The morning was extremely foggy but with no wind and very small waves.   We pushed off the dock and ran out to China Rock to shoot, check, or replace a number of instruments.   We started with the B01s spotter which was not communicating.   Rebooting it didn’t help and Jamie determined it needed to be replaced.    Rob and Kent dove B02 and B04.  During the second dive, we heard a mayday call on VHF Channel 16 from a nearby small vessel that was taking on water.     Once divers were back onboard, we asked the vessel for coordinates and raced over to it a few miles offshore of Cypress point.

As we arrived, the vessel was in serious trouble with the stern listing strongly towards the water as the engine compartment was fully flooded. Rob and Kent jumped into the other boat and began pumping with the manual bilge.   In about 15 minutes, the Coast Guard arrived with a ship capable of towing.  At that point, Rob and Kent had largely gotten the engine compartment free of water, so the vessel was no longer listing.   But the leak still wasn’t evident.

In good hands we made our way back to China Rock and finished GPS shots and replaced smart mooring E07.  The ADCP frames looked good! Here is a short video of E06 still perfectly level!

We then headed to Asilomar for similar checks and GPS shots.