P-MAN XIV Update #23 - Long mud hike delayed by van repairs; SSS work; Flip demonstrates his world-famous sunglasses trick

09 April 2012

Since it is Monday and the auto repair shop is open, Dan took the van in to see if it was okay to continue to be used 'as is' after our little piece of metal fell off. Nope. And it would take a couple of hours to fix. We called all over Palau and there were no vans to be had on short notice. We were a little time-limited because of the length of our hike and our desire to be out of the jungle before dark. So we've pushed this hike until tomorrow, and today we'll do a little side-scan sonar (SSS) work. But only after we get our van back. We've got a lot of gear to move from the hotel to Neco Marine.

It's 0900 and we do not have a van back.

It's just about 11am and we do not have a van back.

It's 1145 and we do not have a van back. But George Woods had a great idea: lunch. For those keeping track of personnel, George is not a BentProp addition. George is a long time skydiving friend of Dan and Flip and he was in the neighborhood and dropped into Palau for a few days. He's here to do a little scuba diving, tour the battlefields, and hang with Dan and crew after hours.

We went to Krämer's for lunch, a first for us. We got word at 1238 that the van was ready. We now have a two-wheel-drive-only van. But it still rolls. We left George at Krämers, loaded all the SSS gear into it, loaded the boat, set up the gear and took off.

Doing SSS work is basically gathering data from the ocean bottom. We have learned that the closer the towed array (fish) is to the bottom, the better the imagery. The downside is that with the uneven bottom in Palau due to coral heads, it's real easy to run the fish into something hard. Although the fish are pretty tough, they are not indestructible. In the past, we've had an aversion to running them low. I think as we've worked more with it, our tolerance for ramming things has grown. But just a little.

So back and forth we went. Joe was driving the boat. Logan was watching for coral heads in front of the boat. Pat was taking pictures and keeping an eye on Logan, Joe and Dan. Dan was watching the computer screen of the system and Flip and Derek were manning the cable. Dan's job was to mark interesting returns on the screen for us to review at a later time. Derek started letting out and taking in the cable which lowers or raises the height above the ocean floor of the tow fish. Flip was a cable coiler.

Tow Fish in the water. Bubbles from interference with the camera,
Flip's hand and the wake. Boat motors in upper left corner. Write directly to Flip
to sign up for lessons in underwater photography.

Derek, the cable guy.

Derek and Flip, the cable guys. Flip's thoughts after an hour or so of SSS trolling.

Dan manning the screen on the SSS computer unit.

Logan taking care of all of us.

Joe at the helm with the entire operation in view.

Derek keeping cable out of the props

A screen shot with some sort of dialog box open.

Another tool of the trade: extra GPS.

Screen shot of actual return.

What are Derek and Flip doing in the water so far behind the boat?

As we were dutifully tending our cable, somebody yelled "Pat's hat!!!!" Then I saw it go floating by my duty station. Without thinking about it, I leapt into the water. Didn't take the time to doff my hat or my sunglasses. My prescription sunglasses. The ones I need to use to fly with for my livelihood. Derek, took a split second longer to enter the water as he flung off his hat. That kept us from colliding on water entry, avoiding not only a lost hat, but two injured crewmen. As my toes hit the water I yelled "My glassblubblubblub." My hand wasn't quick enough and although my Tilley, which does float, did not leave my head, my sunglasses, which do not float, did. Derek also had his sunglasses on, but managed to catch them before Davy Jones collected them. Of course his aren't needed for his livelihood.

Flip retrieved the hat.

Then Dan told me that believe it or not, the SSS had a strange return with a lot of vertical development right when my glasses flew off my head. Those that have been following BentProp might remember the last time I lost a pair of sunglasses they landed in the wreckage of a Corsair we found the next year. So, hopefully when we finally dive this new SSS hit, we'll find my glasses as well as an airplane. And the airplane it might be is a Navy Hellcat.

Art shot.

Tow fish safely back on board.

We made arrangements with Greg Schultz and George Woods for sunset at The Palau Pacific Resort. Greg is Officer In Charge (OIC) of the SeaBees Civic Action Team Detachment, here on a six-month rotation. Palau is the last place where a Civic Action Team is still stationed anywhere on the planet. We've always gotten along famously with the CAT Teams and this one is no exception. Since this is the last location for a CAT team, it is now rotated between the Army (MudBees), Navy (SeaBees) and Air Force (AirBees). But truth be told, I have a special fondness for the SeaBees. PPR has the best sunset view on the island. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of color tonight as the clouds were in the way. But it's sunset in Palau and there's nothing wrong with that.

Pat

Ensign Greg Schultz, USN, OIC CAT DET Palau

Derek burning one.

Out for dinner at the Cliffside Restaurant with wonderful views looking down on Koror and the AK Causeway.

Tomorrow, we really are going on our long hike to take soil samples - so long as the van is willing and the river don't rise. Except the rivers are all raging right now. We are going to get muddy!

- Flip Colmer

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