P-MAN X Update #26 - Work and play
17 March 2008 - Monday

Today was this year's official one "day off" for the month. Pat and Reid stayed at the hotel to do some work. Pat worked on work work stuff all day. Reid ran some errands (visited the Land Management and PALARIS offices, picked up some "Chin for President" bumper stickers) and then did some work work stuff for the rest of the day.

Flip, Laura, and Grover went on a fun dive to several famous Palauan dive spots, including some snorkeling at Jellyfish Lake. Flip took a bunch of photos with the underwater camera lent to us by Mark Evans (thanks again, Mark!). You can read Flip's account of the "fun" day on his blog site at http://www.bentstarproject.org/flip.

After they returned, Flip and Reid finished their PADI Nitrox certification course and took the final exam. They're now both proud holders of PADI Nitrox cards.

We got a very interesting call this afternoon from Max, the NCOIC for the Civic Action Team. He had talked to a man in Airai who reported that the five aircraft crash sites that he used to know about on land near the airport in Airai have all disappeared - as in either salvaged, scavenged, carried away, or...he just couldn't find them again. BUT, the man also says he knows about an aircraft in about 40 feet of water east of the airport, that is nearly intact (or was, the last time he saw it). We're trying to work out a time when he can take us out and show us where it is. There was a Corsair lost in that area whose wingman reported that the pilot did a perfect ditching and the aircraft presumably soon sank, but the pilot was never recovered. At some later point, the body of an American pilot was washed up into the mangroves in this area, but its ultimate disposition is not known. Could this be his plane?

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the last day in country this year for Flip and Grover - they fly out in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning. We're planning to spend much of the day debriefing the mission to date. Pat, Laura, and I will be here through Saturday; we leave a little after midnight on Sunday morning.

- Reid
 

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