Hey Jessica & Jenniffer here! Today we made modifications to the buoys in order to attach the GPS trackers as securely as possible. The buoys were originally created during this past Fall 2014 Physical Oceanography class. Jenniffer helped create Crystal in the fall, Jessica was not in the class but has been filled in with more than enough detail. We have spent quality time lugging the buoys around and making modifications. Big boy has been quite the trouble maker and is very stubborn when it comes time to move him around, and not all the modifications went as smoothly as we had thought!
Crystal:
As you may be able to notice from the photos alone, Crystal, in the photo to the left. She was by far the easiest to work with. The large pink jug was already secured on the top of the PVC piping with nails and some glue, giving the perfect flat top for securing the GPS. We used a generous amount of marine cement on the back of the GPS and firmly placed it on the top. The edges where the fishing line was used to secure the canvas was also reinforced with marine cement. The more the merrier! Or so we thought....
Big Boy:
After safely stuffing Big Boy in the elevator and getting him downstairs we went to work with his modifications. At first Big Boy did not look so handsome and bright on top. His head was only the top of a big PVC pipe attached to a mess of plastic netting with too many zip ties. Loose plastic netting attached to a big PVC pipe was not going to work as a secure base for the GPS so we rummaged around the Marine Science Research Institute for something that might be of some help. We had to get a little creative and decided to place a sturdy plastic garden pot over top of the PVC pipe. We then got Great Stuff, a foam sealent that air-seales holes and gaps, and generoursly filled all of the gaps in the bucket. We may have gotten a little too carried away with the foam but it really was great! We then applied a generous amount of our good ol' reliable marine cement on the GPS and firmly placed it on the top of the pot. After the Great Stuff and marine cement had dried we spray painted the top a bright lime green so hopefully no one will try and shoot or capture Big Boy.
Wilson:
Finally, we made it to Wilson, whose head was also just a small PVC pipe before we gave him his makeover. Since his pipe was too skinny on top we could not use the same technique as we had with Big Boy. We had to get even more creative and used an extra volleyball that looked like he wanted to get in on the fun. Since both of us are apparently still stuck in our childhood days, where every ball that you come across is made of foam, we assumed that this volleyball was also built just like that, filled with soft foam perfect for cutting out and placing out gps securely in. We also may not have realized it wasn't made of foam until we stabbed the poor volleyball with a foot long knife. After our discovery that volleyballs nowadays are indeed made of air we decided to still go ahead and make use of the poor impaled ball. The punctured volleyball was pulled over top of the PVC pipe and again we got a little carried away with some more Great Stuff. Before the Great Stuff had hardened we pushed down the ball to make room for the GPS on top and secured it with some more marine cement. After everything was secure and dry we gave Wilson his finishing touch and spray painted him bright lime green just like Big Boy.
Aftermath:
Since we got a little too carried away with the marine cement it took about 3 or 4 days to get it all off our hands! This photo is after a lot of scrubbing and scratching but it was not going to budge. We were both too distracted securing our buoys to care about cementing our own hands, and the end result wasn't too pretty. Turns out our favorite product may have been a little too handy dandy after all.
