Hey everyone.
I'm back. Sorry I haven't posted. I've been very buisy getting things sorted out. Right now, I really have no place to live. I've been sleeping on couches, but think I've found a room. I'll see you all tomarrow.
Curt
Hey everyone.
I'm back. Sorry I haven't posted. I've been very buisy getting things sorted out. Right now, I really have no place to live. I've been sleeping on couches, but think I've found a room. I'll see you all tomarrow.
Curt
Aloha from Hawaii. Yeah I know I've been out of touch again. Things have been kind of crazy for me lately. In the last week I was in Chuuk we had power all of 6 houres. Guam was absolutly nuts, and even Honolulu seems crazy to me. I'm glad I've had some time to ajust before getting back. I probibly would have scaired a lot of you. I'm still reallly wearded out by society off Chuuk so when you see me again just bear with me. I went though a lot out there. I'm coming back tomarrow so I'll see you soon.
Love
Curt
Well hello every one.
Yup, I?ve been pretty quiet recently. The lack of power here is still an issue. Now outages are somewhat scheduled though. They do three hours on, and three hours off. Of course, I wouldn?t set my watch by it. However the power is still off when you need it and on when you don?t. It?s really starting to get to me. See the power just went of. So to conserve the batteries on the laptop I?ll make this quick.
Basically I?ve been avoiding the Historic Preservation Office. Nothing gets done there. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that we would do something tomorrow, I?d be rich. Nothing ever happens today. It will always happen tomorrow. The bad part about that is, tomorrow always seems to turn in to today, at which point nothing can or will happen. I did go out with them however to survey a site for a new building. We make sure that nothing historical will be destroyed. Other than that I?ve been diving. We did two dives on the Shinkoku Maru, which is a very large Japanese Fleet Tanker. From the surface oil bubbles can still be seen rising from the ship. I did one dive on the Kensho Maru, and the Heian Maru. The Heian, is the largest ship in the lagoon. It was a large passenger liner before the Japanese navy converted it to a Submarine tender. It still holds many periscopes and torpedoes. I also explored a rather large cave complex in the hills. One large gun sits in an opening, pointing out to sea.
Well I have to go. I?ll try to write once more before I leave. I?m going to change my ticket around so I?ll leave here on the 17th spend 2 nights in Guam and then 4-5 days in Hawaii. Take care, and remember. Don?t do anything I wouldn?t do?. But if you do make sure you take lots of pictures and tell me all about it later.
Love you all
Curt
P.S. The power just came on again.
Hey everyone. Well I'm still alive out here. I have to keep this short. The reason I've been so quiet is there is no power. The illustriuos and far sighted government here believes they don't have to pay their power bill here. That means the power company keeps shutting the public off. The governer dosn't care he has a generator. So the newly privatized power company only turns the power on for a few hours at a time, if they do it at all. We didn't have power here for three days last week. The fuel for the islands generator is also almost gone so these power outages are not going away any time soon. I've got to go. I'll try to check in as often as possible but there might be times when I can't.
Love Curt
P.S.
As for Randy, at least he's not here. The hospital in Kosrae is much better, and they have power.
Hey all.
I?m going to keep this short and sweet, because honestly, I?m exhausted. Today we did two more dives on the Fugikawa Maru. Once again this was with the Historic Preservation Office. It appears that I have become the resident expert on WWII aircraft in the area. During our dives, I was first tasked with confirming my suspicions that the unidentified aircraft in the hold is in fact the predecessor of the famed Japanese Zero, the Claude. During the first dive I was able to do this by pairing an engine cowling nearby to the airframe in question. This was not the cowling of a Zero but of a Claude. That was the final straw. I can now say this aircraft is a Claude.
For our second dive I was tasked with confirming that all of the remaining aircraft in the hold were Zeros. During this task it was discovered that instead of the 4 aircraft previously reported there were in fact, 6. In my ?expert? opinion all five aircraft not including the Claude are Zeros. Well that concludes my story. I would go on a little more but the power is out and Clark needs me to save the batteries on his laptop. But what I think that makes me 2 for 2 on aircraft I've set out to identify, if not better.
Take care,
Curt
Howdy there folks,
Well yesterday we went fishing. We got up at around seven and piled into the boat. Again this was one of the small fiberglass jobs that are common out here. We had our gear, we had some rice and pounded breadfruit, and we had our beer. Everything five guys need for a day of fishing. We set out to the North West, towards our intended destination, Uranu. This is one of the small barrier islands on the edge of the reef. We selected this one because of two large Japanese guns located there. Heavy seas of about 4ft. accompanied us on our journey. After about an hour of traveling we approached the small island. And this was a small island. It appeared to be about 100yrds. Long and 50yrds. wide. Beyond this stretched the vast expanses of the Pacific. Cautiously we guided our small vessel through the shallow reef that encircles the island.
We dragged our stuff ashore, and I set out to explore our surroundings. Palms and other trees and bushes covered the island. Soon I came across the guns I had been told about. They were big. These had been striped from an old Japanese Cruiser or some other like ship. Both showed evidence of being attacked during the war. Dents and gouges attest to accurate machine gun fire from allied aircraft. I also found two large ammunition storage bunkers for the guns, the remnants of small building foundations, a cement water storage tank, and three smaller cement tanks one or more of which might have been a bathtub (they looked similar to the tub I saw on the Fugikawa Maru). I also found various other unidentifiable objects. When I returned from my preliminary exploration, (if you walked without getting distracted you could probably circle the coast in 5min) I found the others had caught some crabs on the rocks and were cooking them. I ate some and then went to photographically document my finds. Unfortunately I had no other materials than my camera to help in this endeavor.
When I returned the next time, I found that one of the people with the boat had started fishing. I grabbed my fins, mask and snorkel along with the spear and sling I had been given, and went out to join him. Unfortunately we didn?t have more fins or masks. Having only shot the spear once at Uwaky?s house, I had little faith in my ability. I caught up to the other person and watched him for a while. After seeing him shoot once or twice, but not getting anything I tried myself. I saw a fish, and grasping the rubber sling in my left hand, I set the notch in the rear of the spear in the cord loop of the rubber sling. I pulled the spear back, stretching the rubber of the sling. Guiding the spear with my fingers like a pool cue, I shot. The spear zipped through the water and went straight into the fish. I got it, ?dude I?m cool.? Excitedly I retrieved the spear with the impaled fish. I swam over to the other person and showed it to him. He then told me it was a ?no good fish.? Removing it from the spear and slightly disheartened I let it flutter to the sea floor. I didn?t get another. It started raining but we stayed out. Finally the strength of the current drove us in. The other guy had about ten fish. I had none. We cooked some they ate some raw. We ate some rice and breadfruit. The two people with the boat went out past the reef into the open ocean to try to catch some Tuna. After about an hour and a half they came back with seven. We ate one; part of it cooked part of it raw. We had tried the spears once more but the current was too strong, actually it was probably dangerously strong. We hung out for awhile then packed up to leave. It probably took us an hour and a half to get back. The wind and the waves were at our face so it was a battle the whole way. Again the swells were about 3-4ft and the boat with us in it was pounded by the sea. Finally we got back home to Weno. I was given one Tuna to take home and I passed out early.
That was my day.
Take care all.
Curt
Well hello again every one.
Boy have I been busy. Yesterday was by far my most productive day since I arrived here. I went diving with some of the people from the Historic Preservation Office. We left the dock at around 9:00 and didn?t set foot on shore again till around 5:00. And let me tell you this was not on some big, fancy, nice boat. This was in a small, open fiberglass job, more fit for morning fishing on a small lake, than being in the Pacific Ocean, lagoon or no lagoon. I just loved the looks on the faces of the people aboard the Odyssey (the big, fancy, expensive, high and mighty live-a-board, never have to see the locals or the poverty they live in, dive-ship in Chuuk) when we pulled up at the site they were at.
The first dive we did was on the Fugikawa Maru, an armed aircraft transport of the Japanese Navy. Two of our people went down first to take measurements and photographs. I waited in the boat with one other person. This was the least fun part of the day, as the swells were big and the sun was very hot. When they got back, I went down with the other person. The wreck is quite deep, but the deepest we went was about 90 feet. I could talk all day about this ship as it?s probably the premier wreck in the lagoon but I won?t. I was told that 4 Zeros lay in one of the holds, when I went down I realized that at least one of the aircraft is not a Zero but something different. I have a hunch and I?ll keep you informed. Other than the aircraft I saw the large bow gun. There was a torpedo in one hold and many aircraft propellers. Many fuel drums lay around. Three light machine guns and assorted ammunition are in a hold as well as spent shells from the deck gun above. Many aircraft parts are around as well as ammunition for larger guns. We went up to the bridge and saw the galley and a bathroom the bridge is pretty much gutted and deteriorating. I could talk more but I want you to read the end of this message.
After the Fugikawa we went over buy a small island called Eten. This island was designed by the Japanese to be an unsinkable aircraft carrier. When I say designed, I do mean designed. They flattened the island and used the dirt to make more land. The only hill left was used for protective tunnels. We came here to eat lunch, and measure and photograph a Japanese Zero, on the reef. The Zero was one of the most successful and prolific Japanese fighter of the war. This dive was very shallow so we used the remaining air in our tanks from the first dive. The aircraft is intact and lying on its back. It is unclear if the fighter was shot down or crashed for some other reason. The landing gear is extended so the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff or before landing. The rear fuselage is damaged from the impact, as are the wings. Corals and sponges decorate the wreck. All in all, a good and easy dive.
After the Zero we moved to another nearby island called Tonoas. On a reef off of this island, the wreck of a fast Japanese gun boat was found within the last year. This was another very shallow dive. Having used all of the air in my first tank, I switched to my second and went down. We were here to make some preliminary measurements and take more photographs. This being such a new find no one had yet had the opportunity to thoroughly document it. The boat is heavily damaged. The only intact structure is the center section. This contains two very large engines that look to be radial in design. Each engine has two large exhaust stacks protruding out and back above the deck. One thing is for certain, this thing would have really moved. Just farther forward of these are two open gun turrets. They appear to have once held large caliber machine guns or cannons. These weapons would have been manually operated buy a person standing in each turret. Between the turrets and a little more forward is the driver?s area. It is covered, and has only a small armored glass window about 4in. high and 12in. long. Inside there is a bank of instruments for the driver. The bow and stern of the wreck are totally destroyed. After spending a short time here we surfaced to save air for the next dive.
The last dive of the day was off the end of the old seaplane base where I live. We had come here to find an aircraft that I suspected of being misidentified. We had to use an old G.P.S. coordinate to find it. After looking for a while I jumped in with my mask on and held on to the side of the boat as we trolled along looking. Finally after about 10 min, I spotted a shiny patch on the bottom closer inspection reveled it was the airplane we were looking for. I got my tank on and went down. I approached the plane and started looking it over. The wings couldn?t fold. The rudder and horizontal stabilizer were the right shape and I could just see a round window at the back of the canopy. I was right. The aircraft was not a Jill as had been stated and even published before. It was Myrt. The aircraft are very similar but totally different. This is only the third one in the world known to exist. I returned to the boat and told the others my findings. We then returned to the aircraft to make measurements and photos. Te aircraft is in remarkably good shape. It appears to have been dumped during or shortly after the war the engine, instruments and seats along with some fuel tanks have been removed. To avoid stirring up silt as the others were documenting I took a look around the area. Aprox. 50ft to the SE I found a Japanese torpedo, Aprox 30ft.to the NE of this I found the rear fuselage of an aircraft, (not enough to ID) and Aprox. 50ft to the NW of this I found what appears to be the front half of another Zero. All of these items were photographed and measured. The greatest part was that Historic Preservation had never seen this site before. None of this was on their maps.
So I am pretty happy right now. Tired, sore, sunburned and happy?and hungry its lunch time so I?m going to end this. I really wonder how Dan Bailey is going to react when I tell him he is wrong and his book needs revising.
Take care, and thanks for reading.
Curt
Hello Every Body,
Well here?s what I?ve been up to? not much it feels like. I was supposed to go diving again yesterday. But I bailed. Boy it?s a good thing they just squeeze me in to dives that are already booked, otherwise they would probably be pissed. The reason I didn?t go was because it?s been raining pretty hard and solid the last two days. I felt it would just be miserable on the boat. So this weekend we just hung around the village pretty much. I did go with my friend Uwaky in his car as we played Taxi. We didn?t have many customers, and after buying lunch I bet we didn?t even break even on gas. Friday I actually did accomplish something though. I finally got an internet account set up. It only took me two+ weeks of smacking my head against a wall. My host here, Clark, laughed and said, ?There is no word for customer service in Chuukese.?
I also attended a Chuukese funeral this week. I have no idea who it was for. An old woman in the village is all I know. I felt very uncomfortable going, but was told it was alright. No one even had me change (shorts, tank top and sandals). Other guys were dressed like me so I didn?t feel to out of place (except for the fact that I was the only white stranger). I was given a dollar to put in the basket and we all filed into yard. We entered a house in the back (I was just following Uwaky in front of me). Next to an open casket was a basket, we dropped our dollar into the basket and filed out. On the way out the door we were given a soda and a box dinner. We all then left. I don?t think we were even there 5 min. It was really weird for me.
As far as my work is going, I have been keeping in touch with the Historic Preservation Office. They want me to help with some work at the old Japanese lighthouse on the island. In turn they will help me with the locating and identifying of the aircraft I seek. I have already gotten a huge break today. I discovered the approximate G.P.S. coordinates for one of the aircraft. This is one that is already known about but is identified wrong. If any of you saw the huge book I had on The Wrecks of Truk Lagoon, I feel I will be rewriting it in the up and coming weeks. I wonder if the author will be pissed when I tell him he?s wrong.
Love to all,
Curt
P.S.
Look its spell checked.
Well I have finally realized that it would be impossible for one person to docuent any large portion of the historic sites here. There is just to many. I have been overwhelmed by the volume of things to see. It is litataly impossible to spend the amount of time necesary to document any site. Actually I figured this out last week. So tomarrow I am going to meet with people from the Historic Preservation Office, here. I will see if we can help each other out in any way. I will still try to document as much as possible, but we'll see what happens. I am going to try and correct the identification of one aircraft in the lagoon as well as identify an aircraft I have heard about that no one has yet identified.
Take Care Y'all
Curt
Sorry I guess It wasn't clear which presedent. I just figured people would guess it was the presedent of where I am. Presedent Urusemal of the Federated States of Micronesia.
Well I finally went diving yesterday. I dove on two wrecks, the Unkai Maru and the Gosei Maru. The fact that this was my first dive in maybe three years was definatly on my mind. I already cancled one dive day because I wasn't ready. I still didn't really feel ready when I finally went in. As I decended I was aware that I was sucking more air than I shoud but I couldn't help it. Slowly the ship below came into view. The sight was awsome. Almost unbelievable. I swam along the very decks that men once walked upon. We went to into the hold of the ship, the floor was littered with shoes and gas masks.
Decending on the wreck of the Gosei, I was overwhelmed by the enourmous size of the ship. I felt much more comfortable this dive and It gave me, more of a chance to observe the wreck. We entered through a large hole in the bottom, that had been caused by an American torpedo. The hold seemd to be a huge underwater cathedral. Unfortuanatly I must go now. I will leave you with an image that I rember most vivadly. It was the sight of two leg bones and the tops of two human skulls on the deck. This for me is the representitive of the true cost of war.
Unfortunatly I have only just gotten my hads on an underwater camera. It is old and needs some work, but I will try to fix it and then try to use it. It has no light meter and no flash. We'll see what happens.
Love to all
Curt
So a man walks into a bar. He is followed by many police officers and guys with ear peices. He aproches a table where othes are already seated. Seeing him aproach, they stand and say, "Good evening Mr. Presedent."
Well I'll be...
Sorry I didn't get a picture with him. It just didn't seem in good taste.
Curt
Well I finally made it. I had some issues concerning passport lossage. Murphys law strikes again. I got that all taken care of on time and without to much dificulty. I did however get stuck in Guam for one more day. It was kind of nice though, and I was able screw around for a while which was nice. I got some sun and got a little liminal at a beach side bar. I got in to Chuuk this morning. It turns out my host is very renound in these areas. I really don't have the words to discribe what it is like here yet. All can say is that this place is absolutly amazing. It is beautiful in so many ways that I have actualy had the urge to just break into tears. I am going to be well taken care of. I feel I am being a poor guest so, I must go now.
Love to all
Curt
P.S. Is there a spell check on this thing.
Hello, Hello, Hello.
Is there anybody in there.