Red River Update: August 5

Trilaterations

Sunday, August 5, 2001. Sunday was a partial rest day for the crew, with no fieldwork in the morning.

On Sunday afternoon the entire crew traveled to the site. The major goal for the afternoon was to refine earlier tape measurements taken between key features of the hull and to correlate these with readings taken using a trilaterating global positioning system (GPS). With a base unit on the bank, another unit on the work barge over the site and a third unit positioned in sequence at specific features, it should be possible to pinpoint each of these features very precisely, which will improve the accuracy of the site plan currently being developed.

The datum points plotted were from aft forward, and included (1) the top of the boat’s rudder post, (2) SS6, a point at the extreme aft end of the wale along the edge of the boat’s deck, (3) SS3, another datum point along the wale, (4) SS1, the forward-most point along the extant wale on the starboard side, and (5) a new point, designated SSa, located at the edge of the hull five frames forward of SS1.

The rest of the day was spent compiling previous field notes and plotting the new measurements on the evolving site plan.

This update is sponsored by the PAST Foundation and the Oklahoma Historical Society. It may be freely redistributed without modification for non-commercial purposes.

Daniel Seib, Lucius Martin and Ceci Brothers discuss features of the wreck.	Sherman (foreground) watches Mike Bradley work on the sift barge.	Manning the sift barge seems like dull work, but it demands close attention to detail.	Scott Whitesides at his home-away-form-home. A sleeping bag in the bed of his pickup proved more comfortable for the six-foot-six Whitesides than a folding cot.