The mystery guests remain a mystery

This morning we were up cleaning the cabin for the Billabong seaplane crew, which was to arrive today. And they did-for a moment.

But as the plane neared the water and touched down, it quickly bounced back up.

The rolling waves were too much and they couldn’t land. They circled for about half an hour looking for the water to calm down and they scoped out an area that Moore said had plenty of debris to look at and then, they left.

The Billabong seaplane just as it touches the water before bouncing up again. Photo Lindsey Hoshaw

So who were these mystery people? Rumors were floating that maybe the Honolulu mayor was on board or even Jack Johnson since he’s friends with filmographer Mike Prickett who helped organize the trip. But we may never know.

Bill, Jeff and I stare off into the distance looking for the plane.

Luckily, a lot happened the rest of the day. Jeff swam out and found a piece of a packing crate and Captain Moore found over twenty large pieces of garbage-a flower pot, part of a black trash bag, a water bottle, a buoy and some yellow rope (among other things).

We hauled all of it on board and brought in the other debris we’d tied to the back of the ship as a display for the Billabong crew. By 3pm (HST) we were sailing again, leaving the area we’d been hanging out in for the last three days. Now, it’s on to the garbage patch.

Jeff swam out this morning and retrieved part of a plastic packing crate. Photo Lindsey Hoshaw