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History's Hinge - 'Ain Jalut

[Diving Doc]

This is my meager attempt at recounting some of my  recent History Hunter travels and my excuse for being behind in my posting and email. This past month I spent two weeks in the UK with Solomon on the Isle of  Thanet. I had a delightful flight over on Virgin Atlantic Airways with beautiful weather. We went over most of our joint researches but still had some quality time and a walk about the towns of Margate, Ramsgate, and the Air Museum at Manston. The previous year I visited the Royal Air Museum at Cosford. Margate was heavily bombed during WW II because of its proximity to Manston. Here are a few pictures.

[Diving Doc]

Here are some views of the historic old town of Margate.

[Diving Doc]

On the way back across the "Pond" I had a bit of a thrill. All passengers were held in the Duty Free Area and not allowed to go to their departure lounges until nearly flight time. The security forces were looking for three Middle Eastern men for some reason. It was a bit unnerving to look up from my laptop and see an agent with fully automatic weapon and full Swat kit on. He smiled at me and I smiled back. Of course this stacked the flights up to the max but I had my usual, thoroughly delightful time with Sir Richard's Virgin Atlantic flight crew. They are the very best people to cross the Atlantic with.

[Diving Doc]

Well now, I still have to make more excuses for being remiss in answering my mail and putting so much work on the shoulders of  my Senior Partner. I was back barely a week before I was on my way to Panama to visit my friend Bohala, brief Moneypenny on our UK research projects, and get me teeth worked on. I am not a stranger to Panama and in spite of a very tight schedule I did manage to go out and get some good shots of the old city to share and do some shopping...........good rum and a great Panama hat.

Yes, that is really gold!

[Diving Doc]

After my good friend Dr. Oscar Alvarado finished repairing the damage to my teeth he insisted that I make time in the future to come diving with him and his friends. [ I suffered a hard hit working a tug in very stormy weather down in 'Statia last year. If you ever need a great dental surgeon I'll give you his number. ] Moneypenny and I then hopped a Twin Otter
for the ride to the Pacific side to visit my friend Bohala and his Mate Becky. Bohala briefed me on his research on the "San Jose", a 16th C. Spanish Treasure Galleon. He also regaled us with hilarious anecdotes from his life as a treasure diver starting out with the first Maravillas recovery and Bob Marx. Bohala is an excellent example of a man with the "Right Stuff" who is still living his adventure and, I might add, very successfully. We enjoyed our day immensely and learned much more than we expected about the history of some of Bohala's contemporaries. I hope to be diving on the San Jose in the future. Becky and Bohala were excellent hosts and I hated to leave.

[Diving Doc]

That just about wraps up Panama. Moneypenny had to get back to her project in Bocas del Toro so I did some small shopping and had some moderate luck at the Casino before heading back to CONUS. What can you expect playing the nickel slots? LOL

Now I'm back at my desk playing catch up. I have promised 99 and Lobo ( Bobadilla) that I will be down to work with  them but it looks as if I will be going back to the UK sooner than I expected so the Archivos in Santo Domingo will have to wait as well as 99's new wrecks, at least for the immediate future.

Cheers,
Doc

[Solomon]

Some photos from my collection. Doc and I at top.

Solomon

[Diving Doc]

Margate, Solomon's town is just delightful. I expect I will be back again next month. The townspeople are wonderful as well.

[Diving Doc]

I do enjoy the Public House signs. Here's a few to look at. It's part of the charm.

[Diving Doc]

More Views of Solomon's Homeport.

[Diving Doc]

Well now, time for catch up. I barely arrived back from the UK before I was on my way to visit with Wayne Good of Accurate Locaters in Nevada. I had a good flight but there was some trouble about the car. I had booked a short package from Travelocity with two nights in a hotel and a small rental car for the drive to Wayne who lives near Pahrump. When I arrived, about 3:00am by my time I found I had been given a free upgrade to A Subaru Outback because they had no more small Hyundai Elantras. O.K., but what happened next had a truly remarkable ending. The brand new Subaru had some kind of grease leaking around the lug nuts! I asked the service manager to inspect it and he took it out of service. I had already trudged the length of the lot and loaded my luggage so I proceeded to complain, politely of course, to the desk manager. I must say Hertz does try and do right. "Capt how would you like a nice Mustang Convertible?" I am afraid my temper got the best of me at this point and I replied, "Son, do I look like a Mustang Kind of Guy?" After some scurrying about the manager presented me with a set of keys and assistance with my luggage transfer. You can imagine my suprise when I viewed my new transport, A brand new Cadillac  with 60 miles on the gauge!! My guardian spirit, Comgall, must have been laughing outrageously at this outcome. I've never, ever driven a brand new Cadillac in my life!

[Diving Doc]

In view of the fact that I got accommodations for two nights and a car for three days I was certainly not expecting too much more. You can't imagine my suprise when I followed the directions to my hotel! All this for an additional $93 over the cost of my roundtrip airfare! Try Travelocity next time you fly.

[Diving Doc]

And if all this wasn't heady enough, staying on the 18th floor, I had extraordinary luck on a penny slot machine. Total winnings $574! Completely outrageous! Thanks Comgall.

I received excellent training from Wayne and generous upgrading of our equipment as well before I made the return trip to Florida to meet Moneypenny for the trip to London. Talk about Jet Lagged!

[Diving Doc]

With all the gear safely stowed in Pelican cases Moneypenny and I set out for London Heathrow. We had a rainy take off  and we received the usual excellent service from Sir Richard's staff on Virgin Atlantic on the way over. We accepted accommodations at The Walpole while doing the imaging work in Dover with Vince Burrows before journeying to the other sites that required inspection. Most of what followed will be posted later if it has not been already.

I would like to mention that I was fortunate enough to meet Michael Hunt, The Historian in charge of the Maritime Museum in Ramsgate which is located in the old Lifeboat Station. A most knowledgeable man who I hope will be posting on our site in the future.

That about brings me up to speed on my travels for the past two months. I regret my inability to properly deal with the site and my email during my traveling but will endeavor to catch up as best I can.
Cheers,
Doc.

[Diving Doc]

A small personal note of apology here. Upon my return I used up the next two weeks to move my offices in Florida. The necessity of sorting, packing, transport and re-assembling my office have kept me from doing my share on the website. Today is the first time I am caught up on calls, emails, and pm's . I do apologize to the members and Solomon for my absence on the forum. Now I am off again to pick up additional geophysical gear from Wayne Good, CEO Accurate Locators, and get the necessary 'hands on' training. I am not looking forward to the winter weather in Nevada, you can believe that.
Cheers,
Doc