J.B. & A.D.

We spent one summer working up and down the Pacific coast of Mexico. We must have pulled into Acapulco a half dozen times and got to know it fairly well. We had our favorite restaurants and clubs but we went shopping too. Down on the main drag we found a large department store with a lot of bin merchandise. I bought some sneakers there that I’ll talk about later but it was what Jon and A.D. bought that was so cool. They went shopping for T shirts but wound up with something special for the next trip.

A.D. Colburn was Jon’s swim partner now that I had become a pilot and never had time for any swim fun. A.D. was the ship’s second mate. We had sailed with him before on the Lulu. He’s a good responsible guy and is now the Captain of the R/V Atlantis, (new host ship for Alvin since 1996).

We left port on time with a full science team and a National Geographic film crew who were putting together a documentary. As with any documentary of this type you have to have that dramatic footage of man and machine in the elements and an Alvin recovery has all of that. It was a calm day so it wasn’t going to be that dramatic but it was a start and the film crew set up on the stern to take it all in.

Jon and A.D. were the swimmers that day and off they went in the small boat. I was the Launch Coordinator so I was setting up for the recovery. Things proceeded normally and Alvin was soon under tow. The first thing I noticed was that the boys were standing behind the sail and on such a calm day. Usually they would be standing on either side of the sail.

With the National Geographic crew filming away Jon and A.D. waited till they were close in before stepping out from behind the sail. When they left the ship they were wearing their usual swim trunks. But now both were standing there in identical leopard print, dental floss Speedo things. They didn’t leave much to the imagination. It was hilarious! The National Geo guys kept filming but you knew that this footage was not going to see the light of day.

As for those sneakers I bought, they met their demise about a month later. They set me back 2 dollars a pair. Rubber soled with canvas tops I thought they would be good for shipboard life. We work with a lot of different oils that can be real hard on foot gear. I figured these were disposable.

We were up in Guaymas, Mexico for our next port stop. I had never been anyplace so hot. If you were working out on deck with hand tools you had to wear gloves or picking up a wrench that had been in the sun would burn the hand. After lunch one day I was standing on the deck talking to the Boson. I guess I stood in one spot for too long because when I turned to leave my feet were stuck to the deck. When I lifted my foot half of my sneaker stayed melted to the deck and the rest came away like pizza cheese. My good 2 dollar Mexican sneakers.