The last line was cast away and the ship left Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from Berth "B" north at 1017 hr on 11 July 2002. We passed the sea buoy and sent the pilot away at 1048 hr to get under way at full speed for Site 1244 (proposed Site HR1a). The transit to Site 1244 ended at 1348 hr on Friday, 12 July, when we began lowering the ship's thrusters and hydrophones. The initial site location was moved 50 m due west of the original coordinates.
Six holes were cored at Site 1244 (Table T1). Holes 1244A-1244D were drilled consecutively on 13-17 July; we returned to this site on 19 August to core Holes 1244E and 1244F. During both periods of time, wind speed was 4-21 kt (gusting to 25 kt), seas were 2-5 ft, swell was 6-10 ft, and the prevailing sea-surface current was from the north at ~0.5 kt.
The APCT tool was deployed ten times. In addition there were four DVTPP, two Fugro-McClelland piezoprobe, eight Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) PCS, and one Fugro Pressure Corer (FPC) runs at this site. No Hydrate Autoclave Coring Equipment (HYACE) Rotary Corer (HRC) cores were taken (see Table T4 in the "Leg 204 Summary" chapter).
Hole 1244A was abandoned when the first core overshot and did not record a mudline.
Hole 1244B was spudded at 1325 hr on 13 July. The hole was cored using the advanced piston corer (APC), and one APCT measurement was taken at 35.1 mbsf in this hole. After collecting six APC cores (Cores 204-1244B-1H through 6H), the Fugro piezoprobe was deployed for its first test on the JOIDES Resolution. During this deployment, the connection between the top of the tool, the electric logging line failed and the tool was left sitting on the landing ring in the BHA. We therefore had to pull out of the hole with the logging line and the drill string.
Hole 1244C was cored from the seafloor using the APC. The second Fugro piezoprobe test was conducted after Core 204-1244C-6H was taken at a depth of 53.0 mbsf. This was an excellent run with excellent data. A good decay curve was achieved after the tool sat for ~30 min in the formation. The drill string did not become stuck. There were three runs of the APCT tool in this hole, and the PCS was deployed three times. The cores were gassy (with methane), but no H2S was detected. We continued to conduct continuous XCB coring operations in Hole 1244C until we reached the total depth (TD) in Hole 1244C at 333.5 mbsf and concluded coring because of hole instability. Examination of Core 204-1244C-39X (331.5 mbsf) and the initial chemical data from this depth suggested we had reached the deepest target (i.e., the accretionary complex). We had thus fulfilled the Pollution Prevention and Safety Panel (PPSP) requirement that we core the primary facies that we expected to encounter during logging while drilling (LWD) prior to proceeding with LWD at all sites. Acquiring LWD data at all of our sites at the beginning of the leg enabled us to use these data in concert with the previously collected 3-D seismic data to anticipate the nature of horizons prior to drilling and better plan the use of special tools for the rest of the leg.
Hole 1244D was spudded at 1505 hr on 16 July with the Anadrill LWD tools, to begin the LWD program of Leg 204. The LWD tools (63/4-in collars) include the resistivity at the bit (RAB)-6 with 91/8-in button sleeve, measurement while drilling (MWD) (Powerpulse), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance porosity (NMR-MRP) tool, and Vision Neutron Density (VND) tool. Drilling proceeded at ~25 m/hr to TD (380 mbsf) without difficulty, and real-time data were transmitted to the surface at a rate of 6 Hz. Some extraneous pump noise affected the data transmission for 2-5 min after each pipe addition but caused minimal real-time data loss. Above TD, the tools were pulled out of the hole without rotating to ~355 mbsf to evaluate the effect of drilling motion on the NMR log. LWD tools and data were retrieved at the rig floor at ~1730 hr on 17 July. Total bit run was ~38 hr.
Hole 1244E was spudded at 0614 hr on 19 August and APC cored to 135.8 mbsf as a dedicated hole for microbiological studies and retrieval of cores under pressure. The PCS was deployed four times at this site. Core 204-1244E-3P (18.2-19.2 mbsf) was retrieved under pressure, but it had little or no core recovery. The other three PCS cores were successfully recovered from above the BSR, which at this site lies at ~124 mbsf. A deployment of the HYACINTH FPC tool in Hole 1244E resulted in the recovery of Core 204-1244E-8Y (FPC 9) at 50.70 mbsf. This core was recovered under full pressure and was successfully transferred from the autoclave into transfer and logging chambers (see "Downhole Tools And Pressure Coring"). Other special tools at this site include six APCT measurements and two deployments of the DVTPP. Whirl-Paks and perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) used for microbiology were obtained with Cores 204-1244E-4H, 5H, 7H, 9H, 10H, 12H, 13H, 14H, 16H, 17H, 18H, and 19H. Coring to refusal of the APC tool was followed with two wireline logging runs using the triple combination (triple combo) and Formation MicroScanner (FMS)-sonic tool and vertical, constant offset, and one to two stations of walkway vertical seismic profile (see "Downhole Logging").
Hole 1244F was APC cored to 24 mbsf to collect sediment samples for high-resolution microbiologic and geochemical sampling. Whirl-Paks and PFT were used in this hole.