The NYT reports.
Just like in a TV sitcom from the 1960s, except in a TV sitcom, they'd never be rescued.
The men... were experienced mariners... in a 20-foot open skiff powered by an outboard motor....
Pikelot is a tiny dot in the Pacific Ocean covered in palm trees and bushes, measuring less than 2,000 feet in length. The Micronesian island was part of a search area that the Coast Guard said spanned more than 100,000 square miles.
This week’s rescue was not the first from Pikelot involving huge letters spelled in the sand. In 2020, three other men whose boat ran out of fuel wrote “SOS” in the sand, allowing them to be spotted by American rescuers....
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45 comments:
I wonder what spelling out "BRING BEER" would've brought? Not all who need help need rescue, IYKWIM.
Those 1960s sitcoms were derived from sailing / military combat communication of prior centuries. They used to start fires (e.g., smoke signals), they used to have tall towers with flagmen to send signals over long distances, and people still use signal flares when a plane/boat comes by. Ships used flags to indicate nationality and status.
Take away radio communication and line-of-sight is all you've got.
which of the three men played the Girl Next Door? and which was the Smokin' Hot Redhead?
Good for the Coast Guard, but why are we conducting rescues in Micronesia, which is roughly 2000 miles from Hawaii and 4000 miles from mainland America?
were the men -a-trois willing to be rescued from idyll?
There's the duck on a desert island with QUACK spelled out on the beach.
Reminds me of a favorite Far Side cartoon.
https://images.app.goo.gl/rkgehNa6rSGzzvNt8
@tommyesq asks the question that popped into my mind, too.
This reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where a helicopter is flying over a desert island. A castaway is waving below, and had spelled "HELP" on the beach with palm leaves, but one has blown away so it now says "HELF". One pilot says to the other as they fly off, "He must not need help after all."
Highly recommended.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_World
The Twilight World (German: Das Dämmern der Welt) is a book written by Werner Herzog. It was published in German by Hanser in 2021. The English translation by Michael Hofmann was published by Bodley Head in 2022. The book is based on the life of Hiroo Onoda, a Japanese soldier, stationed in Lubang during World War II, who refused to surrender until 1974.
Palms don't have leaves. They have fronds. Great journalism
Good thing they didn't accidently spell out "HELF"
A TV sitcom? I'm shocked that Althouse is ignorant of the history of this form of desperate communication. In 1942 during the brutal campaign to secure control of Guadalcanal, a group of United States Marines was ambushed by a powerful force of Japanese naval landing troops and compelled to retreat to a nearby beach. Assaulted on three sides with their backs to the sea, the Marines were completely isolated from their base at Henderson Field, their field radio having been destroyed in the initial firefight. They avoided death and captivity by using coconuts to spell HELP on the beach. A passing PBY spotted their message and a rescue force of PT boats and barges was dispatched from Tulagi. The Marines escaped and the distress signal passed from blood-soaked reality to television silliness.
Why are we conducting rescues in Micronesia? Because we half own the place.
Lots and lots of the Pacific Islands of various countries openly have treaties where we defend/police them. The Mariana Islands, Palau, and most of Micronesia are that way. Heck, a US licensed attorney can practice law in most of these places.
Why? Blame Japan. We conquered and occupied these islands during WWII and as time has gone on we have slowly given them their nominal independence, but still control most of their foreign affairs... and give them stipends. Hence, our Coast Guard spends lots of time guarding their coasts.
SOS -> SOL -> Shit Out of Luck.
[Using Mr. Howell's brandy, their second plan to contact the astronauts with an SOS formed out of [burning] tree trunks almost works until Gilligan sets himself on fire and accidentally skews the SOS into "SOL." Astronaut Sol Tobias merely thinks it's a message to him.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gilligan5935/images/9/98/SOL.png/revision/latest?cb=20140720031637
"There's the duck on a desert island with QUACK spelled out on the beach."
Yep. What rhhardin doesn't know is that the duck is dyslexic.
"Palms don't have leaves. They have fronds...."
Recently, "frond" was the subject of much discussion, when it was the solution to Wordle. Many younger folk were up-in-arms over this word they'd never seen before in their entire life. And then there was the "spat" uproar the other day. Who knew that white part of of Mr. Peanut's shoe was called a "spat"?
BTW, a frond is a type of leaf. The NYT was just trying not to upset people who so recently suffered over Wordle. How many streaks were lost that day? Have you no empathy?
"why are we conducting rescues in Micronesia, which is roughly 2000 miles from Hawaii and 4000 miles from mainland America?"
The Mariana Islands (including Guam) are in Micronesia and are US territory.
"which of the three men played the Girl Next Door? and which was the Smokin' Hot Redhead?"
The one walking gingerly...
'Who knew that white part of of Mr. Peanut's shoe was called a "spat"?'
Who doesn't?
America is getting dumber by the second.
Thanks for that, Vance, explains it well.
Who knew that white part of of Mr. Peanut's shoe was called a "spat"?
ummm.. Anyone that had been in marching band?
Now to the important question:
What CD's did they bring with them?
"Palms don't have leaves. They have fronds. Great journalism."
They have both. Palm leaves are used for rattan and other SE Asian crafts. Undoubtedly those castaways used palm fronds to delineate their distress call, the leaves themselves being too small and too easily blown away to make an effectively large message to be seen from the air.
Yes, that was great journalism, a profession increasingly dominated by philistine pig ignorance. Remember this?
"SOS -> SOL -> Shit Out of Luck."
Brandy? What a waste. The Howells must have had a tramp streamer loaded with their accoutrements following the S.S. Minnow. Whatever, the castaways needed was either retrieved from Thurston Howell's private stash or fabricated by the Professor from coconuts, bamboo, and palm fronds. What they should have done early on was construct a distillery to convert coconut meat into high-proof alcohol.
On Gilligan's Island, they tried to spell out "SOS" in big flaming letters when an orbiting space mission was expected to pass over them. Gilligan stumbled and dislodged some of the logs, so that when the capsule passed over,the flaming message spelled "SOL" instead. One of the astronauts was named Sol, so he thought it was a tribute to him.
"Who knew that white part of of Mr. Peanut's shoe was called a "spat"?"
I'm sure a lot of people know.
Just to be pedantic, palms do have leaves. They are part of the frond.
Greetings from the land of palm trees and tropical breezes. (And the occasional Cat 5)
John Henry
I'm pretty sure I remember an episode of Navy Log, a 50s TV show based on true events, of castaways doing something similar.
John Henry
Just like in a TV sitcom from the 1960s, except in a TV sitcom, they'd never be rescued.
Actually, Gilligan et. al. were rescued in a TV movie in 1978, and later invited the Harlem Globetrotters there. (Yes, really.)
Vance,
Not just because we own half the Marianas. The Northern Marianas are legally a "State" under the meaning of the 14th Amendment. Anyone born there is automatically a citizen with identical status to someone born in California, New York or Puerto Rico.
So were these castaways US citizens? Were they in US waters? If yes, then they deserve the same rescue support as any other US citizen cast away in someplace like the Florida keys.
Hmmm... Pikelot is not part of Northern Marianas but belongs to Federated States of Marianas, an independent country. So I guess we are back to where they were born.
OTOH, we do have an agreement to provide for defense of FSM and A Free Associated State Compact with them. So perhaps some obligations there?
In addition to the US just being a generally good neighbor and helping out when we can. Or bombing.
Unlike someone born in Swain Island or American Samoa who is a "National, but not a citizen" of the US.
Or like McCain and Ted Cruz, born outside the US but citizens because of their mothers. Naturalized by law, not born in the US per 14A.
John Henry
Blogger Ann Althouse said...
Who knew that white part of of Mr. Peanut's shoe was called a "spat"?
Anyone who went through Navy basic training? At least in the 60s and 70s.
John Henry
And then there was the "spat" uproar the other day
=================
missed your chance to say = And then there was the spat over "spat" to confuse kid even further!
"“In a remarkable testament to their will to be found, the mariners spelled out ‘HELP’ on the beach using palm leaves, a crucial factor in their discovery,” Lt. Chelsea Garcia, who coordinated the search and rescue mission on Sunday, said in the statement.
Yes. Remarkable. Just think of all the things they might have been doing, instead.
"why are we conducting rescues in Micronesia, which is roughly 2000 miles from Hawaii and 4000 miles from mainland America?"
It was an international search and rescue effort. We were part of it.
Good thing to have a Navy when you need one. The First Marines on Guadalcanal had to do that too. Coast Guardsman Douglas Munro responded and earned a Medal of Honor posthumously in late September 42. That was before Halsey took over command and ordered the Navy to show back up.
Spats, short for spatterdashes, IIRC. An aircraft with fixed landing gear that has a streamlined cover over the wheels also has spats.
Spats are short gaiters to protect the shoe from mud and other debris.
The Coast Guard was doing what they do best. A service all Americans should be proud of.
FROND was on April 1st. I got a 3. I remember laughing because that day, the NYT had an article about how ADIEU was a bad starter word and maybe people should stop using it. That day, I had played ADIEU - DROOP - FROND. ADIEU knocked out all four of the vowel letters on the first word. I use a lot of different starter words (TRASH is another one I use frequently).
I know about "spats" because I liked Jiggs in the "Bringing Up Father" comic strip by the extremely-talented Geo. McManus.
"I use a lot of different starter words (TRASH is another one I use frequently)."
I mix it up as well, but when in a hurry I use SUAVE.
A lesser-known definition of spat is "the spawn of an oyster or similar shellfish." You'll see the word used when artificial reefs are constructed as part of an oyster fishery enterprise.
I am upset that nobody is upset that Wordle used "Voila" as a word (last week? I don't remember).
"Voila" is a word--but it is a French word. If they are going to start doing foreign languages then the whole thing goes to Hell.
I did get the word--but only because it was the only word that worked and I said "what the heck--if it's not a proper word they won't allow it."
Nobody has any standards anymore.
And get the Hell off of my lawn!
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