Jim Bell swims again!

The following is a new story from Jim Bell about his attempt to swim around the island of Tinian:

Jim Bell’s swim around Tinian, continued:

The return of the northeast trade winds has generated swell and wind waves that make shoreline swimming on the east side of the island rather dangerous in the areas which have a wave cut bench at the base of cliffs. That has restricted my swimming to areas on the west side of the island since the middle of November. On December 17th I decided to see how bad it was on the east side, but I will relate that adventure after catching up the two swims that completed all but the south end of the west side.

I ended my first report with the Old Man in the Sea hanging from a bush on a 100 foot cliff. No, actually, I finished that tale with the OMITS (how's that for an acronym!) slurping water at the side of the road so as not create too much suspense between installments. My next swim had to pick up at the bottom of the cliff, but I opted not to climb back down the cliff. I started from North Dumpcoke Point and swam back to the cliff and then back to the point and out of Dumpcoke Bay. If they ever build a casino on that bay I imagine they will come up with a classier name than "Dumpcoke."

On the way to the cliff, I saw four green turtles together which is unusual. Two were probably over 100 lbs. The rest of the swim was along a stretch of benches ending in low cliffs. I experienced an opposing current and found that I could hold discouragement at bay by picking a coral head or some other identifiable feature, swimming to it and then looking ahead to another feature. That way I could see progress, slow as it might be.

Finally the beach I was looking for came slowly into view. I was looking at Chulu Beach or "White Beach Number Two" as it was designated for the amphibious assault during WWII. It was with some misgivings that planners picked this beach and a smaller beach to the north for the invasion since both were very narrow, but the result has been called by some the most brilliantly conceived and executed amphibious operation in WWII.

The 2nd Marine Division and naval support forces played the role of decoys advancing on the beach adjacent to Tinian Town (now called San Jose) farther south on the west coast of Tinian on the morning of July 24, 1944. This was a much better landing place than the beaches to the north so the Japanese, who were already well prepared for a landing here, were not surprised at this development. Our forces were unhurried in their approach in order to give the Japanese time to concentrate their forces, then, after taking some heavy hits from shore batteries, the forces steamed north and joined the 4th Marine Division which was already storming ashore on the lightly defended northern beaches.

I saw a large anchor in a trench outside the reef at Chulu Beach, but no other signs of battle. The reef and shore give little indication of the destructive forces unleashed here.

To complete the last leg of the west side of the island, I reversed my usual clockwise track and swam south from Tahgong Point, the northern point of the island, back to Chulu Beach. This point is also called Cross Point because of the monuments erected there in memory of thirteen people who have perished in the Tinian-Saipan Channel, most in boating accidents.

Swell was approaching from the east, pivoting around the point, surging up over the bench and then slamming into the base of a low cliff just to the west of the point. About 50 yards east of the point, the waves were moving more parallel to shore with the water rising and falling like an elevator and usually not topping the bench. I elected to enter the water via the elevator and jumped in when it got to my floor.

I had not checked the charts too carefully before my swim, but knew I would first pass Lamlam Beach, a small beach from which I started my swim of the Saipan- Tinian Channel in June. I knew Chulu Beach was about 1 1/2 miles south of Lamlam Beach and was surprised at the good pace I was setting when the beach came into view sooner than I expected after passing Lamlam.
The beach looked smaller than I remembered Chulu Beach and my doubts were confirmed when I came ashore after a somewhat challenging low tide reef crossing. I had come ashore on what I would later find out was Babui Beach known as "White Beach Number One" in the WWII amphibious assault. Relaunching was an easy matter of wading out to the reef and jumping into deeper water between waves.

My swim down the shoreline to Chulu Beach was eventful from the standpoint of observing thirteen coral-eating crown of thorns starfish In a twenty minute period. This is more than the total I had observed up to this time since returning to the islands. I hope this is not the beginning of an infestation like the one in the late sixties. It will be something to keep an eye on.

This last swim was on November 12th and would be my last swim for over a month that actually contributed to completing the shoreline. Due to the hazardous conditions on the east coast, I had to be content with exploring a patch reef with great coral diversity and some other areas closer to home.

Not wanting to finish the year out without making some more progress, on December 17 I decided to see just how bad the east side was. The trade winds had not been too strong for a couple of days and it looked like my best opportunity. It did not look too promising at Tahgong Point with the waves just to the west of the point now plunging on the bench instead of just surging across it. However, as before, there was a place where I could cross the bench and jump in a little farther to the east.

My plan was to swim down the east coast to Chiget Beach, a distance of about three miles. I did not go too far before I realized I probably better scale back my plans. There was a current running in the Saipan-Tinian channel from east to west; not too strong near shore, but enough to impede progress combined with confused seas caused by incoming swell colliding with outgoing waves reflected from the face of the bench.

The water was very clear allowing viewing of coral formations and sea creatures. In the first two hours, I saw three blacktip sharks and seven green turtles, two of the turtles probably weighing in over 100 lbs. Later, a black sting ray and 6 foot black moray eel finished out my creature list for the day and I turned my attention to conditions along the shoreline.

This part of the coast was an unbroken line of rock bench projecting four or five feet above the sea surface and extending back to a low cliff. The coast line was facing directly into the approaching swell and the benches were taking a pounding. In scaling back my distance goal, I decided to try to come ashore at the blowhole, the place where I ended my last swim of the channel. There are several blowholes along the coast where incoming waves force air and water up through cracks in the bench resulting in geysers of water and spray. Figuring out which one was the one I was aiming for was a little difficult, but it did not really make any difference because the waves hitting the bench did not invite exiting at any of the blowholes.

At this time, I was passing the east end of Runway Able, a B-29 runway constructed after we invaded Tinian. It was on August 6th of 1945 that a B-29 took off from this runway heavily loaded and struggling for altitude as it crossed the shoreline at 2:45 in the morning. The plane was named Enola Gay, the maiden name of the pilot's mother and in it's bomb bay was a bomb named "Little Boy", neither name giving any hint of what lay ahead for the city of Hiroshima, Japan. It was a much lighter Enola Gay that touched down on the runway that afternoon after a twelve hour flight. The mission had been successful, a mission that would hasten the end of a war that had already cost over 50 million lives, a mission that would change the world and the crew of the Enola Gay.

About an hour later, with no breaks in the bench in sight, I decided it was time to see just how formidable an obstacle the bench face was. I saw a place where it looked like there were projections at the top of the bench face that I could hang onto as a wave surged over the top. The waves did not seem to be surging high enough to lift me over the edge and that proved to be the case. However, the handholds were hard to find in the foam as the wave surged and I slid back down the face of the bench 7 or 8 feet into the trough of the next wave. I tried this several times and then retreated in the interest of self preservation. I had some lumps and was losing some blood, but nothing major.

I swam on for another hour and a half and, with about an hour and a half of daylight remaining, I was not seeing anything promising. It had taken me over six hours to cover less than three miles. I had gotten an appreciation of measures I need to take in swimming the rest of the east shore line and I had learned some valuable lessons about the bench, but it was time to head for home.

It was hard to see looking into the setting sun, but I spotted what looked like a slot running through the bench and almost to the base of the twelve foot cliff beyond. At the end of the slot, the sun was shining through a crack in the cliff and it looked more inviting than anything I had seen or anything I could see ahead. As I started into the slot, a big wave hit me from behind and ripped my face mask off. The wave pushed me into what seemed like a big washing machine. Water was cascading into the slot from the bench on both sides and waves were surging in from the entrance. The incoming waves kept pushing me farther into the slot until I could touch bottom. As the water got shallower, I could almost get my feet set against the water being pulled out by the next wave, but was then dragged across the rocks. I finally got my feet set and was pushed in by the next wave. I scrambled up the narrow bench at the end of the slot and climbed up the crack in the cliff to the top.

The next morning, I would take an inventory of my "souvenirs" from my adventure. I had a sunburned forehead, bruised rib, bruised elbows and calf. I had 49 cuts, scratches and scuffs. The loss of my face mask was the only serious damage.

For now, I had a couple of hundred yards of rough coral rocks covered with bushes weeds and vines between me and the road. Sometimes the vegetation was chest deep and the only way I could get through was to lie on my back and inch my way over the top, occasionally breaking through to dirt and rock below. I crawled under a vine covered bush with one more pile of vines ahead which ended up being underlain by a 7 foot chain like fence. It was dark when I dropped down from the fence to the road. I had worn canvas shoes for this swim and started pounding pavement. I phoned in my safe return from a phone at the airport.

The year 2008 was a good year. I returned to the islands and the sea for the first time in 27 years. I celebrated my 70th birthday in the middle of the Saipan-Tinian Channel and have had other adventures of which I have dreamed for decades.

I hope this has been a good year for you and that this will be a joyous Christmas. I am looking forward to 2009 and hope that you are. More to follow in 2009.

Jim Bell