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Splash and Dash Searey Seaplane Delights

May 5 11:49

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Posted By: Hal Brown

Date Posted: Sep 4, 2014

Description: This past June the Captain of SuRi was reviewing his cruising options. A typhoon was forecast to smash into the islands of southern Japan. Its predicted arrival was contemporaneous with a scheduled cruise with the yacht’s owner and his guests.

That was the Captain’s problem. Not that I cared. Japan had refused to issue flight permits for the SeaRey or helicopter. “Let the typhoon be their reward!” (It was a bit harsh, but I was severely disappointed. Sorry. I didn’t wish wide spread disaster, maybe just a roof leak at flight permits office.)

The Captain was not interested in riding out a typhoon. Having a yacht means never having to yield to a bad long-range forecast. The weather for Palawan in the Philippines seemed much more promising for pleasurable cruising. The yacht agent said there would be no worries getting flight permits there.

The Captain called the owner. The owner said move.

Date Taken: Sep 4, 2014

Place Taken: Lagen Island near El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

Owner: Dan Nickens

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Category: 551, Yacht Tending Philippines

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Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	One of the flurry of the Captain’s ensuing calls was to me: “Can you meet us in the Philippines?”<br /><br />“Of course!”<br /><br />“If we get permission to fly, I will call you tomorrow evening.”<br /><br />The problem with tomorrow evening was that it was tomorrow morning in Florida. I had 30 minutes to pack and leave for the airport after the “go” was received. No worries. All the calls to change my plans could be made on the way to the airport.<br /><br />The thirty-hour flight had an intermediate stop in Manila. After a long day of airplane sitting, I still had a taxi ride to the designated hotel. It should have been a short drive, but that was in no traffic. Most places you can sometimes find no traffic, maybe even a little traffic, or on rare occasion, traffic jams. Then there is Manila traffic: all madness all the time.<br /><br />A traffic jam was an opportunity for the driver to introduce me to a bit of local culture. He was eager for conversation in broken English.<br />“You wanna good time?”<br />“I want a nice, cool room with a soft bed.”<br />“You wanna nice girl? Pretty. All night.”<br />“No. I think just the hotel bed will be just fine.”<br />“Girls very fine. Cheap. You wanna two?”<br />“Um, no thanks.”<br />“Okkie fine. You wanna nice guy then.”<br />“No. I’ll be fine by myself.”<br />“We stop at club. You will see. Many fine people for you. You choose.”<br />“No club. I choose going directly to the hotel, thanks.”<br />After that was firmly established, the driver’s need for conversation ended abruptly. I was happy he could concentrate on driving through lawless streets where any traffic rules were mere suggestions.<br /><br /><br />The next morning I was met by the helicopter pilot and his mechanic. They had driven from the airport in a rental car. Along the way the pilot had been stopped by the police for making an illegal u-turn. After some negotiation, the minor violation in an ocean of traffic mayhem was resolved with a $20 bill. No receipt requested or offered.<br /><br />The helicopter mechanic had arrived in Manila at the same time I did but he got a more persuasive driver. He had ended up at the club, barely escaping in the early evening hours for a return to the airport. I was rested and eager to for the day. He wasn’t. I had no story except for a good night’s sleep. His tale was epic.<br /><br />		Attachments: Wary Crossing

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	I passed through Manila again later on the way to Bali. Since I had a full day before my flight, I decided to walk across the highway to the bay front. That was a severely unpleasant excursion.<br /><br />The luxury of the hotel was immediately left behind. On the side streets and alleys were makeshift homes. Most consisted of cardboard folded over ragged blankets. There were equally ragged people just lying on the sidewalk with no blankets. Trash was everywhere. There was human excrement in the drains. Babies with no clothes. Scrawny dogs. Flies. The bay smelled of open sewage.<br /><br />My planned stroll along the waterfront ended with a quick retreat back to the protective enclave of the hotel.<br /><br />		Attachments: Street Scene

Frank A. Carr - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	Looks like underground cables are not in the budget.

Don Maxwell - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	Reminds me of the wiring in my SeaRey, now that I've had 11 years to add stuff.

Don Maxwell - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	Ah, yes, the protective enclave. That's what a yacht is, isn't it? <br /><br />Living in Lagos in the 1960s I used to marvel at the US embassy and USAID personnel--Nigeria experts, all. They lived in their airconditioned houses on an exclusive island connected to the city by one bridge. They'd eat breakfast served by the cook-steward, then be driven in their airconditioned cars to the airconditioned embassy--and back again in the evening for dinner prepared and served by the cook-steward. They never really lived in Africa at all. Well, sometimes on weekends they'd go to the beach, the one only for foreigners.

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	The drive to Subic Bay was nothing I would have attempted. Traffic was a mass of randomly flowing vehicles. The helicopter driver is fearless, though, and he had plenty of money for any additional traffic citations if we were spotted.<br /> <br />		Attachments: Bus Stop

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	Outside the city the pace slowed considerably. There were green fields and hills. There were monuments too. We were driving along the path of the Bataan Death March.<br /><br />The forced march of captured Filipino and U.S. soldiers covered 80 miles of beatings, torture and murder. No food or water was provided. The Japanese soldiers bayoneted or shot those that fell behind. Trucks ran over anyone that fell in their path. Officers practiced beheading prisoners from their horses. That was just a prelude for the horrors of the prison camps.<br /><br />I once met a survivor of the march at a dinner party. His unassuming manner almost belayed his tales of horror, told so matter-of-factly. Though not everybody was as affected by his stories, I lost my appetite. The courage and resilience of the man was beyond my imagination.<br /><br />Seeing the simple memorial, I decided it was okay with me if the Japanese flight permit office got completely flooded by the typhoon. No, the grandchildren of the Japanese war criminals should not be held accountable for their ancestors, but government bureaucrats who withhold SeaRey flight permits should be punished whenever possible. No mitigating circumstances considered.<br /><br />Aren't we fortunate to have such a different set of concerns?<br />		Attachments: Monuments

Frank A. Carr - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	Dan, your rationale about flooding the the permit office is superseded only by the <br />profoundness of your rhetorical question at the end. We are indeed.

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	The SuRi was parked at Subic Bay. Since the U.S. Navy based closed, it has been taken over by Chinese commercial interests. There were plenty of their freighters in the bay. The only evidence of a U.S. presence was found in the beautiful old facilities and four Blackhawk helicopters parked at one end of the airport.<br /><br />		Attachments: Leaving Subic Bay

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	A few of the yacht’s guests flew into the Subic airport. As soon as they arrived we launched for Palawan. The ocean was alive with waves the typhoon must have sent to find SuRi. <br /><br />It was a nineteen hour cruise to Palawan. The typhoon was well north, but its waves weren’t.<br />		Attachments: Rough Ride

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	The flight crew have a great room with a ocean view windows.		Attachments: Too Blue

Dan Nickens - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	For the crossing to Palawan the view from the crew cabin was more ocean than view.		Attachments: Wave Impact

Kenneth Leonard - Sep 04,2014 Viewers | Reply


	Dan, I've read about the Philipines at the beginning of WWII and the streets and human wreckage <br />appear to be unchanged. The Chinese business model will certainly not change that. For all his fun, I <br />wouldn't be sharing drinks with the chopper mech!

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