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Steel Beach

Today was a fascinating day. We left the Gulf of Panama at 7 AM, and by 5 PM we were sailing into the Caribbean, having passed through an engineering marvel. This huge ship, the USNS Comfort, was raised and lowered a height of 85 feet as it passed through two sets of locks on the transit through the Panama Canal. It was a day of fun on the ship, with a Comfort Idol contest, a live band, and a bar-b-que on the flight deck. When a bar-b-que is held on the flight deck, it's called Steel Beach. Fortunately for me, most people on the ship had already been through the Canal once, when the Comfort sailed south, so there was plenty of space along the rails for me to get a good view.

I'll post a some photos to our photo gallery once I arrive in Haiti and can use the GATR antenna. As it is, there is not enough bandwidth on the ship to easily upload the photos. Some of you were able to watch the Comfort pass through parts of the Panama Canal by viewing the Panama Canal web cams.

We sail all day Friday before we reach Haiti, our next stop. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to see our MAF program in that country.

Posted by David at 07:22 PM

Tiger's Path

Tuesday was our last day in Colombia. The plan originally was to pull anchor in the morning, and set sail for Panama. However, because we didn't get to work a full day on Friday (due to bad weather) the plan was changed to have a small group work a half day at the clinic site in Buenaventura. On Tuesday we woke up to foul weather. Santiago, the clinic site leader, went to about five people telling them that it was crazy to try and get people ashore. The chief mate radioed the captain, and the captain talked to the commodore, but still the orders were to go ashore.

The utility boats must travel nine miles, about four of it over open ocean, and then the boats pass through the Tiger's Path before reaching the calmer waters of Bahia Malaga. The Tiger's Path is the name that the local people have for the area where the river exits the bay and interacts with the ocean. This is a very rough water area, and when the current is flooding (water moving back into the bay) it can be particularly dangerous. The 10-15 foot seas, with mushroom waves that can push a boat right over, and a fierce rip current, give you an idea of why they call this the Tiger's Path.

The boat that headed ashore just after 7 AM yesterday with Santiago and about 30 other nervous people, was going at the absolute worst time of the day. Before they finally reached Bahia Malaga, over have of them were sick and vomiting, and the boat came literally within inches of capsizing. Once they got to Bahia Malaga, the plan had been for them to take helicopters to Buenaventura, but because of the bad weather, the helicopters were grounded. So after waiting six hours, they finally were able to make it back to the Comfort on helicopters. Nobody worked at all. The boat crew braved the rough seas and brought the utility boat back empty.

The Seebeas, guys who are happy-go-lucky and tough-as-nails, took a Colombian 38-passenger speedboat in the morning also, going to La Sierpe where they had spent the week building a clinic. When they arrived at La Sierpe, they radioed back to the ship, explaining how bad the conditions had been, and that they had been in fear of losing their lives.

During our stay in Colombia, I crossed the Tiger's Path ten times. Some days were better than others, but two of the rides were very rough. On my last day, coming back to the ship, the chief mate was at the wheel of the utility boat. We had just finished crossing the Tiger's Path, and most people in the front of the boat were standing, holding on to the rails of the canvas canopy, because they kept getting thrown off the bench seat by the waves that were tossing us around. Many of us were wet from the spray, and laughing as we rode the steep waves. This was the last time we would have to make this trip, and we were giddy with relief. The chief mate stopped the boat, and had us look back at where we had just come from. He pointed out the waves and the rip current, explaining why the ride had been so rough. It was impressive to watch, as even a half mile out at sea I could clearly see the ebbing waters of the bay interacting with the ocean.

In the end, everybody was thankful to safely have all our crew back on board, with all gear, and all Colombian patients off the ship. Colombia has been a tough country for this mission.

Posted by David at 07:12 AM

From The Captain

The Comfort's Mission Commander is also keeping a web log. If you go to the page, be sure to check out the Comfort news links on the right side of the page.

Posted by David at 08:02 PM

Underway

We are underway once again, steaming towards our appointment with the Panama Canal. The Comfort will be going through the Big Ditch (I'd highly recommend reading this informative Popular Mechanics article) on August 30. I'm looking forward to the experience. I'm not sure yet what time of day we are scheduled to make the transit, but you might be able to catch a glimpse of the ship as it passes by one of three Panama Canal webcams. I do know that it's important for us to keep to our schedule so we don't miss our slot. Having to go to the back of the line will cost the mission a lot of time and money.

Yesterday we packed up at the Hospital Naval Bahia Malaga and said our goodbyes. We presented a plaque to the hospital staff and took a group photo. The ride back was beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of it. The choppy ride created by the river rushing into the ocean, the varying-colored and billowing clouds that reminded me of Ecuador, the camaraderie I enjoyed with a group of people satisfied by a week of caring for needy people, all were carefully tucked away in my memory.

I spent some time today cleaning the GATR antenna system. After some wet days in Colombia, things needed some drying time and some tender care. I've now got about four down days as we head to Haiti. If you're curious about this deployable VSAT antenna, you can read about it at the GATR web site, this Popular Science article, and this overview of the system and it's potential applications.

Posted by David at 07:20 PM

Bahia Malaga Again

I spent the day at the Hospital at Bahia Malaga again. The ride in was calm, and that was a nice way to start the day. I wasn't there yesterday, but I heard they were busy. Again, it was a busy day at our clinic, with a bus bringing in new patients every hour or so. I had the antenna set up by 09:00 and while I was setting it up a couple of the ITs from the ship covered the comms needs with a BGAN antenna. The rest of the day we've used the GATR antenna for our communications needs, and it performed flawlessly through rain and sun for seven hours, providing us with a broadband Internet connection.

What the ITs do is chat with the ship, to let doctors know that there are patients at the clinic who need surgery. If one of the doctors can do the surgery, and there is time available on the OR schedule, the message comes back that the patient can go to the ship for the surgery, staying there one or more nights. More than once I heard the news come back the the surgery schedule was full, so they had to tell patients they could not have a needed surgery. For some, who can't pay to have surgery, this is a chance of a lifetime. Tonight we have 44 patients on board the ship. One of them is a six-year old boy who has had a pin in his elbow for a year. It needs to be removed, but his family cannot affort the surgery.

Throughout the day I was able to interact with local people. One of them told me how grateful they are that we are here. Of course, everybody from the patients to the Colombian Navy personnel want to know what the big ball is for. I spend a lot of time explaining how it transmits and receives signals from a satellite 22,000 miles up in space so that we can have an Internet connection and chat with doctors on the Comfort. As I work on my laptop, the kids are fascinated by it. Many of them are not familiar with computers at all. I shared pictures of the Comfort with a few of the kids, and they could not get over how large the ship is. They were fascinated by my camera, and a couple of them wanted me to take their picture so I could show it to them.

Of course I must also spend time doing some crowd control. Even though I put up caution tape around the antenna, that does not deter many people from ducking under it to walk in front of the antenna. That's a bad thing, because I don't want to cook them with my transmission signal, and I don't want them to block my receive signal. But, when you don't have any health care at all, can't afford to pay a doctor, and you are looking at the chance of a lifetime to see a dentist or a doctor, you aren't going to pay much attention to a piece of tape around a big beach ball.

At 16:00 we packed up the antenna, stored it in the administration office, and took a bus down to the dock. After having our bags checked by American military security guys (I guess they were searching us to see if we had some Colombian cocaine in our possession) we loaded onto a boat. At first I thought we were going to be on a Comfort hospitality boat, but to my welcome surprise we stepped onto a Colombian 38-person speedboat with three outboard motors. What a ride we had, going a slightly different route than usual. We passed by small islands jutting out of the bay, covered in think jungle growth, and teeming with birds. The speed of the boat and the gentle swells provided us with a exhilerating ride, at times not unlike a roller coaster. Finally, as we neared the Comfort we were provided with a short glimpse of a humpback whale. Throughout the thirty minute ride I thought of digging my camera out of my bag, but realized that photos could not do justice to the experience.

It's been a once-in-a-lifetime day for me.

Posted by David at 09:52 PM

News Clips

Here are a few links to news of interest related to the mission in Colombia.

Comfort Arrives in Colombia, Continues Mission

Comfort Opening Ceremony in Colombia - short video clip

U.S. Navy Showband Performs in Buenaventura, Colombia

Posted by David at 07:37 AM

Comfort History

I received an e-mail from someone the other day asking about the USNS Comfort, because in the mid-1940s she had sailed on a ship by the same name. I did some research, and it turns out that the ship I'm on is the third ship to bear the name 'Comfort'.

The first ship with that name was built in 1906 and re-named the Comfort in 1918. She was used primarily to return wounded men from Europe.

The second ship with that name was launched in 1943 and operated as a hospital ship in the Pacific from 1044 to 1946.

The ship I am on was built as an oil tanker in 1976. She was delivered to the Navy in 1987 and converted to a hospital ship.

Posted by David at 06:05 AM

Change Of Plan

I can't tell you how glad I was to see the ship this afternoon at the end of our ride from Bahia Malaga. Seas were rough and we were bouncing and rolling for almost an hour and a half. A few people were sick over the side, and I think if I had to go another half hour I would have been sick also.

After only three hours of work this morning, we got word just before 11:00 that they were pulling us back to the ship because bad weather. I've heard a couple rumors that the site I've been working at will be closed on Saturday because of the bad weather that is coming in.

Reading in bed and taking a nap was a perfect way to spend the afternoon after the past three hectic-paced days. When I got up I went out to the boat deck and was able to watch a whale breach numerous times, as well as slap its flipper on the water. I've been told we are in a whale breeding ground. I've been able to see at least one whale everyday that we've been off the coast of Peru.

Posted by David at 04:30 PM

Go Home Early

We just got word that bad weather is coming, and we're going back to the ship early. Wonder what the ride will be like? I'll let you know...

Posted by David at 09:53 AM

E-ticket Ride

I mustered with the rest at 06:00 this morning, but it wasn't until a little more than an hour later that I was climbing into a lifeboat for the ride down to the water. The difference this time was that we got aboard a 39-passenger, outboard boat from a local hotel. As it rode the waves up and down wildly next to the lifeboat, we transferred across one by one. It was important to time your jump, and grab a hand or the canopy rail, and it was better than a ride at Disneyland.

Instead of 10 mph in the 10-meter utility boat, we flew along at over 20 mph, hitting a top speed of 28 mph at one point (I like my GPS). So that meant the ride was half the time, a welcome change. We did wait a few minutes once we arrived at the dock, as there were a couple other boats ahead of us that were bringing people from up the river. Some of them were patients coming to the clinic we're running at the hospital.

The weather here reminds me so much of Shell. It's a very rainy climate, and today we have a steady drizzle. Living in Boise, I miss the rain of Ecuador, so this stop in Colombia is welcome.

Posted by David at 09:28 AM

Boathawk

I spent two hours today riding in a 10-meter utility boat. During my time bouncing up and down through the waves, I would every so often see a helicopter (Blackhawk or a modified version of one) and I would think that I would like to do that just once on this trip. I don't think that will happen, so I've come to think of our 10-meter utility boat as a 'Boathawk'. I like numbers, so I'll tell you that in the past two days I've spent four hours and travelled 36 miles in the utility boats.

My day started at 05:00 this morning and by 06:40 I was headed to shore. When we got to the Naval Hospital at Bahia Malaga and began to set up, I found that our coaxial cable for the antenna was not long enough to reach inside the building. So we had to move to plan B. That meant being outside all day, but at least we were under the cover of the front walkway. Just before 11:00 we had the GATR online, and were able to start supporting the work at the hospital by providing a means of communication back to the Comfort.

This clinic site that is being run at the hospital is not seeing the large numbers of people that were being seen in Ecuador. But, from what I understand, some of the people we are seeing are being pre-screened by the Red Cross, and then being brought to the military base. Most of them are traveling two or three hours to get there. I'm not sure if they come by road, or are coming down river by boat. Most of the people are black, and are descendants of slaves. This part of Colombia has been long neglected by the government, and is a very poor area.

This evening when I was back on the Comfort and eating dinner, I sat with a couple doctors and a nurse practioners who are volunteers with Project Hope. They saw many malnourished children today. Even the adults were listless, and didn't have much energy. The people that they saw live on a diet of fish, rice, and plantains. They also pointed out that they don't have milk or other dairy products in their diets. People could not read, and seemed to be surprised by things like doorknobs, pens, and paper. With the exception of one person that the doctors treated, nobody had a refrigerator at their house. That is important when you are wanting to prescribe medications that need to be refrigerated.

So when I had to take an hour Boathawk ride at 17:45, get wet with sea spray, and arrive back to the ship late after a 12 hour day, I realize that even my worst day (and today was far from a bad day) is better than the average day for people on the Colombian coast.

Posted by David at 06:53 PM

Long Boat Ride

Today I went ashore to assess one of the Colombia clinic sites to see if it will be suitable for using the GATR antenna. There are two clinic sites for Colombia. One is in the city of Buenaventura, and the second is at the Colombian Naval Base in Bahia Malaga. I found a suitable site for the GATR at the Naval Base hospital, and will be setting it up there on Thursday.

It was a day of waiting. I was told to muster at 10:00 AM to go ashore, but it was actually 11:45 AM before they called me to go to the boat. About twenty of us climbed into a lifeboat, and were lowered to down to a waiting 10-meter utility boat. From there is was an hour ride (almost 9 miles) to the Naval Base.

After only a little looking around I found a suitable site in the parking area to set up the antenna. In addition, it's close enough to the building that I should be able to put the electronic equipment indoors. That is important, given the location we are working in.

The wettest inhabited location in the world is Buenaventura, Colombia, where an average of 265.47 inches of rain falls each year. Buenaventura is about twenty miles from the Naval Base at Bahia Malaga, and is the second site where we are setting up a clinic. Where I lived in Ecuador we have 240 inches of rain a year, so when I saw the spongy grass today at the Naval Base I knew they got a lot of rain.

There is actually a place in Hawaii that gets about 475 inches of rain a hear, but it's a place where nobody lives.

After preparing for the first clinic day tomorrow, the group was ready to return to the ship. The utility boat cast off at 4:15 PM, and a very rough hour later we were back at the ship. I think if I was on the utility boat for another thirty minutes in that rough water I might have got sick. The people sitting at the back of the boat got soaked with spray. I stood near the front, but it was very rough there, as the bow went up and down. I could have sat at the very front, under the cover, but it was so hot there that I stood a bit farther back just to get the air.

It's going to be a long week if I must travel back and forth by boat each day. We will be working in Colombia from August 23 through August 27. Maybe one or two of those days I can get a ride on a helicopter.

Posted by David at 06:30 PM

Last Day In Ecuador

We get underway for Peru at 9 AM on Tuesday. We've had a successful visit to Ecuador. From my perspective, with the GATR antenna, that is especially true. I've been able to get online every day here, except the first day. The first day the problem was a technical issue outside of my control.

It surprised me how much I miss Ecuador, and I didn't expect that. I only got away from the ship once, last evening. I have been wanting some ceviche de camaron, and got my wish last night.

There are photos at our Gallery on this site. Also a Navy News story you can read.

Tonight we are providing Internet for everyone on the ship. If people get out their laptop, they can use the GATR antenna to go online. The ship Internet connection is very slow, and you are limited to what you can do, so people are very, very happy to have the opportunity to use this non-military Internet connection. Just being able to chat or check their Gmail account means so much to them. Some of the people are on this ship for four months, and they only have two or three liberty ports.

Posted by David at 07:12 PM

Been A Blur

Let's see...I think it was August 14 that I last wrote anything. That would have been the day we were underway from Peru. When I woke up on Wednesday morning and went up to breakfast, I went outside to see that we were in Ecuador. We had docked some time before 5:00 AM. During my years of living in Ecuador, I had never been to Manta. One thing that struck me as I looked across the harbor were the size of the fishing boats. Quite large, and I guess they are tuna boats. The ship is pierside here, and that makes it easy to do our work here. That is, as opposed to being a couple miles off shore, as we were in Peru, and as we will be in Colombia.

Wednesday morning I scouted for a place to set up the GATR VSAT antenna, and then after lunch I went to work. Fortunately there was a good view to the east right off the end of the pier, and nothing blocking the view. We have a low look angle here of 15 degrees. I was surprised by the fact that there was quite a strong wind blowing down the pier. After I got the antenna pointed, I gave the NOC a call and things looked OK. However, upon finishing with them, we couldn't do anything with the Internet. I called back and we spent some time on the phone and then I changed to a more powerful transmitter. But before I had time to try again, I ran out of time. Some success, but not as much as we needed.

Thursday morning I went to the Angelica Flores school, the site for one of two clinics being run by the Comfort here in Manta. I had asked to be able to scout the two sites on Wednesday, so I could go to the one that would have the best location for the VSAT antenna. I wasn't able to do that, but fortunately there was a perfect location at the Angelica Flores school--on top of the roof of the office building. It was the only location in the whole school that would work. It was noon before we were able to be operational, but it took the network provider a little while to figure out the problem that had kept us off the Internet on Wednesday afternoon. At that point the communications for the clinic were channeled through the GATR connection, and the expensive BGAN was given a break.

Friday was pretty much a repeat of Thursday, with the exception that it only took me an hour to get set up, point the antenna at the satellite, and get online. The clinic communications operated for eight hours on the GATR connection. Unfortunatley the Comfort mission communications is using Microsoft Groove, and only able to use the chat feature because of bandwidth contraints at both the remote sites and the ship. The GATR antenna is more suited to video conferencing, transferring large video and data files, and voice calls. If all the sites had a GATR antenna, that would be great. But we are here to experiment, and help support the mission as well.

Today was another day of work, even though it is the weekend. We set up and used the GATR at the school again, as well as a 1 kilowatt solar system which we experimented with throughout the day. So far I've been very pleased with our success and progress. Tonight I'm looking forward to hitting the sack, as the past three days have been 11 or 12 hour days and were started at 5 AM.

The clinic has been amazing to watch. People are lined up outside in the sun for hours and hours, waiting for an opportunity to come inside and receive some health care. Dental, opthamology, ob-gyn, pediatrics, adult medicine are all cranking along all day. As people enter they are referred to one of these areas, and then vitals are taken. After seeing the doctor, if needed they do lab work, and there is a pharmacy for those who need meds. Cases that need surgery, and can be accomodated, are sent to the ship. Tonight we have about 50 patients on board.

That's it for me for tonight. Tomorrow we'll probably set the GATR antenna up on the pier again.

Posted by David at 07:32 PM

Down The Stairs

I found a new place to hang out tonight. Well, let me back up a bit. I'm sharing a stateroom with three people from Project Hope. So today when we had a fire and lifeboat drill, I decided to join them for the fire drill part. That meant going down to the Ward 4 area when the fire alarm was given. We then put on life jackets and waited for the lifeboat drill. At that point we went up on the flight deck and lined up in lifeboat assignments.

So tonight I'm back down here again checking some e-mail and trying to add some photos to the gallery. There are three computer workstations here, so having a second place to do some e-mail has been good. To this point I've been checking e-mail at the Information Technology Technicians office down in Hospital Admin.

I feel like I've been doing nothing but walking up and down stairwells the past two days--welcome to ship life. Today has been a very slow day, as we slowly steam towards Manta, Ecuador. Most of the day we cruised along at roughly 20 MPH, but this evening we slowed down to 12-13 MPH. My day has consisted of sorting digital photographs, reading, napping, standing at the railing and gazing at grey seas and cloudy skies, and eating three square meals.

Wednesday we'll be pier-side in Manta, and I hope that by late morning I can set up the GATR antenna on the pier and get on the network. Tomorrow is a preparation and set-up day for everyone, and then they start to see patients on Thursday.

Posted by David at 07:35 PM

Photos Of The Trip

I'll try to add a few photos here. I've set up an album in the gallery but I'm having trouble getting images into it.

Here I am heading to the USNS Comfort on a hospitality boat.

Posted by David at 09:44 AM

After One Day

It's been a little more than a day now since I boarded the ship. It's a whole new world, and I'm trying to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can. Highlights of my first day were learning my way back and forth between a few key places. Those were my stateroom, mess hall, and the IT office. I also found the cardio room in the evening where they have some stationary bikes. I also got an e-mail address and found that I can use a computer in the IT office just about anytime, as long as I'm not in anybody else's way. Since I really like e-mail, that's a good thing.

I wasn't sure how'd I'd sleep my first night, but it turned out to be OK. There is a lot of noise by my bunk, sort of a loud airy hum, and that's not too bad. Actually, it helps block the noise that other people in the stateroom might make. I'm sharing a room right now with three other people from Project Hope. In the next few days a couple will go, and a couple will come, so I think we'll be around six people in the room. I've found that you really don't spend all that much time in the room when you are on board.

This morning I went up to the Radio room where the GATR antenna cases had been stored, and picked them up for a little practice. I was with three of the IT/ET guys (Information Technology and Electrical Technician--I'm not yet sure who is what, so I'll generalize for now), and wanted to give them a little instruction on the basic setup of the antenna. At least one of them will be helping me when we get to Ecuador. We set up one of the antennas on the upper deck, aft of the flight deck while they were doing helo ops. That worked out well, and the guys got an idea of what we need to set the antenna up. I think power is going to be a critical issue, as it's not very consistent, and the GATR antenna will require constant power, since there's nothing like a battery for it.

As far as operations go, today was the last day in Peru. All patients that were aboard last night were taken ashore in the hospitality boat. The helicopters flew some people back and forth, and then the last flights brought back tons of gear that had been used at the clinics as well as for the community development projects. A little after 2 PM we were underway for Ecuador. I'm still not sure, but I think we get there sometime in the very early morning hours of Tuesday.

Posted by David at 05:10 PM

Off The Coast of Peru

I made it on the ship about 10:30 AM local time. The driver that the Navy sent for me took me to the house of a local official who put the exit stamp in my passport. That's very important if I ever come back to Peru. As it is I only spent a little more than one day in Peru. A short boat ride later and I was being hoisted aboard the ship in a lifeboat. I arrived all safe and sound, both me and all my gear. The ship is a bit of a maze of decks and doors and hallways right now, and it's going to take me a couple days to get used to that.

I'll try to post some photos later today. Right now I've found my berthing, had lunch, and got set up with an e-mail address. I've met some key people who I'll be working with, so I'm off to a good start.

Posted by David at 01:36 PM

Long Travel Day

I arrived on the northern coast of Peru today after a long trip that began very early on Friday morning. The red-eye flight out of Miami got me to Lima at 6 AM local time. Without much trouble at all I was through customs and had my bags checked for the last leg of the flight. I sat next to a lady named Elva, who I practiced my limited and rusty spanish with. She was so friendly and talkative. The flight wasn't a good chance to see anything of Peru, because it was so cloudy. Someone from the Naval Postgraduate School met me at the Trujillo airport, and I was pleased to see he had a driver and van with him. That made it easy to get my pile of gear into town.

Upon Scott's advice, I decided to stay in town tonight, and board the USNS Comfort on Sunday. The idea for that is that a month on the ship is going to be a long time, so might as well enjoy a night ashore while I can. The hotel I had a reservation for couldn't find it, and was full, so our driver took me to another place. The town is quite full because of the ship being here, so I was glad to get the little room I did. Scott and I went out for lunch, and it was a good chance to ask some questions about his work on the mission. He's been with the ship for a month, and his heading back to the US tonight.

It's winter here, and we're about 8 degrees south of the equator. I wasn't going to, but at the last minute I threw a light jacket in my bag, and I'm glad I did. After a hot shower and a nap, I went out this evening to find something to eat. I tried a local soup, sopa a la criolla, a wholesome soup containing beef, noodles, milk, and egg, and tomatoes. I've enjoyed a couple bottles of agua con gas, or mineral water. For lunch I was really hoping to get some ceviche de camarones, but the place was out of camarones. I'll try again in Ecuador.

Posted by David at 06:36 PM

A Year Later

I'm preparing for a trip to South America where I'll be on the USNS Comfort humanitarian mission from August 10 through September 10. I'll be posting updates as I have time.

Posted by David at 01:47 PM