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Posted By: Nickens, Dan
Date Posted: Mar 28, 2016
Description: ""It Just Happens""? That's what Vanuatu Natural advertised.

Yes, it does. It happens that engines quit running when air gets into the fuel system. As best I could figure, that's what happened over a quiet bay at sunset to a new SeaRey. Somewhere around midnight the engine started and ran just fine.

Or, no it doesn't. It can't just happen when volcano tours were on the agenda. That would be bad. It was important to be sure that the engine would keep running fine.

An extended test flight went just fine. As I touched down back at SuRi I got a call that one of the guests wanted to see if it could just happen for him.

It did. Staying over water it just happened that the engine ran in a smoothly normal way.

As I was contemplating whether it could be trusted to not just happen over a lava lake I got a different mission. In all the excitement of the previous evening the SeaRey buoy and anchor had been left back at Malo Passage. The first mate asked if I would go get it. After he came and got me, how could I refuse?
Date Taken: Feb. 10, 2016
Place Taken: Malakula Island, Vanuatu
Owner: Dan Nickens
File Name: Local Drink 0202.jpg   - Photo HTML
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Category: Yacht_Tending_VU
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Read what others had to say:

Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The lost buoy was sixty miles to the north. To get there and back I had to cross over a bit of jungle. With a little extra altitude as caution from recent experience I was high enough that I could make an interior stream for a safe landing if it did happen again.

North of Malfakhal, Malakula Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Even with a SeaRey suitable stream cutting through it, the jungle looked remote and inhospitable. I thought to photo-document conditions for investigators who might find the stranded SeaRey if the engine did just quit. That's when I discovered that my camera batteries were exhausted from the previous day's excitments.

Well, it just happens. And it happens that an iPhone has a camera too. It helps to have a backup plan when "it just happens."

West of Walarano, Malakula Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    A southerly wind blew me quickly to the lost buoy. I was feeling good about finding it and partially repaying the favors provided by the First Mate. Now all I had to do was get it back to SuRi.

The iPhone was in hand for a picture when it vibrated indicating a message received. It was from the First Mate: "SOS received from helicopter on volcano. Proceed direct and investigate."

The volcano referenced was on Ambryn. I punched in the SOS location on the GPS and intercepted a direct line there.

Unfortunately the wind was now in my face, slowing my speed over the rough water of the Pacific. I checked the fuel level and calculated whether I had enough to go to the volcano and back to SuRi. It was problematic, particularly with my new phobia of a fuel level of less than 5 gallons. Still, an SOS provides some latitude for cutting margins. I flew onward.

Aore Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    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!"

The call was clear but it was not sweet. My first view of the volcano was of a top covered in cloud. It was clear that much of the cloud was not of the sweet liquid kind. It was a mixture of steam and sunshine-blocking brown and black ash.

The coordinates I had for the helicopter showed that I needed to get into or around the smoky obscuration. I deviated to avoid a downwind ash-laden approach.


Mt. Benbow's Western Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Below the clouds there were jagged sheer cliffs covered in green jungle. Doubt seeped into my desire. Was nothing learned from yesterday's unexpected landing?

Green Flanks
Mt. Benbow's Western Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The smooth river of blackened lava returned to rough ridges under a solid cloud. I pressed on anyway. Target fixation? I checked the fuel level. Marginal, it was, considering the new extra fuel I wanted to carry.

Rough Edges
Mt. Benbow's Western Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The cloud shrouded top showed me no path in. Should I stay or should I go? I was so close.

Circling the Edge
Mt. Benbow's Western Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The radio interrupted my concentration on getting to the scene of the SOS. "SeaRey do you have SuRi's helo in sight?"

"Uh, no?"

"Well, we're lifting off from the volcano now."

"We got a SOS signal. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I just forgot to turn off the tracking 'watch' function."

I suppose it just happens.

"You have got to see the volcano! It's incredible!"

"It looks like the top is covered in cloud and ash."

"You have to approach from up wind. I think you can get in. It was no problem for me."

Right. You're a helicopter. Where am I going to land if the engine quits under the low cloud? Of course I didn't say that, but I thought it.

On the other hand, Bob Wylie had briefed me that he used to land on the plain next to the cone in a Cessna. "We quit after the volcanic bombs got to be too frequent and left boulders all over the landing area." Still, he had landed there once upon a time. Now that I was in the presence of the holy grail of geologists, I wasn't about to run for home.

Sucker Hole
Mt. Benbow's Southern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Flying around the plume I saw breaks in the overlying clouds. Maybe there was a way in.

My good and noble excuse was, however, gone. The SOS was a false alarm. There was no need to go there now. No need to take chances. No need to risk "It just happens".

No need, maybe. Just a burning desire to see a lake of liquid rock by SeaRey.

A break in the overcast blew away all doubt. The edge was in sight. There was no chance of just turning away now.

Edging In
Mt. Benbow's Southwestern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    It just happened. The upwind edge of the crater was clear of cloud. With no volcanic bombs blowing by, I edged in closer.

Up to Edge
Mt. Benbow, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    On the edge of Mt. Benbow, one of the two active cones on Ambryn.

On Edge
Mt. Benbow, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    There was only one clear edge....the upwind one.

Edge of Hot
Mt. Benbow's Southeastern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The second, higher cone was also cloud free on the upwind side.

Higher Edge
Mt. Marum, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Up near the peak the wind was tortured. It was rushing in from the south, pushing upslope only to run into the massive vertical uplift of hot air at the cone.

Edge of Destruction
Mt. Marum, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Close enough. Don't press it. You just don't know when a hot volcanic bomb will shoot out of the mouth of the dragon. It just happens. And if it happens here there would be no easy ending.

Blasting Past
Mt. Benbow's Southern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    There was sudden reduction in the ejecta from the cone. Could it just happen that there would be a lull in the thermal violence? I turned in towards it just in case it could just happen.

Back In
Mt. Marum, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Yes! A notable change in the eruption. It just happened. There was a window, one that might not happen again. Caution left the plane.

Inside Out
Mt. Benbow's Southern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    With all that was at risk, it seemed a minor matter to hold the phone outside the plane over the burning maw to shoot the molten blood of earth. The phone remained, but the mental image of that impossibly brilliant moment remained much sharper. The phone just wasn't capable of capturing the depth of molten color, the quivering blasted air, the drama of hanging on the razor of just happening.

Now the equation could be completed. Was the risk worth the reward? Was the chance of a engine-out forced landing over inhospitable terrain worth a momentary view of a long-imagined geo spectacle?

Yes. Yes. YES!

Over the Edge
Mt. Benbow, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Don Maxwell - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    What the others said! Terrific shot! (Terrific includes terror.) The fullsize image is really impressive.     
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 14,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    It was a terrorific sight, Don, and I was surprised that the old iPhone 5 caught an image at all. Just goes to show that it isn't the equipment that matters, it is all about the subject.     
  
Don Maxwell - Mar 14,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    It is all about the subject, all right--and a good eye and great luck. But we can't discount the equipment altogether. Those iPhone cameras are only about 8 mm square and 4 or 5 mm deep, but the 5 packs 8 million pixels and the 6s, 12 million. It ain't yer Brownie box camera.     
  
Dennis Scearce - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    WOW. What a shot. Definitely National Geographic quality stuff. Thanks for posting.     
  
Philip Mendelson - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    DITTO!!!     
  
Wayne Nagy - Mar 12,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!     
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Outflowing from over the precipice of hell fire to the green of life was an exhilarating escape.

Outpouring
Mt. Benbow's Southern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Out from the hot cone was the plain of the real crater. The 12 mile wide caldera exploded in 50 AD with an Explosive Force Index 6. Six is the second highest level, with Mount St. Helens being a 5 and Krakatau being a 6 (Yellowstone was an 8). To be a six ejecta volume is greater than 10 km3 with substantial penetration of both the troposphere and stratosphere.

The last major eruption in 1913 caused evacuation of island (not a six). The latest vent formed just about a year earlier, on Feb. 21, 2015.

Plain Cauldera
Mt. Benbow's Southern Flank, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Racing down the side I felt like I was flowing with the rock, not fighting upstream against the odds.

Down the Edge
Mt. Benbow, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The Ambryn volcano is basaltic, belching feldspar and plagioclaise, the most common rock type typical of oceanic crust. Common or no, it was an uncommon happening for me.

New Earth
Mt. Benbow, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Some of the older rock was covered with a green fuzz. You can't keep life from happening given half a chance. There's probably some principle that makes it just happen.

Getting Cooler
Mt. Marum, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    The cliffs of the cone looked like they had just cooled.

Cooling Cliffs
Mt. Marum, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Going "feet wet" the stresses just washed away. I wonder if that's why someone built a shack by the beach. If I lived on a volcanic island I'd want to be as close as possible to the cool Pacific water.

Ash Beach
Southeast of Sesivi, Ambryn, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Exhilarating! That's the feeling of after escaping boiling lava to the calm cool safe haven of island waters.

Cool Water
Umbeb Bay, Malakula Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    This island looked as inviting as SuRi. A night spent parked on the beach of such an island boat under the stars with the fires of a volcano on the horizon might just be dreamy.

Island Boat
Umbeb Bay, Malakula Island, VU

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    One of the crew desperately wanted to see the volcano. I couldn't refuse, so back I went. Unfortunately the window of opportunity had closed. It just happened that the clouds had gathered. I could only show her around the edges.

The dramatic day ended with a late lobster dinner followed by traditional French baked apples on crust with caramel crisp and apricot ice cream. Life was very, very good.

Well, maybe. When I checked my messages there was frantic one from Bob: "Did you land in one of the lakes on Ambae? There are rumours about a light seaplane landing in one of the lakes and upsetting the spirits."

I answered, "It wasn't me. I saw my Bali Ha'i today, but it wasn't on Ambae. Lukim you. Dan"

Safe Ending
Ba Arum Point, Metenovor Bay, Malakula Island, VU

    
  
Carr, Frank  - Apr 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Glad that 'All's Well That Ends Well' and ""Life was very, very good"" for you Dan as this adventure and photos were for us..     
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 13,2016   Viewers  | Reply
    Chart of Ambryn courtesy of the Australian military.

    


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