Now N Then

This is the diving school for the entire military except for the Seals.

Below looks like a sphere but it is really a cylinder. On the bottom is a huge tank and on top there are five compartments where up to 10 divers can live for weeks for saturation diving. In saturation diving divers are brought down to a desired depth (pressure) and kept there for extended periods of time. This permits them to get more work done rather than use so much time compressing and de compressing.

This is the Quarterdeck of the Dive School

At the base there are a number of hover craft with which they experiment.(notice that I did not end the sentence with a preposition). A hover craft has four engines(really powerful ones) and two huge air fans. These things can carry tanks, lots of soldiers or Marines or other stuff and travel about 50 MPH or more. They blow up a lot of dust/dirt/water when they hover as you can see below.

The H53 has been around for a very long time although these are the latest versions. These two are used in research and development. Inside, they have a lot of cable that is used to tow “stuff” through the water to detect “stuff” (which could be harmful to ships etc.)(like mines and submarines). The stuff that is towed is experimental and classified.

H-53 in storage mode with rotors and tail assembly folded to save space.

H-53 ready to go

Yesterday 38 of us FamCampers toured the Navy Base on the West side of Panama City. The next several days will cover that tour. We first saw the H-60 Blackhawk below and then the old standby: the Huey bottom.

Once a year, our friendly social host, Ron, has a bean soup night. Campers provide bags of beans (any kind etc) and he makes the soup in a couple of days. Attendees then also bring side dishes (like deviled eggs, etc) so it is a combination bean soup and pot luck dinner. It was a musical night at the campground.

dThe colocated club in a beautiful location right on the water is an all ranks club which puts out a really fantastic brunch one sunday a month for $9.95. Like the clubs on all bases, this former officers club hasn’t gotten near the business that it used to before the services really clamped down on drinking years ago

The inside of our trailer. Getting ready to have company for dinner.

The course sign behind the 9th green and in front of the club house which in years past had been the general’s house. As you can see the course is on the water.

Another pelican on the 7th hole of the course. A gator used to hang out on that island but he is not here this year.

There is never a lost opportunity for a practical joke or an expression of a sense of humor.  We woke up one morning to find the following monster golf set sitting with our real golf clubs outside our trailer. We correctly guessed the source and found out she got them at a flea market for $1. Instead of giving them back it was decided to pass them on. They next went to our usual golf partners who were in overflow. They were received with the same enthusiasm as we showed and then they also passed them on. Besides the big clubs, there was a big ball and big tee and instructions on how to play monster golf

Do not know what this is or was. It was hard rubber, a cylinder, hollow, heavy and big with barnacles on the inside and outside.

Someone before us had made these sand chairs and couches. Complete with cup holders

Old washed up horseshoe crab shell

Base Helicopter overhead

Sand Dollar. Not as many as years past. At least so far.