"The Lady" from USS President Coolidge

26 June 2012

Had some government crap to endure on Thursday morning starting just after we arrived from Palikula, but evening margaritas and tortilla casserole (AKA Ecuador desperation) on Freezing Rain helped assuage the aggravation. Regrettably it didn't do anything for the resultant morning effects therefrom (real word).

Next four days were chockablock with beguiling diversion. Friday involved, besides the one 0730 sleep-in, some chart briefing then dinking up a local river to the "blue hole" spring that fed it - clear, cold and, coincidentally, blue. Next day made two dives on President Coolidge (the wreck not the guy), first around the outside and then through the bowels - tighter and darker than one (this one) might have supposed. Remora followed us the entire first dive, but didn't, apparently, think there was much profit in latching on. Sunday was a rain forest river float to the cascade we climbed up before trekking back to pickup truck transport.

Monday had a dive on Million Dollar Point. After WWII (the big one) U.S. didn't want to drag all the equipage back home for various political, economic and logistics reasons so sold everything for a million bucks to France, who shared New Hebrides with Britain. Figuring they'd get the lot anyway after we left, those Gallic rascals reneged on paying, so the local commander bulldozed it all into the ocean. Great dive, but the best bit was a profusion of fish with no fear, no doubt assuming from reruns that Lloyd Bridges was harmless.

After a week of poco siesta we're beating feet up to the Banks and Torres Islands to check out of Vanuatu on Friday for the Solomon's (AKA New Georgia).

"The scientific name for an animal that doesn't either run from or fight its enemies is lunch." - Michael Friedman

Jack