There was no diving today because it was raining and there was also the possibility of a strong south wind. At Tufan's 8:00 a.m. meeting Randy handed out his nearly complete translation of the mayor's firsthand account of the days immediately following the sinking. Randy also learned that the grandson of the newspaper reporter who came to Kushimoto to cover the story of the sinking in 1890 now lives in northern Japan; Randy wonders if he might have some original notes or photos.

read more | george's blog

Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. in the hotel dining room was unreal, with buffet lines for western, Chinese, and Japanese fare. I made quite a mix of omelette with sausage and toast, Chinese fried rice, and seaweed, but there were so many things to choose from. The coffee is excellent.

Kondo then drove us all to the dock where we were met by innumerable TV camera crews and reporters. On tne way we stopped at a super market when Tufan and Cemal bought the right number of boxed lunches for the team.

read more | george's blog

On 15 January, Ann and I came by van with Claude and Barbara Duthuit from Osaka, where we had met and spent the night after our respective flights from Houston and Paris. We got a suite here in the Kushimoto Royal Hotel so we share a living room between our bedrooms. After we ate with the entire team in the hotel diving room, we had an early night to get over our jet lag.

read more | george's blog