We use cookies to improve your experience, some are essential for the operation of this site.

First time Alvin pilot Mark Spear being initiated with mud by Gavin Eppard.

First time Alvin pilot Mark Spear being initiated with mud by Gavin Eppard.
First time Alvin pilot Mark Spear being initiated with mud by Gavin Eppard.
First time Alvin pilot Mark Spear being initiated with mud by Gavin Eppard.
First time Alvin pilot Mark Spear being initiated with mud by Gavin Eppard.
Comments (0)
63022
Potter, Jeremy
First time Alvin pilot Mark Spear being initiated with mud by Gavin Eppard.
Still Image
06/09/2006
pilot_spear.tif
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 45, No. 2, back cover:
HAIL THE CONQUERING ALVIN PILOT—Most people receive flowers or a card to honor a special achievement. Seagoing folks have their own, sometimes quirky, rituals. When Mark Spear stepped out of the submersible Alvin on May 9 as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s newest deep-sea pilot, fellow pilot Gavin Eppard greeted him with a traditional baptism on the deck of the research vessel Atlantis. “While my clothes were pretty much ruined, the mud did wash off after just a few showers,” Spear wrote in an e-mail from the ship. “Actually, I think I was lucky because in the past, kitchen garbage has been used, and that smell lasts for days.” Spear’s first solo dive as pilot came, after years of training, during an expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. Spear, an Iowa native and mechanical engineer, is the 36th person to complete pilot training in the 42-year history of the submersible.
Image of The Day caption:
When Mark Spear stepped out of the submersible Alvin as WHOI's newest deep-sea pilot, fellow pilot Gavin Eppard greeted him with a traditional baptism on the deck of R/V Atlantis. Spear is the 36th person to complete pilot raining in the 42-year history of the submersible.
Photo by Jeremy Potter, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Labels
This item includes these files
Image
Image
Collections