WorldWide Drilling Resource

WorldWide Drilling Resource ® is proud to be a member of these international associations. New Zealand Drillers Federation, Inc. www.nzdrillersfederation.co.nz Ontario Groundwater Association Tel: 519-245-7194 Fax: 519-245-7196 ogwa@ogwa.ca • www.ogwa.ca Australian Drilling Industry Association adia@adia.com.au British Columbia Ground Water Assn. Tel: 604-530-8934 Fax: 604-530-8934 secretary@bcgwa.org • www.bcgwa.org Alberta Water Well Drilling Association Tel: 780-386-2335 awwda@xplornet.com Atlantic Water Well Association Tel: 888-242-4440 Fax: 902-435-0089 nsgwa@ns.aliantzinc.ca • www.nsgwa.ca 41 JUNE 2015 Water for Life International by Tim Rasmussen No Passport? No Problem? Ramiro Gonzales, also known as “Speedy,” is one of our volunteers [photo above]. He was born in Guatemala, but has lived all his life in the U.S. He and his friend Bucky Mowry are from the Columbus, Ohio area. They have worked for at least seven drilling seasons contributing trucks, equipment, experience, and energy to Water for Life. I am not sure where Speedy got his name, but it is probably from his love for things that go fast, from auto racing when he was a young man to his current love for airplanes. This year, they traveled in a new plane, a 260 Piper Comanche with speed modifications, and loaded down with supplies and gifts for village folks. Bucky’s mom makes baby blankets all year, and this year sent 60 of them for village mothers with babies. There was so much stuff to put in the plane, Speedy removed the rear seats to make room and save weight. There is a lot of paperwork to do when making an international flight in a small plane. Every document regarding the plane must be current and correct. The GPS system must be upgraded. The air- worthiness certificate, repair records, and ownership documents must be in order and available. The governments of foreign countries are very careful with small air- craft entering the country because of smuggling drugs and other contraband. Speedy and Bucky took off from Ohio and headed south to Florida. Their point of departure for the flight across the Caribbean was Naples. Here, they would make the last paperwork preparations and make sure the plane was ready. The flight across the Caribbean is 5½ hours to Flores, Guatemala. The plane is equipped with extra fuel tanks to give a total capacity of 90 gallons. Early in the morning, they launched for the trip. It was uneventful, but there is some anxiety when you reach the point of no return. From there, you cannot go back, you can only go on. But the engine keeps on with a steady roar and the only thing to do is monitor the progress on the GPS, watch the engine gauges, keep an eye on the fuel flow meters and fuel tanks, watch the altimeter, and keep on going forward. It is a long way to land, but the airplane is fast, keeping up a steady 180 knots. Finally, they crossed the shoreline and headed to Flores International Airport, where they would go through Guatemala Immigration and Customs. After they landed and went into the office and started to do the paperwork to come on into the country, Speedy reached for his passport and it wasn’t in his pocket. In fact, it was home in his dresser drawer! In his focus on getting the airplane into the country, he had for- gotten to make preparation for getting himself into the country. For those of us who fly on commer- cial planes, our passports are checked about three times to make sure we have them and everything is in order before we leave the country, but in a small plane none of this is done. In fact, no one checked at all to see if Bucky and Speedy even had passports when they left the U.S. He was an illegal (at least for about 20 minutes). The Guatemalan authorities were very understanding. They recognized Speedy from prior trips and accepted his U.S. pilot’s license. He was cleared into the country ona conditionhepresent his passport within ten days. No passport? No problem! If you would like to help, please contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-466-5075 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail at michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com WorldWide Drilling Resource ®