The R/V Point Lobos started
life as an oil field supply boat.
First Ocean Hardware
One of the first major tasks facing institute managers was the acquisition of the basic equipment for deep-sea exploration: a research vessel and a submersible.
For the research ship, Derek Baylis found the M/V Lolita Chouest in Louisiana. Baylis negotiated the purchase of the 33.5-meter-long (110-foot-long) boat and hired a captain and crew to make the 8,000-kilometer (5,000-mile) sea voyage back to California on the newly renamed Point Lobos. Once in Monterey, the Point Lobos underwent a metamorphosis into the an oceanographic research vessel, the R/V Point Lobos.
David Packard commissioned International Submarine Engineering (ISE), of Vancouver, British Columbia, to build a submersible for MBARI. After three months of construction and a month of sea trials, the core vehicle and tool-sled frame were shipped to Monterey. In short order the ROV Ventana acquired its first customized instruments.
In little more than a year, MBARI had both an operational research ship and an ROV—an achievement of which Packard was justly proud. It was an auspicious beginning.
Over the past decade, the R/V Point Lobos has received constant upgrades and modifications to meet a brisk schedule of up to four cruises per week. Ventana’s capabilities also have matured considerably over the years. As of June 1997 the ship had completed more than 1,400 missions, and Ventana had performed more than 1,250 dives. MBARI’s achievements have depended in no small part on the expertise of its operations staff and the reliability of its first-generation ocean hardware. As a team, they have made ocean exploration by ROV almost routine.
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