As a few of you knew, I was in Galveston, Texas last week on my 6 year anniversary to tour some ships and to stand on the place where Clive Cussler and NUMA found the Texas Navy Ship Zavala. David and I spent Monday touring the USS Cavalla, she is the only remaining submarine in the world to sink an aircraft carrier. The carrier she sunk was the Shokaku, that carrier attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. We also toured the USS Stewart, a WWII Destroyer escort. The vessels sit side by side on Pelican Island and both are beautiful.


After checking into our suite at the historic Treemont on Ship's Mechanic Row we set out to find the Zavala. For all of us who have read The Sea Hunters, the location is given and should be easy to find, and she was, what wasn't easy was someone, anyone who had even heard of her. As frustrating as that was, David and I were going to be in for a bigger suprise. We knew exactly where she was located, we were seperated from her by a really tall fence, a grain elevator, AND a tight security guard that refused to let us on the wharf because we weren't employed there. It appears that after 9/11 the wharf was closed to the public and although the Zavala is a HISTORICAL SITE, it can only be viewed by the employees. Needless to say I wasn't happy at all.


Feeling incredibly defeated and hungry on Tuesday morning David and I stoppped off for breakfast at The Diner. I wanted to make one more attempt at seeing the ground where the Zavala was reburied, I don't take no for an answer easily, as I was looking at some books at The Diner a gentleman asked me what was on the back of my shirt. Before I could move my ponytail, he did, and said "NUMA!", what's on the front?" I showed him The General Slocum on the front, he smiled and pointed to another gentleman sitting down and said "He's in NUMA. You don't by any chance read Clive Cussler do ya?" As my heart skipped 2 beats I said "yes". "Well then you two should talk because Jack is looking for the Invincible right now."


I sat down at the table with Jack and Don and we talked about Jack being with Clive when he found the Zavala, I was a kid in a candy store. We discussed Clives' books and the ongoing search for the Invincible. The 2 men had nothing but great things to say about Clive, his shipwreck hunting and his books. I listened to them as they went on and on about how Clive develops his characters and how he approaches looking for ships. I told them about the forum and my reasons for being in Galveston. Both of the men said they wished there were more people like me interested in ships and shipwrecks, I just told them that I was a great cook and had no problems staring at a screen for hours and would happy to help Jack in his search for the Invincible. He told me he had a good idea where she was and would let me know what happened, espesially if Clive would be back in Galveston. In the meantime, he told me to get intouch with a friend of his in Austin that would love to talk to me. He fumbled through his cell phone for the number before realizing he just got a new cell phone and hadn't transfered the number over. With pen in hand I wrote down the first name and I looked at him and said "Gronquist"? He smiled and said "Yes, so you've heard of Wayne?" My heart skipped 4 beats as Jack made me promise that I'd call Wayne Gronquist.


David and I left Jack and Don so we go see the Iron Barque Elissa and the Battleship Texas. As I walked the deck of the Elissa, I was in awe. She is one of my favorite ships in the world and there I was at the wheel with one hell of a memory about one of my favorite authors. I wasn't able to stand on the Zavala site, but my fingers are crossed for the Invincible. I will call Wayne this week and who knows?! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Awesome story Julie.

:o That is utterly awesome, Julie, what an amazing Anniversary you and David must have had!

Thank you so much for sharing that with all of us :)

Great adventure story! This definately qualifies for the Special Projects forum.

Here's a picture of Wayne Gronquist.

Great story Julie w:

What a superb idea th:

Great story Julie. I loved it!!!
Mike

Holy Smokes! That's too cool Julie!!!! :o

Thank you for sharing your AWESOME story and I am keeping my fingers crossed for you. Hope we hear an update to your saga soon! w:

That is awesome. Just...awesome! th: