I’m now two months into my year service with Americorps VISTA.

In case you’re wondering,
VISTA =Volunteer In Service to America. Our mission=Fight poverty

In otherwords, I’m a professional volunteer with the government.  (Please disregard any talk from Michele Bachmann about “re-education camps” that you may have heard. I can tell you from first hand experience, certainly not the case, her son must agree).

I recommend checking out the website, you might find a service site perfect for you. I did. I’m doing marketing and communications. Not only do I get warm fuzzies from giving back, I also get to do what I love. Pretty sweet deal. You should be jealous. 

I moved to Phoenix from South Dakota for my service project. Don’t so much love the heat of summer and the breeze that resembles a blowdryer, but I’m really enjoying the lack of blizzards and scraping ice off the car windshield in the morning. (Yes friends form home, you can hate me for a few moments).

I haven’t seemd to have been able to stay put these past few years (De Smet to Spearfish, SD, to Mexico, back to Spearfish, off to a summer in Minneapolis, one more time to Spearfish and now Phoenix). I’ll probably explain this in more detail sometime in the future. I plan to use this blog to keep  my friends and family from all of these different corners updated on what’s going on in my life, along with the random thoughts that are going through my mind.  Anyway, enjoy the tidbits from my life.

I was in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota this past week and shot a ton of pictures which will be posted soon.  Here is a preview:

Spearfish Canyon

How far can one drive without encountering a McDonald’s?  Not very.

Stephen von Worley recently mapped out the 13,000+ McDonald’s around the lower 48 United States.  As one might expect, in the east and south McDonald’s are wall-to-wall.  However, as one moves west, they become more sparse.

According to von Worley, “There, in a patch of rolling grassland, loosely hemmed in by Bismarck, Dickinson, Pierre, and the greater Rapid City-Spearfish-Sturgis metropolitan area, we find our answer.  Between the tiny Dakotan hamlets of Meadow and Glad Valley lies the McFarthest Spot: 107 miles distant from the nearest McDonald’s, as the crow flies, and 145 miles by car!”

States visited:10

NC -started here – not counted

Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota

Rivers Crossed: 4

Ohio, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois

Deer misses: 3

Motorcycle accidents: 1

Unrelated to our group, passed on the way home, presumed fatal from accident scene – helmetless state and no protective gear.

Days in South Dakota, including two travel days: 5 (not nearly enough)

Miles logged – chase vehicle: 3824

Miles logged on M/C: 3007

Miles logged on Bob’s Venture: ~3900

Do it again? Absolutely!

Do things differently – sure.

Select photos:  on-the-road Spearfish Canyon and Devil’s Tower

Badlands Mount Rushmore

Last night we parked at a Best Western in Cody WY. Rode our bikes around, it was tons of fun. Got up early had some breakfast and got back in BatVan.

Todays agenda: Devils tower.

Stopped in Worland WY for lunch. Shane doubted that you could make sloppy joe’s out of lentils…he was proved deliciously wrong.  Before getting back in the van to drive a million more miles we did some back bends and yoga in the grass…I’m getting all kinds of stiff.

We arrived at Devils Tower about an hour before the sun went down. It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Devils Tower is a giant igneous intrusion (Magma Suckas), 867 feet tall. When Shane told me about it before we went I was picturing something around 50 feet tall. I ever so sillily asked “can we climb it” “only experienced climbers can,  its real hard” “No way, I will totally climb it.”. We bouldered to the base of the actual tower, which was about 100 feet. Devil’s Tower was amazing, I would definitely suggest going to it. It’s this crazy big tower in the middle of grasslands, its stunning.

Tonight’s sleepy-time spot: Comfort Suites, Spearfish WY.

stopped at the redbox, picked up Notorious (love Biggy) got the code for WIFI (which P.S. is Login:Comfort, Password: Suites; really guys?) Good Night Moon, Good Night Stars.

Spearfish is a short ride just south of Spearfish proper in SD 14A and is billed for its beautiful flora and fauna as we as natural beauty as is true of all the Black Hills area.  We rode this Tuesday because we were getting started too late to make the normal group ride to Mt Rushmore with the Venturers and advised by fellow Venturer Keith that we would not have time for the ride when we saw him as we ate breakfast.  We opted for the MAD Maps Devils Tower loop, which includes Spearfish Canyon.

Most of the canyon ride was document via bike mounted video, that will be processed later.  We did stop at Bridal Veil Falls for a photo session.

Bridal Veil Falls SD in Spearfish Canyon 2009

Three of us at Bridal Veil Falls SD 2009

Bob and Kelley at Bridal Veil Falls SD Spearfish Canyon 2009

605 +/- mile, 6 states,  almosts as many fireworks displays.

A late start and some unplanned GPS trouble set us back about two hours by lunch time on the already longest day.  We resorted to slab to the second half of the day.  Then the rain set in.  Did I say rain?  Monsoon might better describe the weather.

W arrived in Mt Vernon, Il at 11:00 PM, that Midnight NC time.  So another late start today.  Mostly slab, but maybe the weather guys will get it rigt and no more rain today. Look for us in Sioux City, or along the way.

Finally all packed and ready to roll.  I kept finding more stuff and I thought I was packing light.  All the extra stuff to record the adventure; camera gear and gear bag, laptop, various chargers, dog crate, tank bag, …

We met Bob for coffee last night. he was already packed – you couldn’t tell he was ready for a 4000 mile trip from looking at his bike – that what I was thinking! packing light – Jeez!

Just a few hours left before we head out from work and hit the open road.  Yee Haw!

Waiting for Bob to get off work

Ready to go waiting on Bob

Here's Bob!

We  had an uneventful trip to Blowing Rock with nice weather and light traffic.  I did cut it close on the first gas stop…

That's a long way on reserve!

Saturday – Rapid City, South Dakota

Hi everyone, I need to clear up some confusion, so I will do it here and now.

Well, I had to get up so I had set my alarm for 8.30, this was because we had a group photo at the hotel for 9am. So, I managed to get the bike over there OK, and also got the photo sorted out, one will be bought and sent home.

After this myself and Tom did a sneaky, we were in need of breakfast so we went inside the hotel and sat down to the free hot brekky, we had been told that they were not checking tickets, well that worked out fine. Scrambled eggs and small snags etc, better than all the sweet sugar food which is normal.

Then we went and got sorted for the ride. There is a small spot on the map which is supposed to be the geographical centre of the US, this was close so we had both been interested in going for a look. So we headed off up north to a town called Belle Fouche(belle foosh which means beautiful fork ), we took the slab, it was there and we had other things to do afterwards.

We had no idea where to go but kept driving through town and found the visitors centre, I thought this small house was a dunny, but it turns out is was of historic value. It was an interesting place to look at, exactly like it was years ago.

We spotted the big plaque out the back where we decided it may not be wise to ride the bikes down, so we just took a few photos instead.

Then we spotted the sign in front of the visitor’s centre which declared the actual spot is further north.

After talking to the ladies on duty, we got the map and directions to the actual physical location, which is in a paddock, the one out back here is for all the tourists in RV and campers etc, lol There was also a museum with some nice history and old stuff of course, this is where I found out how the Sundance Kid got his name.

After buying a souvenir patch to send home, we headed off up north. The directions were simple, go north on hwy85 for 13.5 miles, then take the ‘old’ hwy85 which is a dirt road for 7.5 miles, then you will see on the right a small sign on a barbed wire fence, opposite a big barn, go through the fence into the paddock and walk about 50 yards until you are standing next to a flag. So we head off and once again get pounded by a 40 mph cross wind from the east, this is physically hard to ride in, but we were not backing out, you can see my flag nearly horizontal. The dirt is lined in pink on the map

Now we are on the dirt, the first 3 miles were crappy, lots of loose marble on it and with the cross wind, it was difficult standing up on the pegs and staying on the road. The road changed after this and the last 5 miles were great, we could speed up a bit, but not a lot, we were still being blown sideways.

We eventually found the place, it was opposite a large barn which is hard to see in the last photo above. But, the sign was there and the fence and a flag out there in the middle of nowhere!

There is a small plaque embedded into the concrete slab that holds the flagpole, and it was still very windy, but as you can see there are no trees, nor hills to block the wind.

So, once that was achieved and the box in my head ticked off, it was head back on the dirt, a different lean angle now though. We stopped at a place where we had seen some sheep dogs that were guarding their flock, they were not impressed with us stopping near their charges, and gave us a right old barking time

We now headed back and stopped at a small town, I think Spearfish where we tried to get some food from the street vendors, but we were too late as they were packing up for the day, and se we settled for some pub fare instead! I still cannot get used to being served potato chips with my meal, I was not really all that hungry but needed something to fill the hole, the chips did not get eaten though.

The we headed down to Savoy and around to Lead, now this road is spectacular, it was speed limited, but it needed it, because every corner brought a new spectacular scene, wow, I nearly run off the road a few times, and I found out later, so did Tom Here is a small glimpse of what is there!

After this we ended up in Deadwood, a small historic town and totally over commercialised and so we only stopped the once, that was to pick up my camera I had dropped while trying to take a photo on the fly. It was on my tank bag when the light turned green and when I took off it slid off, lucky I have a drop proof one!

From here it was a relatively smooth ride through some rolling hills to Sturgis, the place in the US where in a few weeks time, the population will grow from 6000 to a whopping 750,000, and the extras will all be bikers!

This is the place to be if you are a Harley rider, most bikes really, but not for me, I hate crowds! We breezed through and took a few photos before heading back to RC.

But after arriving back at the motel I had to do some washing, so I did it up at the hotel which had the facilities and waited in the bar and chatted for a while, until it was all dry. The gathering had become complete, this was the big night and the bikes outside had multiplied.

Once again we lined up, signed in, bought some raffle tickets etc and found a seat before the dinner started, tonight it was spag, with vegies, nothing deep fried for a change, very nice

After dinner a lot of the sponsors were asked to say a few words, they had donated a lot of gear for prizes again, both for the raffles and the door prizes. The first chap is Pat Walsh, I have some of his gear and after that is Johnofchar, the VSRI forum owner. There were a lot more, but I forgot to take photos until too late, sorry.

Once again my name was drawn out of the barrel for the door prizes and I chose an Andy Strapz strap, this is an elasticised strap with velcro, I had two but I rode one day without bags and one got melted on the exhaust, it still works, but this may be used if it breaks.

Tombstone was a big winner for the weekend, he won a jacket last night, managed to pick up $100 from a lucky card this morning and tonight scored a set of crash bars, which he will swap as he has some already, good on him.

After this, all the loose bits and pieces were up for grabs, so I managed to get another t-shirt and a face mask which will come in handy in the cold, the rest of the stuff I will send back home in early July with Junes photos. We adjourned to the bar where once again we have bloody Karaoke, what is it with this crap singing, what is wrong with fine old CDs! While we were there, they had a street magician called Josh who showed us some great party tricks and some amazing magic I guess, it worked for me, we both threw him $5, as a donation is expected, it was worth it though, how did he do that!

Of course when we went over to Cheers to get away from the crap singers, they had Karaoke on there again!! There was a nice waitress there and after a few beers I asked her to send the cop over, which she did. When he came over, he was a bit wary of me, but I asked him if he could take out his gun and shoot the singer cos he was rotten He just laughed and was cool enough for a photo, of course the waitress had to get into the act

We ended up at a small casino dive just up the road from the motel, it was quiet and we stayed for some beer, which was a lot cheaper than the other two places. The Spine Guy and Cave Hamster were with us and we chatted until close, which was early. The other three were leaving tomorrow, but I was staying until Monday.

Day – 180 miles and 290 km
Trip – 21,670 miles and 34,874 km

Cheers
TravellingStrom

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Check it out, the Destiny worship team is going to be opening up for Christian rock’n'roll icons, Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy, and Bryan Duncan.  Awesome!  Visit http://blackhillsamp.com for more.

What started as a whim or merely some discussion last summer is almost a reality.  In less than two weeks we head off for an 1800 mile motorcycle adventure to Spearfish, South Dakota; Mount Rushmore and some sights along the the way.  Last summer Biker Bob and I joined a group of other Venturers at the 2008 SE-Ride for my first ever motorcycle trip.  Bob had been on several week-long trips in years past, but our local club leader of these rides/tours had been unable to put one together for three years.  Although this was only a 5 day junket and only 500 miles from home – a single day through the NC / Georgia mountains, it let us both wanting more.  There was talk at that Ride-in of yet another Spearfish Ride-in for 2009.

Bob with bikes at lunch stop on way to SE-Ride-In 2008

These were not annual events so no knew when the next would come to pass.  Bob and I talked whimsically about going, but knowing his limited vacation schedule, we both wondered whether the 1800 mile trip was doable.

Time went by…

We talked about it some more.  It became serious.  We made plans for vacation time.  We talked to wives and girl friends.

We committed to going.

The two of us early on

During the 6 months from when we committed ourselves until these final days many things have changed.  Kelley is going, but chose not to ride – she will drive the chase vehicle.  We are taking our two Maltese pups. It is hard to leave them for 10 days.

The route to and from is almost finalized, the bikes are ready.  We get packed soon.  There will be plenty of pictures and maybe some video posted as well.

Alright, so nothing ever goes as planned.  The best laid plans of mice and men…are always squashed by mechanical issues. 

So that might not be true, but picking up Ryan at the Rapid City airport didn’t work because the car had been acting up the day before, RPMs being too high.  We had talked about getting a rental to caravan out to Rapid, just in case the car did break down, but that morning, being as impatient as I am, I decided it would be best to just hoof it to Rapid on my own, pick him up at the airport, and then go to the dealership. 

I drove up to the interstate and back just to see how it did with high speed, and at 55 it was at 2.5 RPMs, which didn’t seem bad to me, so off to Rapid I went [70 miles, by the way], and at Conata Basin I stopped.  The RPMs flailed all over the place and I was only going 30, so I pulled off the road, called Ryan and waited for him and the tow truck.  We got to watch the car bounce all over the bed of the truck, but it made it to the only dealership that works on Saturns in western South Dakota [that's my guess] and they said if they couldn’t fix it by replacing the torque converter, then it would be a clunker because they didn’t have the software to fix any computer problems….Saturns are definately large urban dwelling cars.  Not that great for the middle of nowhere. 

Anyway, we started out our adventure in the middle of the Hills practically, at Deerfield Lake.  Just NW of Hill City, this lake is pretty quiet and really rather beautiful.  I went here last year by myself, but was a little spooked at the thought of mountain lions, so I hiked looking over my shoulder the whole time. 

We saw something that looked like it might have been a marmot, and a summer tanager, and some whitetails.  Lots of wildflowers, too.  There is a loop, distance unknown to me, that goes around the Lake called Dutchman Loop, or something very close.  The trail is well-defined in areas, and others you have to guess, but the whole area is pretty hikeable.  Just a little steep in places. 

A terrestrial garter snake somewhere in the Hills.  I forget where.

After that, we went up to Deadwood.  I’m not too impressed with the hoaky aspect of the town, but there is a lot of history that I am sure is interesting, if not from an entertainment perspective, then at least from a socialogical point of view.  Such a young town that popped up because of mining and then exploded into a collection of filth, crime, gambling, and guns.  Yozers.  You can’t go into any building without running into slot machines.  The bar we ate at, since we couldn’t really find a restaurant that wasn’t buffet [I can't eat 8.99 worth of food for lunch], was named the ‘Double D’ and the lady serving us probably fell into that category. 

We went on to the DC Booth Fish Hatchery.  I think it was close to the first in the country.  I might be wrong.  But it was a very neat place.  And free.  Did you know trout grow their entire lives?  You can buy food and feed them until your heart, and their stomachs, are content.   It was a pretty area, too, with a lot of historic artifacts about.  They have a train car that they used to transport fish and an area where you can watch the fish swim past you–a viewing window essentially.

We also took a tour through Jewel Cave National Monument.  The Historic Lantern Tour was really fun and only a little rough.  The fellow who gave the tour was working on giving it in ‘first person’, where you pretend to be from whatever time period.  He took us through the ranger house that was built by the CCC and then down into the cave by lantern.  Flashlights work better, by the way, since you can direct the light better.  Otherwise, you are just blinding yourself the whole time.  But it was still neat, and the novelty of it helps take it beyond a normal cave tour. 

Alright, I think I’ll stop here.  Part two will come soon.

This will be my home for the next year.  This is all I know about it.    I know that it has a fireplace!  I am guessing that we will need that quite  a bit.  I know that there are going to be some HUGE adjustments.  I know that I am getting old because all of a sudden change of this magnitude is freaking me out. 

No, I don’t know what it looks like inside.  I don’t know the square footage.  I don’t know if there are dead deer hanging on the walls.  I don’t know if the snow will cover the entry ways.  I don’t know how I am going to squeeze my family of 5 and all my crap into what appears to be very close quarters. 

My new home

I do know that I have faith that the Lord is calling and that we WILL be blessed by walking through the door.    I do know that we are a family and that is all that matters.

About 3 or 4 years ago, when I wrote a weekly column for the Rapid City Journal, I wrote how the drought was going to end. South Dakota’s state climatologist, people at the USDA and others would go on and on about how the drought was going to last for another decade and how water levels in reservoirs and on the Missouri would take years to recover.

I have observed in years past that droughts and wet periods alike can end very quickly. I have observed that processes such as the refilling of reservoirs and natural lakes can happen very quickly. I don’t need a computer model – it’s all observable.

Guess what? I predicted that all of the boat docks the government built on Lake Oahe would soon be driftwood. This year Oahe is up some 20-25 feet from the peak of the drought and all of the money spent, wasted on what is not driftwood.

Pactola, which was supposed to take years to refill – according the people who supposedly know more than I – is 3.4 feet short of full as of March 6 and the snowmelt has yet to begin. Pactola recovered from a drought in the 1990s, too. The experts are surprised. I am not because I observe.

Belle Fourche – Orman Reservoir is within inches of being full. Now water is being divereted and will cause flooding as far down as the Cheyenne River.

This, of course is all good news because the drought is kaput.

But, there is bad news. Up to 9 inches of water is sitting in the snowpack in the northern Black Hills and when it melts there will be a massive amount of flooding. Spearfish, Whitewood, Sturgis, Belle Fourche and other towns will see whole sections under water. Areas downstream of Pactola – including Rapid Valley – will see flooding. It won’t be pretty.

And – the Deep Underground Lab at Lead will see slow progress removing water from the old mine as water pours in a rates faster than the pumps can move it out.

But the good news: Aquifers will refill and wells will flow this year.

And, if we can get one or two more wet, heavy snows of 10 to 20 inches each, accompanied by 40 mph wind, stock dams will be in excellent shape.

Yes, dry weather after July will likely sap the moisture out of plants with shallow roots, but drought is over and once again people will be able to irrigate.

IN THE NEWS – The activist animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has asked school officials to change the name of Spearfish High School in Spearfish South Dakota to “Sea Kitten High School,” the Associated Press reported. The new name would “reflect the gentle nature of its current marine namesake,” the organization said in a letter to Steve Morford, Spearfish High School principal. PETA said the letter is part of a new Sea Kitten campaign aimed at children. If children were taught to refer to fish as “sea kittens,” reflecting that fish, like cats and dogs, are “individuals” that “do have friendships,” fewer fish might be killed for food or sport, said Pulin Modi, a PETA spokesman. “We want people to realize that more fish are killed each year than all animals combined,” he said. “They don’t have the sympathy of more popular animals like cats and dogs.”
COMMENTARY – This brings to mind my favorite bumper sticker of all time: if God didn’t want us to eat animals, He wouldn’t have made them out of meat.

Reality is fascinating.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has begun their “Sea Kitten” campaign. They want to have everyone now refer to fish as sea kittens.

No joke.

They’ve even contacted a few high schools in the US and asked them to change their names.

For example, they want Spearfish High School here in South Dakota to rename itself “Sea Kitten High School.” PETA’s also contacted Whitefish High School in Whitefish, Montana, with their request. PETA’s own blog is referring to this as the “Sea Kitten Revolution.”

Unbelievable, although PETA’s “create your own sea kitten” tool on their website is fun:

Mmmmmmm.

(From KELO):

Steve Morford, Spearfish High School principal, says he does not want to share his feelings about PETA but did say the letter is not being taken seriously.

AN ARTIST'S RENDERING OF A SUBMERGED BALAO CLASS DIESEL SUBMARINE LIKE THE ATULE

By JOHN R. BAKER

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE SECOND WAR PATROL OF USS ATULE

14 January 1945.  Time 0900.  Underway from Saipan, fully refueled and restocked.  Accompanied by USS Spadefish (SS-411), USS Bang (SS-385) and USS Devilfish (SS-292).  Our patrol destination is the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea.  We will spend 30 days in this area with a total of 62 days patrol duration.  By this time our wolf pack has regrouped to include the USS Spearfish (SS-190), the USS Pompon (SS-267) and us.

Before we enter the Yellow Sea and the frigid action of our second patrol, perhaps I should explain the jobs I had as a radioman.  The radio shack itself is quite small; only room for two chairs side by side along with radio transmitters from refrigerator size down to some as small as a phone book; also two typewriters and the code machine along with special supplies and related equipment.  Two men at a time stood four hours together.  Basically, one copied “Fox” and the other guarded the VHF frequency that allowed short range conversation between boats in the wolf pack and occasionally aircraft.

Incidentally, the controversial part of this second radioman’s job was to operate the aircraft radar detection receiver.  This was used to detect enemy planes which were using radar and closing in.  The problem with this was that to cover the wide range of frequencies used by the enemy we had to have up to four banks of separate coils to insert into the receiver one after the other so that the enemy’s searching could be detected.  One time when the radioman was involved with the VHF radio, he wasn’t able to operate the detector, too, and when he could get back to it we were almost surprised.  By the next patrol the radar detector was located in the control room where it belonged.  A lookout could run it and we weren’t surprised again.

Enemy planes never hesitated to  drop their bombs if they got the chance, but lucky for us they weren’t accurate.  Aircraft had been a real problem while they still controlled the Philippines, and it seemed we were up and down all night long.  Poor Bongiorno, the baker, he had to bake at night and you can imagine what pressure changes did to his products!

The Fox schedule was the method used to  send our orders from NPM radio Pearl Harbor.  At pre-directed times (if we had to stay submerged, we could stick an antenna above the surface), we would copy those five letter Morse groups so that on decoding them we could receive Admiral Lockwood’s orders.  These non-sensical words were run through the code machine and came out on a long tape as perfect English.  This was an efficient way for all subs to receive their orders.

My job, if I had watch when we dove, was to pull the antenna connectors from their attachments in the “trunk” which was a heavy duty bucket-sized compartment set into the overhead and then to seal this shut with a stout door so that it was pressure-proof.  Next, if our aircraft radar mast was extended, I would step out into the control room and lower it quickly so that it was secured.  After that, I would hurry to the forward torpedo room to supervise the lookouts who would operate the JP sound detection gear all the while we were submerged.

Now on our way west, going through the East China Sea and prior to entering the Yellow Sea we passed by the great Chinese city of Shanghai at night.  The “lovely” Yangtze River flows into the sea at that point.  Stink!  This whole area was really putrid and we wanted to get out of there pronto.  I was certain the place was bad enough to corrode our beautiful boat!  How could people live in such a place?  To enter the Yellow Sea, which separate China and Korea, we got the word that we would be passing through an area heavily sewn with mines.  Here I discovered that it paid to be ignorant.  So many of us were greenhorns, we had never been around any mines before.  A few of the “old salts” had been.  (Average age on O’Toole was 23-years-old.  The oldest man was Marchand, at 40.  Captain Jack was 34.)  So, I guess that’s why youngsters make good “soldiers” — they’re too dumb to realize what’s happening; too dumb to really be scared.  But some of the older guys knew the score.  I noted that a few of them were a bit shaky during that passage.  But we made it.

This was about the middle of January 1945, and it was so cold for the next month that we often dove just to melt the heavy layer of ice that formed all over the topside area.  If the hydraulic vents atop the main ballast tanks froze hard enough we wouldn’t be able to dive.  Lookouts could only stay at their posts atop the periscope shears for just a few minutes at a time, even though they were wearing extra heavy gear, including face masks.  I knew I was darn cold on watch even when I sat right over the electric heater in the radio shack.

We weren’t the only seagoing types out there cruising in the ice cakes.  I’d like to introduce a little bit of our log — dated 23 January — to show how O’Toole dealt with small wooden fishing boats and sampans which seemed to be well-dispersed all around.

Time 0746 — Sighted first of three sampans that effectively sabotaged our periscope observations by closing to 3,000 yards during morning.  Avoided only to close two sailboats who spoiled the afternoon.

Time 1931 — Radar contact on sampan, range 4,150 yards.  Changed to evasion course.

Time 1944 — Picked up two more sampans.

Time 2105 — Lost contact with last of total of five fishing boats.

My memory of operations prevailing at that time was that if the enemy small craft had a machine gun or an antenna in sight they were legitimate targets.  Maybe so, but we never attacked a target so small.  Captain Maurer would avoid any close contact, every time, with any but real Japanese targets.  Never did we fire at a spit kit.

24 February 1945.  1500.  Yellow Sea first attack, second patrol.  Sighted medium sized merchant ship at 21,000 yards.  (2,000 yards equals 6,000 feet or approximately one nautical mile.)  At periscope depth kept tracking target through snow and used our stern tubes and our Mk 18 electric fish since they had greater depth control than our steam fish.  The target appeared to be a brand new engines-aft freighter.  Set the depth at three feet and fired four torpedoes.  The first fish struck abreast of his stack and the second near his after mast.  The ship rapidly settled stern first as the crew quickly manned two motor life boats (one on each side).  Just as the life boats cleared, the damaged rear section broke off, taking the engine room with it.  The forward half popped  up like a cork, floating higher than ever.

About this time I heard that one of our lookouts shouted “Look, they’re sending blinker signals to us.”  Captain Jack answered: “Signals, hell!  He’s firing at us with his 40 mm cannon!”  So we dove and fired a steam torpedo at him.  We missed.  (Torpedo went under his bow.)  We had had shells exploding on either side of us, so we hastily left the immediate area and withdrew to decide our next move.  

Surprisingly, even machine gun bullets can sink a submarine!  For instance, holes in the top of our ballast tanks (outside of the pressure hull)  are very dangerous.  These tanks are not nearly as thick-walled as our pressure hull.  Holes in our ballast tanks would let air out of the to just the same as if we had opened the main vents.  We would dive but we couldn’t rise again.  Also, anything that damaged us so that we couldn’t dive would make us goners; we’d never get out of enemy waters if we couldn’t submerge.  Anyway, you get the idea.

After dark we went to battle stations, gun action, planning to use our five inch gun.  The deck was covered with ice.  The gun crew had trouble with their footing.  Loading the gun was difficulty because it was so slippery.  At 6,000 yards the order was given to “Commence firing.”  One shot went right over the target.  The gun recoiled from the firing, but did not return forward to be reloaded.  What caused this failure?  The extreme cold must have been the indirect cause.  This upset Captain Maurer to say the least.  We had used too many fish already.  One more steam torpedo would have to be used.  At a 3 degree setting it bounced along like a porpoise, but went straight to MOT.  As we retired northward we could see that the bow was down and the rear was sticking up.  Up to that point the ship had had excellent watertight integrity.

Heavy snow and blizzard conditions for the next few days.  Bitter cold.  Wind 25 to 30 knots with snow flurries and spray ice all over the topside.  On one of our quick dives to clear off the ice we were pooped as we surfaced.  The bridge hatch was quickly re-shut, so not very much water got into the boat.  Nasty weather.

We received a call from Pompon reporting a convoy.  All four engines went on line so that we could intercept.  The moon was full with scattered clouds.

28 January 1945.  0032.  Pompon reports attacking convoy from starboard.  Spadefish also reports attacking from starboard.  Next we heard explosions and sighted a smoke column.  At 0255 we observed a terrific explosion with a column of water high in the air.  Time 0345.  We are chasing a medium transport that is trying to reach shoal water on a westward course. Unfortunately we are not able to overtake prior to dawn.  Exchanged calls with Spadefish as she was standing by her victim, a ship observed to be burning from bow to stern.

Next, we commence criss-crossing the known Shanghai to the Empire shipping routes.  Our time will be spent patrolling all areas where enemy shipping might be expected.

We are now en route to a patrol station east of Hangchow Bay (what a name) and sighted our first floating mine about 30 miles southwest of Socotro Rock. In short order we sink five mines with our 30 caliber machine gun.  The sixth mine detonates.  Contact mines are about five feet or so across and have several horns sticking out of their perimeters.  Theoretically, when a horn is struck and broken, the mine explodes its hundreds of pounds of explosives. These mines were usually moored too the bottom at pre-set depth at the end of a cable attached to an anchor.  The areas where they were sewn were very often just where submarines were likely to travel.  The U.S. has been able to determine that seven of the 52 boats lost were destroyed by mines.  Only eight men were survivors of the USS Flier (SS-250).  On all the other boats all hands were lost.

Log of 30 January 1945.  The lucky O’Toole!  

0030.  Floating mine bounced disconcertingly down the port side of the ship, plainly heard by the bridge watch and officers seated in the wardroom.

5 February 1945.  In the interest of conserving our rapidly depleting supply of ammunition, since we have already dealt with 14 mines, we are approaching closer than the suggested 300 yards, so as to be more accurate.  We’re starting to recover shrapnel from our deck.  A photograph with this chapter shows what an “exploder” looks like.  The extreme acreage of floaters is believed to be the direct result of heavy seas we’ve been experiencing for the past several days.

Regarding the mine we hit on 30 January 1945: Thankfully this was another dud Japanese mine.  Not all of them exploded when they were “disturbed.”

Log of 6 February 1945:

0812.  Dived from “Emily” plane gliding at us from a position 3 miles away to 500 feet astern.  Received one distant bomb as we passed 90 feet.  He managed to break through a low overcast before we spotted him.  We surfaced in heavy snow squall and cleared the area for a reconnaissance of Korean coastal traffic.

Same day:

2032.  Commenced repairs to #4 main engine outboard exhaust valve.  Found valve disc  retaining pin had backed out permitting disc to drop off the operating arm into the bottom of the casing.  

[Note -- I didn't see it in the log but I seem to recall that MoMMC "Handsome John" Stringer did the welding over the side, in the dark of night, with welding flashes lighting up the whole area.]

We continued onward.  7 February 1945.  Surface patrol off southwest Korean coast.

0710.  Trim dive off OTO TO.

0751.  Nine depth charges in quick succession dropped by an unseen antagonist.  These were not close enough to really bother us, but weren’t so far as to have been directed at anyone else.

8 February 1945.

1115.  Made trim drive.  Enjoyed our noon meal on plates instead of laps. Continuing patrol.

12 February 1945:

1456.  Quartermaster-lookout sights either a fighter or dive-bomber in on starboard bow.  (Cloud cover was low and broken.  At this time we had double aircraft lookouts posted.)  We then made one of our snappiest four engine dives to date, so we must have been under in less than 30 seconds! Took two well-placed bombs, one at 75 feet and the second at 125 feet on his next pass.  We had been aware of an escort vessel — possibly a destroyer — out about 16,000 yards.  he had been acting suspiciously.  Now we could hear echo ranging closing our point of dive.  The whole thing appeared to be a well-coordinated “man and boy” combination so we upped to 2/3 speed and took evasive action.

Next the following occurred:

1812.  Five charges, none close.  echo ranging has disappeared.

1830.  Four charges.

1852.  Five charges.

1911.  Surfaced.  Aircraft radar signal at 155 mcs.

1935.  Signal very strong.  Dived.

1942.  Two explosions.  Not close.  Hoe he bombed  his own surface ship.

1956.  Surfaced.  Hurried to close the Korean Coast.

16 February 1945:

We are headed north on four engines towards reported battleship group.

18 February 1945:

En route Daikokuzan at best speed to intercept new battleship position. Next, and this was almost bad.  Struck mine with a jar that turned out a good percentage of ship’s complement.  It first hit near the stem, then it bounced several times down the side, busily exploring our limber holes with its horns. 

[Note -- At the Albuquerque convention our captain told the wives they should appreciate having us.  Guess you'd have to ask them.)

18 February 1945 (continued):

1857.  We had covered 850  miles during our futile, almost fatal, chase of this elusive battleship task group.

20 February 1945:

Received instructions from ComSubPac to proceed to rest camp at Midway after putting in at Saipan for diesel fuel.

Ah, rest camp.  We’re certainly ready for it.  The ship we sank in the Yellow Sea assured that we would be credited as having had a “successful patrol.”  This patrol we had destroyed a total of 28 mines.  We were lucky with that last one.  Now is a good time to reminisce about our daily existence aboard the good old Atule while we were on war patrol.  I certainly can’t say I ever got blase about life on a submarine, especially after only two patrols.  All of us tended to adapt to the routine as day after day we stood our watches.  Four hours on duty and then eight hours off.  Now, this didn’t mean that we were as free as a breeze when off watch.  Oh, no.  My own watch was from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and then 8 p.m. to midnight.  Always at noon we had field day.  This meant that most of us had  to “turn to” on a specific part of the ship so that each section was bright and shiny and ready for inspection daily.  I can still recall the order.  At 12 noon we would hear the click of the IMC (the ship-wide announcing system) as the switch was depressed.  Always the same, those memorable words: “All hands.  Turn to and clean up the ship.”  My daily section was the passageway in the control room next to the radio room.  After that we could get our lunch.  At least on the first run there was plenty to do on the rest of our “off watch.”

Art Credit:

Submerged submarine artwork (subsim.com)

Hello World

As I’ve already mentioned within the previous post, I’d like to set up and run a kind of cooperation between UK and rest of the Europe in the sence of performing, recording, DJing, by and large any creative work-cooperation.

Before I start.. has anyone of you ever heard about EUROCULTURED organised by spearfish?

Firstly I want to get people think about it. Do you think its a good idea to organise such a kind of cosmopolitan festival? Have you ever visited that festival? What do you think about it from the point of view as audience and possible as an artist,DJ,Band,etc et?

By the time I want to create a kind of network for the people with the common interest, so mainly I want to ask you DJ,s, Producers, artists etc et. Would you be happy to perform for free if it would help to your development, or even more, would you participate on the travel expenses if it would get  where you do you want? Or in the opposite way, how much (if at all) would you like to pay to perform in let say Manchester, London, Dublin and prague?

Another question is: Are you visiting any gigs,festivals,music events? Well…I’d like to hear your opinion, what do you think about the music events in your area, are they on the decent level, are you getting what you are paying for?

Next week I want to start with networking and publish some artists which already signed to Stream Noise project, so i am looking forward to your responses

Radium

Not sure how I missed this with the 13 press releases on July 22, 2008, but thanks to “ride-it-like-you-stole-it” for commenting on my 2009 line up post.

Harley-Davidson is officially moving into the three-wheel (trikes) motorcycle segment with the introduction of the Tri Glide Ultra Classic.  It’s based on a new chassis specifically built for the three-wheel market.  The Tri Glide will be sold (MSRP of $29,999) and serviced by the dealer network and covered by a two-year warranty.

It was about this time last year that Harley signed a deal with Lehman Trikes USA of Spearfish, SD to design and build Harley based trikes which I blogged HERE.  It turns out that Lehman Trikes posted a press release stating they are doing the conversion services for Harley’s Tri Glide motorcycle production.  Lehman will provide components, paint, and conversion services in the manufacture of the motorcycle.  The original Harley link on their web site last year is now a dead link.

A couple of notables on the Harley “three-wheel” strategy.  The motorcycle has a new rear-axle assembly that utilizes an aluminum center section with steel axle tubes. The rear suspension features dual air-adjustable rear shock absorbers.  It’s powered by a Twin Cam 103 cu in engine with Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI) and 6-speed Cruise Drive transmission used on current Touring bikes, but adds an optional electric reverse ($1,195) integrated with the rear differential assembly that is engaged with a handlebar-mounted reverse module. The Tri Glide has dual front disc brakes and a Hayes Brake dual-disc rear brake system with a lever-actuated, integrated park brake.

As I stated in my previous post it’s not clear who is the targeted demographic.  Is it something to take your poodle for a ride or a legitimate use to target the older demographic, or the more safety-conscious and/or disabled?

Interesting is the fact that the Harley-Davidson web site is devoid of ANY information or digital media animation about the Tri Glide.  Makes me wonder just how much this three-wheel strategy is being rolled out?