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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
Apr 20, 2013
Description:
No one was moving fast in the early morning fog. Still, in hopes of better weather, the SuRi launched her toys.
Date Taken:
Apr 20, 2013
Place Taken:
Near Puvuguapi, Chile
Owner:
Dan Nickens
File Name:
SuRi_Waking_Up.jpg - Photo HTML
Full size - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZIOE0000h">
Medium - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZIOE0000m">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=SZIOE0000s">
Category:
524, Yacht Tending Chile
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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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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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The forecast was too bad to be true: rain and fog all day. No SeaRey flying? So far so bad. The SuRi was parked by a misty resort near Puerto Puvuguapi.
| | Attachments:
Misty Morning Resort
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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All that was left was waiting for the drizzle to stop and the fog to lift. It was a long, long, day long wait.
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Waiting Game
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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The guests gave up waiting on the weather and went ashore to the resort for brunch. Now does this make any sense: they have two personal chefs capable of remarkable custom culinary creations and yet something compels them to try something at a remote resort. Maybe the SuRi just wasn’t big enough for their tastes.<br /><br />Or maybe they knew that hidden under the fog were massive ice fields, tall waterfalls and hot springs just minutes away?<br />
| | Attachments:
Two Resorts
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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As the gray day grew long, the guests launched a boat to go into town. In the village they found unexpected drama. A dog began to follow the owner’s daughter in earnest. It was soon discovered that the mutt had been abandoned by tourists passing through a village with no room for another stray dog. Unwilling to leave the poor creature to uncertain fate, SuRi took her on board.<br /><br />“Patagonia” became the dog’s new name. Her new home was soon to be a continent away in the United States. In a blink she was plucked from a lonely, loveless life scrounging for existence to the luxury of a warm family and the finest the material world can offer. Such are the tangles of possibilities on a foggy day in the far reaches of fate.<br /><br />
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Patagonia Found
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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It was too late for any serious SeaRey exploration, but it seemed completely futile to simply retrieve the SeaRey without getting into the air. Besides, the weather looked like it was slowly improving. Or maybe it was just mistful thinking.
| | Attachments:
Looking Better
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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With smooth water and just enough room to run, I couldn’t help but get a little air under the hull.
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Smooth Runway
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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So this is what SuRi’s neighborhood looked like without the heavy curtain of gray!
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In the Cove
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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A runway? Hadn’t seen one of these for awhile. No use it leaving it alone. Besides, the wheels needed a little exercise. <br /><br />Before I arrived, backed when the fog lay thick over the water, a Cessna Caravan had been here to pick up one of the guests. “Surely it won’t land in these conditions,” I asked the local guide. “Yez. She will drop down in the gulf and fly low up the fjord. She will make it if there is any air.”<br /><br />And that’s exactly what the bold Caravan pilot did.<br />
| | Attachments:
Landing Options
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Don Maxwell - Apr 20,2013
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You might send this one in to Barnstormer's.
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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Why? How much do you think I could get for it? Isn't there some kind of law against selling the Brooklyn Bridge or the Puvuguapi airport?
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Don Maxwell - Apr 20,2013
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No, no, I just meant send them the photo 'Landing Options.' Every week they publish a photo of an airport and challenge everyone to identify it. (Actually, I only read their flyer once in a while, but I think some less commercial sites do the same thing.) <a href="http://www.barnstormers.com/eFLYER/2013/268-eFLYER-cockpitview.html">http://www.barnstormers.com/eFLYER/2013/268-eFLYER-cockpitvi<br>ew.html</a>
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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Well of course I can identify it. The GPS said it was SCPH. It wasn't that much of a challenge to figure out it was Puvuguapi. Now, trying to say it out loud 10 times, THAT would be a challenge.
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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A river provides some air and a way to the interior when clouds cover mountains.
| | Attachments:
Inward Passage
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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The shallow stream choked with trees and glacial shavings held no temptation for a splash. Hmmm...'no' is such a strong word. Maybe just a little.
| | Attachments:
Braided Way
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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Turbulence from a rocky ridge precipitates clouds along the edge.
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Smoking Ridge
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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How deep will you go? Wind. Clouds. Sharp Rocks. And, it’s late in the day.
| | Attachments:
Going In
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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Not a likely spot for a friendly SeaRey splash.
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Rough Water
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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Water was falling in spectacular fashion from the mountain next to a small lake.<br />SeaRey suitable? <br />Hmmm…..One way in, one way out. Valley tight for reverse flight path. Tail wind on departure. Surrounded by clouds. Underwater hull rippers hidden in the opaque glacial mud water. Smallish lake. Late in the day. Boat preparing to depart.<br />Hmmm….Massive waterfall. Glacier. Wilderness lake. Adventure at the end of a dull gray day.<br />Done deal.<br /><br />
| | Attachments:
Big Water Small Lake
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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It was a glimpse of blue ice that got me. The water was falling from a low hanging glacier. What SeaRey pilot could resist such temptation!
| | Attachments:
Payoff
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Dan Nickens - Apr 20,2013
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A sheer wall of blue. All of this hidden all day by fog.
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Blue Wall
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Kenneth Leonard - Apr 21,2013
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Stunning.
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Dan Nickens - Apr 21,2013
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Yes, Ken. So much so that I shut down and just floated, listening to the overwhelming rumble of the falls, feeling the cool, moist breeze washing through the cockpit, deeply inhaling the rain-washed air, watching the intricate swirl of clouds over the glacier, punctuated by a rare flash of sunlight off the crystalline blue ice. After the adrenaline rush started to wear off, I felt guilty. Back aboard the boat were forty people who had no idea that such a place existed in the gray country where they had waited all day. It was that injustice that caused me to start the engine and return to the boat. The helicopter brought anyone that wanted to see, including the crew, back to the stunningly beautiful scene.
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Dennis Scearce - Apr 21,2013
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You shut down?? Really??
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Dan Nickens - Apr 21,2013
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Sure. What's the worst that could happen? Overnight parking? And, instead of a cab, there's an A&P with a helicopter parked around the corner I can call on the satellite phone. He will know where I am because of the satellite tracking system.<br /><br />(Whether he would bother to come or not, that's another issue.)
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