A Significant Discovery
Just before noon, the Mermaid Sapphire lay half a mile away from the island on an ocean simmering with heat. We could smell wood smoke from a cook fire somewhere inside the thick green jungle behind the beach.
Excellent Women
Early this morning, on our way into Rabaul, we passed the ash-sloped volcanoes just east of town. Backlit by a blood-red sun rising out of the South Pacific Ocean, Kombiu, Taranguna, and Tavurvur seemed like ancient, dark-shouldered warriors guarding the harbor.
Courageous Caution
Today, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER became the world’s deepest diving submersible. But the planned 26,247-foot (8,000-meter) dive ended abruptly before the sub could reach the floor of the New Britain Trench.
A (Cautionary) Tour of the Mermaid Sapphire
On ships, people fall. They trip on steel combings and tear up an ankle. They tumble down a stairwell and rip open a knee.
Preparing a “Great Whale”
A sprawling gray raincloud moves in from the west and hangs over the bay for most of the afternoon. The intermittent rain—more like a Scottish mist than a tropical downpour—brings welcome relief from the sun and the heat. After the rain, slim ghosts of steam rise out of the dense green hills.
