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SKLI Seaplane Base
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 Photo Info
Posted By: Nickens, Dan
Date Posted: Mar 28, 2016
Description: Beneath the calm waters surround Espiritu Santo is the U.S.S. Calvin Coolidge, millions of dollars in U.S. military equipment, and under wing is the WW2 Bomber Field Number 2, now Santo Pekoa International airport (NVSS). More than 500,000 troops were based at Espiritu Santo during the course of the war, making it the largest U.S. base in the Pacific outside of Hiawaii. The facilities left over from the war have contributed to the town becoming the second largest settlement in Vanuatu.

There is a Flight Information Specialist stationed at Santo Pekoa International. At least there was supposed to be. My early morning calls went unanswered. Frustrated I called the tower at Port Vila: ""Is there a Specialist on duty today?""
""Hemi bin go long Kanal.""
""Um, what?""
""Him at home in Luganville. No tumas money for tower now. Maybe later.""
Somebody must have found some money for the Specialist. He showed up after lunch.
Date Taken: Feb. 7, 2017
Place Taken: Chapuis Point, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, VU
Owner: Dan Nickens
File Name: Hidden Artifacts 0628.jpg   - Photo HTML
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Category: Yacht_Tending_VU
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Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The intrusion of the modern world during World War II had a lasting effect on the islands. Most of the inhabitants had never seen airplanes or large warships. When the troops landed they quickly enlisted locals to help with unloading ships or construction of the facilities providing an infusion of money and modern paraphernalia. Locals also sold trinkets and local foods to the troops.

Seeing the locals cashing in, the condominium governors were displeased. They passed a law prohibiting sale of local curios without their authorization. That didn't sit well with anyone except the government. Vigorous protests (perhaps backed up by big American guns?) helped get the law hastily repealed.

At the end of the war the Americans had a lot of excess equipment. They hosted a huge sale (jeeps for $50, PT boats, kitchenware, all at fractional prices). There was too much though (it was before Ebay). They couldn't unload everything quick enough and they were ready to go home. The solution was to dump the unsold stuff into the ocean. Million Dollar Point became the launching point for loaded trucks, tanks, and ambulances. Anything that could roll was brought to the point where it was driven in or lifted into the water by waiting cranes.

Other than the obvious relicts, there are many lingering effects. The culture of the islanders was forever affected. Some of the islanders developed a new religion. They had seen material wealth suddenly appear, some of it dropped from airplanes. Cargo cults formed expecting to receive a massive gift of worldly materials made by spirits. Christianity and native religion mixed with the unbelievable influx of magical materials brought in by Americans. Mythical Americans, John Frum and Tom Navy, became gods who would someday bring great wealth to the islands. Rituals developed based on what was seen at bases. Military style parades, alters of wooden airplanes, uniforms were adopted to speed the day of material abundance. A John Frum cult still exists and has representatives in the national government.

Chapuis Point, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    As I was to find out, the Flight Information Specialist that finally showed up at Santo was not a true believer. When he found out I was flying a seaplane, he had some advice: ""You must fly over to Ambae and land in the volcanic lakes.""

""That sounds great. I don't know if I'll have time. I think we're headed down to the volcanoes at Ambryn tomorrow.""

""You have to see it. The lakes are spectacular. They're only 40 nm east.""

I was tempted. Ambae was the inspiration for Michener's Bali Ha’i, a distant and unattainable bit of paradise. Rogers and Hammerstien wrote a song about it for the musical ""South Pacific"". Frank Sinatra sang of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VGsiagHFM or you can see the movie clip from South Pacific at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JoKlDMYACQ&ebc=ANyPxKquLNs8vGMWtKHSK8c0lXvSVaPW0o0y9nnJioPOdC5ihhs_Fsz7EIHmKfqORFe1i9fPXZ2G

""Most people live on a lonely island,
Lost in the middle of a foggy sea.
Most people long for another island,
One where they know they would like to be.

Bali Ha'i
May call you,
Any night,
Any day.
In your heart
You'll hear it call you:
""Come away,
Come away.""

Bali Ha'i
Will whisper
On the wind
Of the sea:
""Here am I,
Your special island!
Come to me,
Come to me.""

Your own special hopes,
Your own special dreams,
Bloom on the hillside
And shine in the streams.

If you try,
You'll find me
Where the sky
Meets the sea;
""Here am I,
Your special island!
Come to me,
Come to me!""

Bali Ha'i,
Bali Ha'i,
Bali Ha'i.

Someday you'll see me,
Floating in the sunshine,
My head sticking out
From a low-flying cloud;
You'll hear me call you,
Singing through the sunshine,
Sweet and clear as can be,
""Come to me,
Here am I,
Come to me!""

Bali Ha'i,
Will whisper
On the wind
Of the sea:
""Here am I,
Your special island!
Come to me,
Come to me.""

""Bali Ha'i,
Bali Ha'i,
Bali Ha'i. ""

I wanted to go. A SeaRey on Bali Hai! An unattainable dream come true!

Yet I knew Michener's island was off limits to enlisted men and lowly SeaRey pilots too. I couldn't tell the FIS that I wouldn't go. I only indicated it was an improbability. 		    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Not Bali Ha'i

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Just off shore from Santo lies the wreck of the SS Calvin Coolidge. The Coolidge was a luxury liner pressed into service as a troop ship during World War II. In support of the invasion of Guadalcanal she was sent to Espiritu Santo. Unfortunately the Navy didn't share information about ship mines with the Merchant Marine. Arriving at the Santo harbor the Coolidge's captain took the most obvious channel to get into port. The ship struck two mines and began to sink. The captain tried to drive the ship ashore, but was thwarted by the reef. It sank and slipped off the edge into the deep channel.

Only two people were lost in the wreck. One was killed in the engine room when the first mine exploded. The second was an Army artillery captain. Hearing that some of the troops were trapped in the sinking ship, he went back and got them out. He didn't make it back out. There is a memorial to Captain Euart on shore.

The ship has become a tourist attraction due to its large size and proximity to shore. It is shallow enough to dive on, but deep enough that it is only a watery shadow when viewed from above.

Chapuis Point, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Not every wreck has a war history. This looks like a forlorn local trader.

As I flew back over for another look the FIS called again. "You will love the water on Ambae. The lakes are colorful because of the volcanic gases. You must go see them."

"Yes, that would be great." (And it might have been...in some alternate reality. The lakes are colorful due to acidic volcanic gases. Still, it would be a sight to see....) "Unfortunately I don't think I'll get to them today. Maybe later."

This was a case where clearer wording could have saved a lot of controversy and turmoil.

Chapuis Point, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Currents run through the channel south of Santo piling up sand and ships. The U.S.S. Tucker hit a U.S. mine on the opposite end of the channel from the Coolidge and sank near this sand bar. The U.S. Navy sank more of its own ships than the Japanese did at Santo.

Segond Channel, Luganville, Espiritu Santo Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    An uninhabited island is a natural SeaRey attractant. With Bali Ha'i unattainable, at least the lower ones were reachable.

Near Wintua, Malakula Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    From 500' it is just a suggestion of a turtle. A lower look confirmed there were hundreds of large sea turtles plying the Malo passage.

Malo Passage between Malo and Aore Islands, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Turtles weren't the only denizens of the channel. Huge devilfish (manta ray) glided on the swift currents too.

Malo Passage between Malo and Aore Islands, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Shallow waters are always attractive for SeaRey ops because they definitely don't hide large ocean swells.

Malo Passage between Malo and Aore Islands, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Thick tropical rainforest form a foreboding landscape when crossing between the islands.

Aore Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The local guides told me that all the leaves were blown off trees in the last cyclone. If so, they made a quick comeback.

Fruit was blown away too, leaving the flying fox and fruit bats with nothing much to eat. Apparently the equatorial rainforest has recovered quick enough to avoid mass extinctions.

Nguna Is. VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Only an occasional break in a continuous canopy with no landing sites in sight made for some nervous over flights. It was much more relaxing to circumnavigate the islands.

Aore Island, VU


         Jungle Tops 		    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Overcast clouds brought an ominous gray tone to the tropical colors. Was it true? Was the weather changing to punish us for all the nice air we'd had?

Malo Passage between Malo and Aore Islands, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    It was the last flight of the day. The return trip from Santo back to SuRi required crossing over Aore Island.

There was no time left for leisurely cruising. The sun was setting. Rain clouds were moving in from the west. I had just enough fuel left to make it back to the ship with legal reserves.

From 500' over the water I was contemplating my route back. I could fly direct back to SuRi, crossing a narrow band of thick rain forest. Or I could take the scenic route around the coast.

A glance at the fuel gage saw it drop from 5 to 4 gallons. That made my decision. I'd just fly directly back to make sure I got there with plenty of reserve.

Should I climb to get above the 300' treetops? I never got to answer that question. The airplane engine answered by coming to an abrupt stop.

Now my only option was to alight on what lay below. Fortunately that was not the rainforest, but the protected water of a small bay. I was close enough to shore that I decided to make a 360 degree turn to touch down within swimming distance.

The water looked nice enough but I really didn't want to stop just before sunset. I tried to restart the engine. That didn't work and I didn't have much time to waste anyway.

As required by my proximity to Santo, I had been in contact with the Flight Information Specialist at Pekoa. Should I advise him of my situation? Hmmm....What could he do? Not much. And then there would be all that paperwork. I did have to tell him I was finished for the day or he might decide I was lost at sea. I wasn't sure my cell phone would work on the water, so I just keyed the radio, "Santo, N219SR landing assured. Good night."

Well, landing was assured. I wasn't lying. And I didn't have time to talk to him about the lakes on Ambae anyway.

Now all I had to do was a quick checklist to make sure the gear was in the up position and my passenger was all set.

Aisari Bay, Aore Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    A dead stick landing was discussed hypothetically and somewhat comically prior to flight with my passenger, a local guide we called Charles. His partner had laughed at his lack familiarity with emergency procedures before we started. It was his first flight in a small airplane. He had limited understanding of modern technologies and English. Now what was I to tell him prior to a quickly cobbled together engineless splashdown?

"We're going to land now."

He smiled and nodded his head.

After that I just focused on the task at hand. Easy. It was a great place to have an emergency landing.

We coasted to a stop. It flashed though my mind that it might not be such a great spot. We were on the other side of the island from SuRi. The sun was setting. Rain was coming. We were being blown backwards out into the bay. It was more than five miles from the town and possibly too distant for cell phone.

Charles was smiling. He had no idea what was going on. I was a bit reluctant to try and explain our situation, but we were in it together.

"The engine has quit, Charles."

"Yu jes stat. Wi gogo. Traem."

Well, that made sense. I tried to restart the engine. Nothing. I could hear the fuel pumps but it didn't sound like they were pumping fuel. I got up on the side of the hull and looked into the plastic tank behind my seat. I had to use a flashlight because it was getting dark. There was plenty of fuel. I didn't see or smell any leaks.

And, it was getting dark really fast. I gave up trying to restart the engine and looked at where the wind was blowing us. The far shore was distant enough that we were in no immediate danger of reaching it soon.

Rather than explain all this I told Charles I would just call SuRi for a tow. He nodded his head. "Kolem."

It was a relief to find the cell phone had signal. I called the first mate and got no answer. I called the Captain and got no answer.

Okay. Maybe I should try the ship's satellite phone. No, I'll try the first mate one more time.

I got an abrupt answer. "Hello. What do you want?"

"Well, a tow back to SuRi would be nice."

"Oh! Is that you, Dan? Why are you calling on the helicopter phone? I thought you were Steve calling me from his cabin. You would think he could just walk down rather than call."

"No, it's not Steve. I'm calling from Aisori Bay. The SeaRey engine quit. Can you send a tender to tow me back?"

"Okay. Stand by. Let me see what we can do. I'll call back."

There was nothing to do but wait. It was now completely dark. Our situation was pretty comfortable. It was, however, dinner time. Wait! There are emergency supplies. What better time to break out the granola bars and water bottles. Charles agreed.

Martin called back. "I have your position. I'm coming in the Intrepid. It will take about 45 minutes to get to you." I turned on the navigation lights in case someone else had a boat with a running engine out cruising in the dark and we waited.

While Martin was enroute I had time to think about how we were going to hook up to the big tender. No way we could board it. I would have to get in the water and hook us up. We would probably both need to swim over to get onboard.

I was so wrong. Martin is a superb boat driver. He eased up next to the cockpit and we simply stepped aboard.

The trip back to SuRi took almost two hours. We had to tow slowly to keep the airplane from trying to fly.

On the way we passed a dive boat. Someone had a green laser and we were thoroughly lazed. Martin was irritated, but since we had plenty of beer on board he didn't get too agitated.

I had plenty of time to imagine what had happened. And what could have happened, given other choices and circumstances.

I was tempted to join in the beer drinking. No. I had a lot of work to do when we got to SuRi. I was seriously worried about getting back into the air. Tomorrow we would be near the volcano. I wasn't going to miss that.

After we loaded back aboard I went right to work. "Don't you want to eat dinner?" I was asked.

"No. I'm not hungry and I want to get this fixed."

I was joined in checking the plane by the ship's engineer and the helicopter pilot. Ignoring the snide comments about light airplanes from my comrade in aviation, I grabbed my tools and dug into the problem.

One of the stewardess' came down on the deck. "Can you come up to the saloon for dinner?"

"No thanks. I need to get this fixed first."

"I think Mr. Kayne wants to hear what happened."

Oh. Well, that's different.

Though not dressed for a formal affair, I thought I'd just go up and get it over with then get right back to work. I entered the salon to find all the guests assembled around the dining table. "Sit down and have some dinner," I was told. "We want to hear the whole story."

I didn't think there was much of a story to tell. I tried to give an abbreviated briefing since I really didn't know much anyway.

"Have some wine." Oh, crap. I'd have to come up with a better tale. Well, the wine would help that. And, as Col. Grumpy often told me, "If the pilot survives the crash you'll never know what really happened."

I delved into a tall tale of treachery, sabotage, volcanoes, piracy, sharks and whatever else I could think of to add to the mix. It must have been a good one because I was brought a huge bowl of specialty made coconut chocolate passion fruit ice cream.

Eventually I must have run out of adjectives. The boss started nodding off and left for his stateroom. The dinner broke up and I went back to steerage to try to find out what had really happened.

Aisari Bay, Aore Island, VU

    
  
Steve Kessinger - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Sorry for the thread drift, Dan, but it's been two years since I got lased and I'm still having problems with my right eye. Be careful.     
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    At night when you're not ready, a laser is down right scary thing. We were lucky no one got a direct hit. Where did you get hit, Steve? A U.S. airport? You know it's getting out-of-control when laser attacks start taking place in third world countries on a downed aircraft!     
  
Steve Kessinger - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    We going into Mumbai, descending through about 11,0' when they swept us with a high powered green laser several times. I saw a flash, looked down and they quickly got me twice. The first time it hit I went ""WTF?"", and by the time I finished the F they hit us again before I could look away as I called out a warning to the other pilots. I was in the aft right relief pilot jumpseat looking at the city, the wrong seat at the wrong time and luckily was the only one who got illuminated, the flying pilots were blocked by the glareshield so we were able to land Ok.

There's 2 types of injury you can get: the most common is flash blindness (which is temporary, but bad if you're at low altitude, like on approach), or what I have, which is more rare so they don't know what the long term implications are. No retina damage but it often feels like I have sand in my eye, and bright lights (like in a shop or an office) sometimes hurt so I wear a lot of hats while in the shop, and daytime light is fine. I've only met one other pilot who has suffered the same type of laser injury.

http://www.laserpointersafety.com/treatment/treatment.html


Fascinating trip, Dan, if you get further north you'll have to give us a compass check over Iron Bottom Sound. 		     Attachments:  

Laser Injury Assesment
Laser Injury Assesment

       Attachments:  

USAF Laser Injury Guidebook
USAF Laser Injury Guidebook

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Scary. It give a whole new meaning to the song...

And I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can so I can
See the light that's right before my eyes...

Compass check? Who looks at a compass when flying over Iron Bottom Sound? I couldn't keep my eyes from searching for relics outside the plane. 		    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 11,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Chart of Espiritu Santo Area courtesy of the Australian military.

    


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