps a 20-foot section of the wrecksite on a plastic sheet called Mylar. The wreck is divided into, and sketched in, 20-foot sections to make the task more manageable. On a good day a diver can map an entire 20-foot section in one two-hour dive. Following the dive, measurements and sketches made underwater are transferred to paper.
Russ transfers to paper
The underwater environment is not always conducive to high quality artistry. By transferring our underwater sketches to paper we produce a high quality, scale drawing of the site as it appears underwater. As underwater sketches are transferred to paper, each 20-foot section is combined with adjacent 20-foot sections to produce an accurate, highly detailed map of the entire wrecksite.
Paul takes measurements from baseline
The winds calmed in the afternoon allowing us to make one dive today. Adding to our growing amount of data, we returned to our cabin to spend the evening transferring sketches and data to paper, and combining the individual sketches to form the overall site plan.
