My Story!

Hello all! Welcome to my travel blog for the summer of 2011. My name is Tanner Garcia, and I work with my family aboard our boat, the 165 foot Research Vessel Aquila. This summer we are traveling the Pacific as part of the Pacific Islands Restoration Project, a multinational effort to rid a number of islands of invasive rat species. This summer we will also be the worlds smallest aircraft carrier (ha!) with a full air wing consisting of two Bell Jetranger helicopters and four remote-control models our chief engineer brought along! For those that aren't familiar with the process, the main method we are using for the eradication is arial broadcast of poisoned bait pellets. Where needed, the helicopters will also be supported by hand broadcast teams on the ground. So that's what is goin' down, but where?? The baiting islands are Palmyra Atoll, the Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, and Henderson Island. The Aquila and our family are based out of Seattle, Washington. All of the major prep of the boat happened in Seattle, but the major resupply ports for us are: Honolulu Hawaii, Apia Samoa, and Mangareva in French Polynesia. This is the condensed version of our summer, for all the juicy details, keep reading!! Adios!
-Tanner

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Seattle Bound!

The Pacific Islands Restoration team will be flying out of Mangareva today, headed back to our respective home countries. The flight goes through Tahiti so our family will be stopping in Tahiti for a few days on the way home to enjoy some much needed rest. We have been in Mangareva for four days now, the first two were spent preparing the helicopters for the 25 day trip back to Seattle. Everything that could be unbolted easily was taken off, along with a few things that aren't so easy to get off! The skids, tail fins, rotor blades, the main mast that the rotors attach to all had to come off for it to fit in the container. After the helis were all packed up, the focus shifted to the boat, preparing it for a 25 day trip through the hurricane breeding grounds. And finally, we had to get ready to fly out! Six of the boat crew are flying out, and two fly in leaving a crew of five to take the boat back.
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