P-MAN VII Update #0
13 February 2005

Pat is on the way to Palau. Flip, too, I think. Mark and his wife (coming from south Florida) and I (coming from Pennsylvania) will meet up in Houston on Monday the 14th, and will travel together from there to Honolulu, Guam, and Koror, arriving at ROR at 8:40 p.m. local time on Tuesday the 15th. Mike Olds will join us later in the month.

Things are already rolling big-time, schedule-wise:

• We were just informed by Dr. Bill Belcher (sometime BentProp member and archaeogist/forensic anthropologist with JPAC) that an advance group for JPAC's upcoming Palau mission will be arriving in Palau to coordinate hotels, check out the medical facilities/chamber, etc. The group, which includes several Navy divers, is planning to dive the B-24 site with Pat on the morning of the 15th.
   
• Pat is going to give a talk (about last year's P-MAN VI expedition and plans for this year) at Sam's Tours at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday the 15th.
   
• Thanks to our good friend Surangel Whipps, Jr., we'll be meeting with the VERY prestigious Council of Chiefs at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 16th.

There's a strong possibility that at some point during our month in Palau, we'll be joined for a bit by the son of one of the crew members who went down on the B-24 that we found last year. If it works out, he may be able to make a dive at the crash site with us. It's hard to overestimate the emotional impact that this kind of thing is going to have on ALL of us...

- Reid