Midnight Alaskan

George Schneider (Email to Nauticapedia 07/12/2021) stated "Out at sea, we were in an OpArea, and saw very little traffic, which we then purposely kept at a distance. But that many port entries, plus being paid to sit at the piers and watch passing ships, made for some good photo opportunities. Departing the first time, we were just about out of the buoyed scheme before anything of significance passed. But what followed were my only underway shots of Scripps new research vessel SALLY RIDE (AGOR 28), and following her, their smaller University-owned vessel ROBERT GORDON SPROUL (CF2166XS), with a State-exempt license number because Scripps is now part of the University of California. The SPROUL was built as a small oilfield supply boat in 1981 by Steiner Shipyard as MIDNIGHT ALASKAN (640427)" Dr. Colin Levings (Email to Nauticapedia 26/09/2025) stated "Colin Levings writes: University of Washington colleague Si Simenstad brought the Sproul into the Fraser River estuary in June 1999. The ship was used to sample the dynamics of the salt wedge (ocean water under the fresh water that penetrates the estuary at high tide). Samples were obtained from Sandheads as far upstream as Coquitlam where I boarded the vessel for a visit. Si’s project was to compare the salt wedge in the Fraser estuary to the Columbia River estuary."