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3 February 2006


Dr. John Hildebrand:


As requested, you are designated chief scientist on R/V Robert Gordon Sproul and assigned ship time,
funded by the Navy as follows:


Starting port: San Diego
Loading Dates: 2 February 2006
Dates at sea: 3 – 12 February 2006
Off-loading dates: 13 February 2006
End port: San Diego
Loading Days charged: 0
Sea Days charged: 9
Off-loading Days charged: 0
Total Funded Days: 9


Please note that R/V Robert Gordon Sproul plans to depart San Diego at 0700 on 3 February 2006.
There will be two intermediate port stops, one at Los Barriles to transfer personnel to the ship
using local Panga on 7 February 2006, and another port stop at Cabo San Lucas where all
participants will depart from the ship on 8 February 2006. The ship is scheduled to return to San
Diego no later than 0700 on 12 February 2006. If your cruise plan calls for different
departure/arrival times please let us know.

Please check the link for your cruise at
http://shipsked.ucsd.edu/schedules/2006/rgs_2006/hildebrand/. There you will find your Ship Time
Request and other information pertaining to your cruise. If you wish to correct or add more
information, please contact the Ship Scheduling Office by e-mail at shipsked@ucsd.edu or by phone at
(858) 534-2840.


Although most chief scientists already know the following, and full details are provided in the
Chief Scientist's Manual, I have been asked to reiterate in each scheduling letter the following
important rules;
1) The designation as chief scientist cannot be re-delegated without approval from this office.
2) The chief scientist is responsible for the accomplishment of the scientific work of the cruise,
and is responsible for the behavior of all members of the scientific party whether they normally
work for him/her or not.
3) Hard liquor and drugs are strictly prohibited aboard ship. No alcoholic beverages may be brought
aboard without specific permission from the captain. The chief scientist is expected to inform the
scientific party of this and to enforce the rules with respect to scientific party members.
4) No radioactive material or unnatural concentrations of stable isotopes may be brought aboard by
anyone without advance permission from the SIO Isotope Committee. All spills of material of this
nature must be reported promptly.
5) The chief scientist is expected to cooperate with the master in enforcement of safety regulations
aboard. At the end of the cruise, reports for various government agencies are due; a packet
containing forms will be distributed by the Ship Scheduling Office at a later date.
6) As Chief Scientist you should be aware that the normal complement of onboard STS personnel is too small to provide routine 24-hour support to your work. This normal complement is meant and budgeted by agencies to provide specialized knowledge, oversight of critical operations and solution of
emergent problems, but not all hands required for routine loading, work at sea or watchstanding.
The scientific party must provide people in numbers and with capabilities commensurate with such
tasks. STS personnel normally work 10 hours per day and may not work more than 12 hours per day
except in true emergencies. You should consult with the STS personnel and scientific party members
prior to sailing in order to devise integrated work schedules or plans that will honor these limits
on work hours.

Further information can be found in the Chief Scientist's Manual and the R/V Robert Gordon Sproul
Handbook on our web site at http://shipsked.ucsd.edu. We wish you a pleasant and successful cruise.


Robert A. Knox
Associate Director


cc: Captain, R/V Robert Gordon Sproul
Marine Superintendent
Manager, Shipboard Technical Support
Manager, Marine Personnel

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