WorldWide Drilling Resource

Stay Out of the Water by Art Beatty Antofagasta, Chile This happened about 37 years ago. I was between jobs and the president of Boyles Bros. called to ask if I would like to go over to New Mexico, and I could take my wife. He said one of my old foremen, Clyde, would be running the job, so I wouldn’t have any trouble getting him started. He said we could take a brand new pickup; I could drive to Salt Lake, then to the jobsite. I said it sounded like a good deal, so we hopped in the truck and took off. The company was required to have female helpers to train them to be drill operators. Clyde was kind of a ladies’ man and had a pretty female helping him. So this was the crew. One day, the clouds came in and boy they looked mean. In this area, flash floods happen and the dry washes become rivers. I told my wife we would leave early in hopes we could reach the crossing before the flood. Well, we didn’t make it. When we got to the first big wash, it was really rough. I had a lot of experience with that kind of water, and you don’t play with it. You just don’t cross it! There was a pickup truck with the survey leader and his crew, and they came over and asked if I was going to try and make it across. It was definitely not worth the trouble, and I said there was no way I was going to try it. So we were talking and here came Clyde with his helper saying, “Hey Beatty, you getting old?” I told him it was too rough for me, and he should stay put for an hour or two and let it die down. He said no, he was going through it. The surveyor agreed he should stay put too, saying he should listen to me since I had more experience. Clyde was driving an old pickup truck that should have been retired, and he just went right out in it, then started floating down the river! He kind of made a turn and it looked as if the truck was about to turn over. About halfway across, it appeared as if it got hung up on something, and the pickup was just rocking back and forth so we thought it was going to turn over. The surveyor got a big rock, tied it to a rope, and threw it out several times, but it wouldn’t go far enough. I asked if he had some plastic surveyors tape, about and inch wide. He did have some, so we tied a rock about the size and weight of a base- ball to it. I asked which one of his crew played baseball, and one young husky guy jumped up, saying he did. I asked him if he could throw it near the truck, letting the tape float, so Clyde could grab the tape. So he threw it about three-quarters of the way - right where I wanted it - and the current took the tape to the truck. Clyde tied the rope around the woman first, and I said he needed to tie it around himself too. After Clyde said he could hold on to the tape, the surveyor hollered at him to not be stupid again, and tie the rope around himself. The woman was able to keep her head up, but Clyde kept going down in the muddy water. So we pulled them out, and my wife put a spare blanket from our pickup around the woman. She was really scared and in shock. Clyde was also shocked, it was a big event for him too by now. We put them in the pickup trucks with the heat turned up high. We had just a little while - about half an hour or so - until the water went down so we could cross. So that’s how things used to go for me. They didn’t have strict rules back then. Nowadays, a mining company wouldn’t allow anyone to get close to that kind of water and mud. Art Art Beatty may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Hydraulic-Pneumatic tools in stock. Sizes 1” to 20”. SALE Mention this ad and receive sales discount. Model 113HD All Hydraulic Sizes 1"-13" 2547 W Success Way Emmett, ID 83617 (208) 365-3492 • Fax: (208) 365-3792 rauchmfg.com rauchmfg@frontiernet.net 302-684-3197 FAX: 302-384-0643 142 Broadkill Rd. • Milton, DE 19968 www.atlantic-screen.com email: atlantic@ce.net Manufacturers of Slotted & Perforated Pipe ranging from ½” to 24” diameter Atlantic Screen & Mfg., Inc. • Well Rehab. Products • Manholes • Bentonite • Filter Sock • Inline Chemical Mixers • Sampling Bailers • Clear PVC Pipe • Locking Caps 45 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® SEPTEMBER 2017