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Posted By:
Nickens, Dan
Date Posted:
Aug 9, 2019
Description:
Overnight the PNG weather was occasionally damp, with wind, rain
and a passing storm. Excellent for rinsing the ash and salt spray off!
Date Taken:
July 8, 2019
Place Taken:
Off Kokopo, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Owner:
Nickens, Dan
File Name:
- Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=7W6WAonHUh">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=7W6WAonHUm">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=7W6WAonHUs">
Category:
Yacht Tending PNG
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Click on photo to view the original size. |
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Read what others had to say:
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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The widely scattered showers meant I had to choose my time taking guests and crew for the volcano
tour. Sometimes it was a bit close on the weather, but it’s not so bleak when there is a rainbow
around.
| | Attachments:
Hopeful Sign 2019-07-08 16.29
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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The frequent tours gave me more time to observe the dynamic interface between the slumbering
volcano and surrounding environment. It wasn’t all quiet on the western front.
| | Attachments:
Volcano Skirt 2019-07-08 16.28
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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Something orange was leaching out of the bare new ground. I suspect the orange is fair warning to
remain clear of the acidic outflow.
| | Attachments:
Orange Streak 2019-07-08 16.29
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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Oh, the nastiness! Leakage from the volcano had an impact on the water quality too. If only the
bureaucrats focused on regulating the volcano’s pollution instead of flying there’d be a lot more fun
to be had.
| | Attachments:
Murky Water 2019-07-08 16.29
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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Obscured by more contemporary building were traditional grass huts….tourist attractions? Perhaps a
true “tourist trap†for local headhunters?
| | Attachments:
Native Place 2019-07-08 16.31
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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One of the relicts of a war gone by was an old gun hulking just offshore. It reminded me of long ago
spellbound hours in front of the TV watching Pappy Boyington battling the Japanese enclave at
Rabaul (“Baa Baa Black Sheepâ€). Did this gun shoot at the real Major? Maybe. What would the
ghosts of the gunners think to see a frivolous little seaplane carelessly touring around their
emplacement? Hopefully they’d be happy to see it.
| | Attachments:
Gun Gone 2019-07-08 16.35
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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Out in the middle of the harbor were a couple of rocks that rose up as the volcano blew out. When
the volcano erupted in 1994 it buried most of the area in ash. Eighty percent of the buildings in
Rabaul collapsed under its weight. Out in the harbor, though, there was an uprising of rocks. (There
was an earlier eruption in 1937 that smacked the town hard too.)
| | Attachments:
Uprising 2019-07-08 16.42
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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Coastal road in ruins? So said the taxi driver. The upper road he took us on was pretty bad, so it
must have been horrible down below. The lower road is still used, though. Probably just an excuse
for the driver to take the longer route and make more fare.
The Japanese constructed many kilometers of caves at Rabaul. Inside the caves are a hospital and
landing barges.
| | Attachments:
War Refuge 2019-07-08 16.46
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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SuRi is a nice place to park when the rain gets too close. In a rare request the Captain had me fly
him to scout out a parking place for SuRi in the Duke of York Islands. It was pouring rain, and
turbulent, but the mission was accomplished.
| | Attachments:
Resting Place 2019-07-08 17.05
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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After the guests came aboard SuRi moved to the more remote, scenic location we had scouted the
day before: the Duke of York Islands. The islands lie in a channel between New Britain and New
Ireland. The channel between the mountain spines of the two large islands funnels wind and rain.
I came out to the hangar, not to fly, but to watch the storm. As I watched the wind picked up one
wing, then the other, driving them into the water. I raced to the cockpit and sat there, using
ailerons to keep the wings out of the sea. When things looked pretty edgy I remembered the story
of the Aussie PBY pilot that saved his plane in a typhoon on Easter Island. When the anchor began
to drag he took a small boat out, got in and started the engines. For eighteen hours he held the
seaplane off the reef with power.
I didn’t have that resolve. When there was a break in the storm, I told the crew to cut me loose. I
planned to taxi the airplane to shore and park it on the beach to wait out the next round of wind and
rain.
Taxing to shore was a wild ride. I had to keep the wings out of the water and the plane as much
into the wind as it took to do that, all the while angling for the shore. That’s when I spotted the high
rising coral heads. The tide was out so I had to use what little maneuverability I had to avoid
wrecking on the reef.
| | Attachments:
Emergency Afloat 2019-07-09 14.20
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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The beach seemed a fine refuge. Since the rain had passed, all I needed to do is hope the wind
calmed a bit before heading back to the boat.
| | Attachments:
Safe Ashore 2019-07-09 15.05
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Nickens, Dan - Aug 09,2019
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Soon after reaching the beach the natives came out to greet me. The local guide had advised me
there was a missionary hospital on Ulu Island that owned the beach. Permission and a contribution
had already been made to allow SuRi’s crew access.
At first the natives stayed back from the SeaRey. Then Reverend Johnson arrived. He offered a
hearty greeting and any assistance needed. All I needed was a temporary refuge.
| | Attachments:
Native Greetings 2019-07-09 14.44
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