■ I hiked up the ladder to the bridge and walked into the pilothouse where Dison stood, his muscled arms outstretched to the huge wheel rising to chin height. The wheel had been salvaged from a grounded freighter in northern Palau some years prior.
“We go west side, out Uchlong. Tide high and good for kine passage,” Dison said. Then chuckling, he commented, “Peter no like us go this way, but high tide OK. Only watch out for coral heads,” he laughed, “Bom-by no more EMERAECH.”
“Yeah,” I said, “big hole in bottom, bom-by, hee hee.” With full baitwells, the EMERAECH drew over 12 feet.
Uchlong referred to the island off our starboard quarter and there was no passage, only a great expanse of sand, coral heads and blue water…