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| Marine Exploration Group's Submarine |
Today turned out to be very interesting. Van came this morning to test the generator. It worked!!! He did find a small pin hole in the heat exchanger near its raw water intake. But, that is not a concern. Brian purchased an epoxy-like putty and patched the hole. Later, after Van fixed an electrical issue, he double checked Brian’s work to ensure there were no leaks. Speaking of the electrical issues. Van confirmed what Belinda had suspected yesterday; there is a negative wire with high impedance from the negative bus bar to the house systems (including the wench and flybridge). Therefore, Van made a 5-foot long 2-inch diameter wire and connected it from the port engine to the negative bus bar. We tested the wench and other systems and everything works without issues. Now this wasn’t a quick fix. Between 9:00 am and around 3:00 pm, Van was working issues with other boats and a submarine. Yup, the
Marine Exploration Group out of Kingston, NY, brought their 2-man submarine to assist in the search for a
missing airplane that went down in 1971 with five people on board. The plane went down after taking off from the Burlington Airport in a snow storm. The suspected crash site is an 18 square mile area off the Shelburne peninsula in Lake Champlain possibly in 30+ feet of water. A New York State Forest Ranger Scott Van Laer got interested in this cold case when he learned that the pilot’s daughter, Kristina Coffey, was seeking assistance in opening the investigation. Ranger Laer, was instrumental in getting the New York State Police involved. He also happens to be cousins with the folks who run the Marine Exploration Group. The New York Marine Police, New York State Forest Rangers, and similar Vermont authorities are using towed side-scan sonar to search in a grid pattern in the suspected area. Brian spoke with Ranger Lear and the owner of the Marine Exploration
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Brian assisting with the subs
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Group, Mr. Terzza, about the search. He learned New York has jurisdiction of the air space for aircraft transiting the Adirondacks Mountains. The aircraft had transferred to the Plattsburgh air traffic control prior to the crash. That is why New York State is involved. For most of the week, authorities have been searching for this plane. The 2-man submarine was brought in to determine if there are bodies in the plane once it was found. Unfortunately, the sub didn’t make it to the search area today. Its port thruster was over heating and had to return to the shipyard. Mark Terzza did not know if they could return tomorrow to participate in the search. Brian also assisted the subs crew and the shipyard in the transfer of the submarine from the dock to its trailer. Tomorrow we head for Gaines Marina at Rouses Point - our last stop before Canada.
