| P-MAN IX Update #12
Hello Everyone! 28 February
We spent the day on the water! Finally we get to enjoy the pristine waters of Palau. Well, we would if we went to the cool reefs where all the fish hang out. We seem to go to places where the waters are a bit murky due to mangrove runoff. That’s where the airplanes seem to end up. It would be handier if they crashed at Blue Corner, but then we probably wouldn’t get as much accomplished.
Lessons Learned
We headed to Neco Marine early so those of the team that needed to rent scuba gear could get squared away. We loaded the boat with tanks, gear, lunch and water and off we went. The fisherman who showed us where the B-24 was reported seeing two other pieces of wreckage. One was a wheel in a mangrove and the other was some aluminum on the slope of a reef. Joe went out with him to verify and now it was our turn. Joe marked the mangrove entrance with a broken tree branch. The reef site we would have to do a little searching for. They did not actually find the piece.
The wheel could be from the B-24 or it could be from something else. Although not a big find in and of itself, we do need to catalog it. If it is from the B-24, then it matches some things we’ve seen in the bomb run photos that show this B-24 breaking up and going in. If it’s from another airplane, it might be a clue to another location. We hoped it was an Avenger landing gear. If it is, it probably belongs to the lone Avenger wing we found in a mangrove two years ago. That would be exciting since it would start defining the debris field and we could start to think about a smart search.
But first, we need to do a check out dive. As water
safety officer, I’ve been assigned the task of making sure we’re safe.
We have one fairly new scuba diver with us, and the rest of us have been out of
the water for a year or more. So rather than jump in and start searching, we started
with an easy dive. Out to the Jake
A Jake is a Japanese float plane from World
War II [It's an Aichi E13A, found several years ago near
the old seaplane base off the north side of the island of Arakabesan. There are
some nice photos of it (including the cover shot for the cover story titled "World's
Best Wrecks") in the April 2007 issue of SCUBA
Diving magazine. - Reid]. The beauty of this dive site
We dove on it, came up and went to the mangrove. It was low tide and the boat had to stay a couple of hundred yards from our entry point. We walked across the shallows and mangrove flats and then entered where Joe had marked the trail for us.
Within a few minutes, the wheel was found again. And it was a B-24 wheel. The diamond tread is characteristic of it and it is a big wheel. A fighter wheel is much smaller.
We did a little bit of searching towards shore just to see if anything landed close to it. Nothing more. Out we went and as we crossed the flats again, we spread out and line searched back to the boat.
Our boat driver for the day said that when he and some buddies were fishing, they found some aluminum on a coral head. He took us to the area he thought it was in, but we decided to go to our other target for the day first. If we had time, we would return.
We cruised over to the reef and Joe pointed this way and that and he motored us in close and dropped anchor. The fisherman didn’t know exactly where it was, but it was close. Search 100 feet either side, and no deeper than 30 feet and you’ll find it.
We split into two teams. Joe, Derek and I went left. Pat, Dan and Bob went right.
After about 200 feet or so, Joe turned us around and we went back to the boat, and then proceeded past the boat for 200 feet. This was the area that the other team searched first. A little overlap doesn’t hurt. We came back to the boat when Joe pointed down. And there was the aluminum. Unbeknownst to us, Dan jumped overboard, turned right and saw it immediately.
Once it was found, Derek photographed it.
Reid Joyce normally has the underwater camera. However, he’s not with us this year. Derek purchased a reusable underwater film camera and had the honor of taking the photographs of this new find.
And we don’t know what it is. It looks like Japanese construction. And our inclination is to decide it’s part of a float. However, if any of you airplane motor heads want to take a stab at it, please do so.
We did an area search to see if there was any more debris. Didn’t find a thing. So we left to look at a coral head.
The boat driver took us to the place where he thinks there’s some aluminum. However, it’s not the same place where we were an hour ago. Not to hurt his feelings, we went over the side. As you can guess, nothing was found. He said he would contact his buddies and see what they remember.
We left the coral head and went back to the Jake. We don’t have any Japanese aircraft books with us, but we do have a Jake to look at and compare. We thought we’d look at the float and see if it was similar to our mystery piece. There were different models of seaplanes operating in the Palaus, from both sides: Japanese and American. It could be anything.
When we got to the Jake, there was another dive boat on it. We had never seen any other divers on this site before. Now it was getting crowded. But we had a mission to perform. The plan was a 6 minute dive and a 3 minute safety stop. It’s not that this was a deep dive, but it would be our fourth time in the water, and we wanted to get back for sunset sashimi.
DOB and I would bounce down. Look at the float. Look at the tail section. Then go to the anchor line and come up. As we jumped in and headed down, we passed a diver from the other boat. And I did not see any one else. Well, it’s not so crowded after all. Then as I got to the Jake, a dozen divers with cameras and strobes were busy about the place: photo of the prop, photo of the rivet pattern, photo of the girlfriend/fiancé/wife next to the fuselage. Flashes going off as if it were New Years Eve. Now it’s crowded and we didn’t have time for this.
So with a friendly wave like you would give to someone who just let you in a line of traffic, I swam around everyone to the float. Aft to forward, port to starboard and then a look at the rivet patterns. That done, and with another friendly wave, we paddled through the pod of divers to the tail, looked it over and headed to the anchor line. After our safety stop at 15 feet, we surfaced. As I was heading up, you could see the pod looking at us with that stunned puppy dog canted head look: “who were those guys on a 6 minute dive?” They’ll never know.
We made it for sashimi. The reason this is important is that if you don’t get to the pubs early enough, they can run out of fish. Yes, this is an island nation with a strong local fishing economy. And they run out of fish. They also run out of Victoria Bitter (VB) but that is another issue.
Dinner was at Teppan Dragon, a Palauan Benihana. A fine meal. Then I typed my heart out and did not get to bed until way late. Thank goodness today was a sleep in day. I was up early anyway, but not with an alarm and that’s always a good thing. So I’ll write up today’s events, add pictures to this whole thing and call it another night.
1 March
The mission is really halfway over. The last flight out for us is March 16th. Some may be leaving earlier but no one is leaving later. I’m already thinking of that 0115 departure time.
Pat said he wasn’t going to do many meet and greets this year. Nor was he going to do any presentations. Both of these concepts have stayed concepts. Today was meet and greets, some research and some planning.
The first appointment was a small meeting with the Vice President. Pat and Bob met with him for about 30 minutes while the rest of us went shopping and did various errands.
I went to Continental to check on flights home for me. Then to the Post Office as a box I’m expecting has not shown up yet. I saw that the JPAC team leader had a really cool pair of water shoes. The inner boot was a neoprene dive bootie but the outer boot had a hiking sole and sides that laced and strapped up. Bob Holler has a similar pair and he loves them. So I ordered a pair for me and a pair for Pat. In the meantime, the JPAC Captain loaned me his for our mangrove walks. (I did test them in the mangroves. They’re great and can’t wait to get my own.)
Bob Holler ordered a piece of exercise equipment that he saw the Navy Divers using. He ordered this a day after I ordered the boots. He got his box already and mine is nowhere to be seen. In my order, I mentioned that time was of the essence. I also called them the next day to reiterate that. I’ve gotten a few e-mails saying everything will be all right. I hope I see these boots prior to next year’s mission. They said they shipped it Priority Mail, rather than Global Express. Well, the last time something got shipped Priority from Palau, it took 3 weeks to see the goods. As you know, something always happens to me enroute. Maybe this is this year’s happening.
Derek, Dan and I did some shopping and were back at the rendezvous spot for our next appointment.
We were waiting for Joe and then we would head to the new capital for a meeting with Billy Kuartei, The President’s Chief of Staff.
We got there a little early and Mr. Kuartei received us and gave us a quick tour of his boss’s new digs. I last saw this building when it was under construction. We ate our lunch under the skyway that connects the President’s Office with the Executive Building, and watched the carpet layers do their thing. Now we got to see the finished product. The President’s office is spacious, light and airy. Nicely appointed.
We then gave Mr. Kuartei a short brief of what we have been up to and he thanked us for our continuing efforts. He also said something about dinner one night. Is this a wonderful country or what?
Then back to Koror and lunch.
We met up with Kurata-san and his daughter Emiko. We wanted to show him more maps and see what light he could shed on Japanese units during the war. Kurata-san turned 18 during the war and was put into the infantry and immediately shipped to Angaur. He was one of the few soldiers to be captured alive from the campaign. His firsthand knowledge of anything to do with troops on Babelthuap is limited. However, he can read Japanese maps for us. Actually, the literal translation of Infantry in Japanese is "walking soldiers."
We gave him a list of units we would like information on and he said he would work on it. We also told him of our work at the gravestone site. He said he would like to see it. So on Sunday, we’ll take him there. Last year he went hiking with the group. I’m told the group could not keep up with this 80-year-old man. He is fit.
The Sunday outing will also be attended by Rich Wells from JPAC. We’d like him to see what we’ve found so far and make our case for some investigations there. Jolie will also be along to add to her antiquity finds.
We left Kurata-san and headed over to the Minister of Health’s office. Pat has worked with Dr. Yano for a few years, mostly on bird flu preparedness. He wanted to check in with him again and we all got to meet him as well. He likes what we are doing and now we have another social engagement to attend. Something about a celebration on a pier.
More food shopping and DOB went to get the transmission fluid serviced. The owner of this van has his own maintenance facility for all the vehicles he and his family own, including big construction equipment. The mechanics told Dan that we (okay, I) flattened the transmission pan and that they had to beat it out with big metal implements. Well no wonder we’re leaking fluids.
Out to Carp for dinner. Most of us had lobster or coconut crabs. Hmmmmm good!
Jolie joined us and we briefed her on our Sunday hike with Kurata-san. Although everyone knows everyone here, sometimes they never meet on their own. BentProp seems to be a focal point sometimes for folks who live here to meet each other.
Now I’m typing again.
And I honestly don’t know what we’re doing tomorrow. We’re waiting to see if Joe connected with folks who were going to get us some info. If he has, it may change what we are going to do. So until I know, you won’t.
I hope all is well with you and that your March comes in like a lamb and leaves like a lamb. We have to get some benefits from global warming.
Blue SKies,
Flip |
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