Well, the 2007 reunion is over and put into the memory box to be opened at a later date.

Nobody jumped off the balcony into the swimming pool. No brawls were started with the surface skimmers next door. Most of the booze that was brought in and lined up on the table was still there at the close. Coffee and Juice was in abundance, snores were heard from many a hotel room, and the oxygen bottle was in the corner. I get the impression that we just may have slowed down a bit from the old days! Nobody even wanted to go to Tijuana afterwards!

A few of the crew did escape out into the wilds of Charleston for dinner and drinks, and a few of us even went so far as to go to the local aquarium to reacquaint ourselves with fish!

The three Captains occasionally broke into song, and I think I saw Captain Davis dancing down the stairs with his tennis-tap shoes!

Skeeter Nevin, our favorite XO, brought some videos that he had put together, then gave a lecture of the deep and dangerous dives of the Trieste II, a Bathyscaph that goes so deep that the Trieste and everyone in it gets compressed to 1/16 their normal size.

Most of us went on the tour of the Clamagore SS-433. It was like old home week except a lot of things were different. Luckily, we were with "Skeeter" Nevin who served some time on Clamagore and was able to decipher all the differences. It was cut in half at one time, and 15 feet were added to the boat (sorry, I forgot why. Maybe the Captain needed more bunk space). I think the strangest thing on board was that the Goat Locker was in a room directly below the Control room. It even had a plastic hatch to watch them in their natural environment.  Must have been hell for the chiefs with everyone standing on the hatch cover and not letting them escape!!

Everyone took a deep breath on entering the boat and grinned at the smell! Doug Burleson still owes me a beer because I climbed up into "my" rack in the Forward room!  Funny how much more difficult it was!! Oh, and I hope someone found Dal Cramer. He was last seen heading back to the Clamagore to roll around on the engine room deck while singing "Tanks for the memories!"

Noticeably missing at the reunion were the "Oldtimers." The 40's and 50's crew! Where were the likes of Dudley McMains, Darrell Clapp, or the Cleland brothers? The ones who put the Spinax through its Radar challenges! The ones who dove with so much junk on deck it's a wonder that they didn't flip over!

But overall, a great time was had by all. Charleston was a charming city, even though we got "Y'alled" half to death.

See all y'all in Seattle in '09!!!