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Posted By:
Hal Brown
Date Posted:
Feb 27, 2012
Description:
It felt fine to be full of fuel again, but it was a long way to food. I broke into my survival pack. I was close enough to the border not to be too bothered about getting back safely.
There was no way I would make my appointment with the Border Police. I tried the cell phone. No signal. I asked the weather guy (who didn’t have any weather) if there was a pay phone. No pay phone. Instead, he dialed the U.S. Customs guys on his phone. He wouldn’t take any money for the long distance call.
The Customs guy seemed unconcerned about my poor timing. He did check my ePISS (enslaved Pilots’ Introduction to Severe Scrutiny) approval to return. The gods of border penetration agreed to allow me to return since it was on the same day previously filed. I was warned that I needed to get to the airport before they went home for the night.
No worries. It should be a short flight.
The weather guy did take my flight plan and money. He gave me a copy and I was off.
Date Taken:
Feb 27, 2012
Place Taken:
San Felipe, B.C.
Owner:
Dan Nickens
File Name:
Last_Gas.jpg - Photo HTML
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Category:
497, Yacht Tending Baja
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Read what others had to say:
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Out on the outwash plain there weren’t too many peaks sticking above the alluvium. Where they did stick up, people just built around them.
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Suburban Hills
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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It wasn’t far out of San Felipe before the vast Colorado River Delta took over the horizon.
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Delta Lands
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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I don’t know if the boat was lost, but there was no one around for miles.
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Lost Boat
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Once upon a time the Colorado River brought sediment from all over the southwest to the Sea of Cortez. Not so much anymore. The river delta once covered almost 2 million acres….but that was before dams. Delta wetlands are down to about 5 percent of their former glory. There is still some mud coming from the local hills, though.
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Mountain Mud
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The blustery wind stirred up the dry delta sediment and flung it in my path.
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Sky Dusting
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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What coastline? It was more like a coastal squiggle.
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Coastal Scribble
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Back when the Colorado ran wild, the trees must have been huge! The bones of one of the gargantuan breed lay melting into the sand. Or maybe it was just a classic dendritic drainage pattern caused by tides on the flat delta sediments? Naw. Always go with the simplest explanation: giant extinct trees.
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Sand Tree
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The old trees weren’t the only gigantic species: the reeds were huge too.
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Sand Reeds
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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A breakout on the beach! Someone call the Corpse of Engineers to fix it. Give the people what we want: a static environment in a dynamic universe.
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Beach Breakout
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The dust was starting to get a bit thick. It didn’t rise up very far, though, leaving an upward escape route into the clear blue sky overhead.
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Brownout
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The delta was so flat it was hard to tell where the land ended and the water started.
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Flat Brown
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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My objective was to fly to Isla Montague, the island at the mouth of the Colorado River Delta. It was a good plan. The brown dust limiting visibility was a bit of a challenge, but the delta was still in sight and I could climb. There were two good plans, high or low, for getting there.<br /><br />Plans unravel.<br /><br />An occasional glance at the engine instruments turned into a focused stare. The oil pressure was fluctuating.<br />“Well, okay, it does that.”<br />“Ummmm…but usually not that much.”<br />“True, but it could just be a bad connection.”<br />“A bad connection that is getting rapidly worse?”<br />“That’s not a good sign.”<br />“Have you noticed that there have been no signs of human or animals for the past 30 minutes?”<br />“Okay, but it’s really, really flat. If the engine quits the SeaRey can land anywhere out here.”<br />“Then what? It would be a long, long walk out. If you could walk on that. Might be too soft. It could be quicksand.”<br />“It’s not quick sand. It’s a delta.”<br />“Then why isn’t there anything out here.”<br />“I don’t know but the engine is still running. I’ll try reducing the power.”<br />“It’s getting worse! Now it’s dropping down to the minimum pressure!”<br />“Okay, so I’ll increase power. See…that helped. At least it isn’t dropping to the red line.”<br />“For how long though?”<br />“Maybe long enough. I’ll just turn towards civilization.”<br />“You should call the Mexicali controller and let him know we have a problem.”<br />“Oh, and create another problem of the bureaucratic ilk? No thanks. Besides, the engine is still running. If it gets worse, then I’ll think about calling.”<br />“Yeah, sure…if you are still high enough for him to hear.”<br />
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Plan B
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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It was brilliantly white in the heart of winter, but it was too hot to be cold.
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Not Snow
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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What to do if you don’t have enough water? The Colorado River rarely flows to the Gulf anymore. The water is sucked up for dry cities, farming, and other upstream priorities. The next best thing to do is build a dam to catch what you can, then mine salt. Until the dam breaks.
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Dam Break
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Salt crystals grow in predictable paths in a chaotic environment?
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Crystalline Ground
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Who knew there were salt volcanoes? They don’t teach this stuff in Geology 101.
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Salty Eruption
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The delta without its river is a vast salted plain.<br />“It’s amazing!”<br />“Yeah, and it would amazing if you could actually hike out when the engine quits.”<br />“But it hasn’t quit.”<br />“Yet.”<br />“And yet the oil pressure has stabilized in its fluctuation.”<br />“You call a variation of 30 to 70 psi stabile?”<br />“It isn’t getting lower or higher. It’s a stabilized fluctuation.”<br />“That’s not so reassuring.”<br />“It is what it is and no amount of worrying will make it different. Fly on and enjoy the scenery, eh?”<br />“Do I have a choice?”<br />“Nope.”<br />
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Salted Plain
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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“Finally! Signs of dry land.”<br />“That’s not making me feel any better about the landing possibilities.”<br />
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Slightly Rumpled
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Some topography on a flat plain!<br /><br />Actually the topography of the delta, though mostly flat, is impressive enough to dam the Salton Sink and isolate the Salton Sea a couple of hundred feet below sea level.<br />
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Islands in the Salt
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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“Alright! It’s a boat.”<br />“So?”<br />“If the engine quits we can use it to get back to civilization.”<br />“I don’t see any water to float your new boat. It was probably washed here during the last Ice Age flood.”<br />
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Alternative Transportation
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Don Maxwell - Feb 28,2012
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Now, that's the <I>real</I> lost boat. The other one has tire tracks leading to and from it.<!-- >'"><br><font color=red size=6>' or > missing in user HTML. Please fix the HTML.</font> -->
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Finally, enough water to float a boat or SeaRey.
| | Attachments:
Seaplane Safety
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The reach of the salty water was easy to trace.
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Salt Channels
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Now this is what a delta is supposed to look like!
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Real Delta Land
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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“Civilization! We’re saved!”<br />“We weren’t lost.”<br />“Yeah, but if the engine quits now we won’t have to hike across a salty wasteland.”<br />“I like the salty wasteland better than a bunch of banditos.”<br />“Banditos? There are farmers down there. Ever met a mean farmer? I didn’t think so. How about a nice dinner of tamales instead of slowly drowning in salt?”
| | Attachments:
Civilization Ho
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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Getting closer to the border I called Mexicali Approach to get my transponder code for the border crossing.<br /><br />“So sorry, Señor, but we don’t have any flight plan for you.”<br /><br />My weather buddy in San Felipe didn’t file a flight plan?<br /><br />“Great. Funky engine. No flight plan. Now what? Divert to Mexicali and reboot?”<br /><br />“No way, Jose. Did you read the State Department's warning about that place? Nothing to do but wing it. I’ll just call the Yankee Federales with Flight Service and negotiate an out.”<br /><br />“Try not to sound like an inept terrorist…if you can fake it.”<br /><br />I scrambled to call a sympathetic Flight Service guy on the other side of the border. He worked out a quick plan and a transponder code.<br /><br />“Right. What makes you think he can get a plan in the system that quick? They probably don't even talk to the National Guard. You think there are problems now. Wait until you see an angry F-16 on your tail.”<br />
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Metropolitan Mexicali
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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The airport at Calexico is a short rock throw from the border. In fact, you have to fly the approach pattern on the north side or you will violate international airspace and be shot down by a drone!<br /><br />On the ground the Customs guys were grim faced. They approached the airplane warily with a radiation detector in hand.<br /><br />“Are you carrying drugs?”<br /><br />“No.” I didn’t mention the aspirin in my backpack.<br /><br />“Weapons?”<br /><br />“No.” I didn’t mention the emergency dive knife under the seat.<br /><br />“Radioactive material.”<br /><br />“No.” I didn’t mention the radium watch dial.<br /><br />“Okay, then. Welcome back.”<br /><br />That was it. No lecture about arriving late. No fine for a last minute flight plan. No interrogation about nasty comments made about U.S. border policy. Is this a great country or what?<br /><br />After clearing the administrative hurdles I had time to check out the engine. It took about two seconds to spot an oil line mostly collapsed around a tight turn. Just enough remained opened to keep the engine’s blood flowing. An easy fix and it would be good to go.<br /><br />But not this day. Better to rest and deal with the horrors of Los Angeles airspace freshly rested.<br />
| | Attachments:
Border Port
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Dan Nickens - Feb 27,2012
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N415RK’s last flight out of Baja as fictionally superimposed on a satellite’s view.
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msf2cxl
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Frank A. Carr - Feb 29,2012
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Once again thanks Dan for the geography and other lessons. I bet it felt especially good to <br />get to Calexico and beyond!
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