I notice in the briefing that most emphasis is placed on the area north of the inlet. Have you lost interest in the "anomaly" or is that in another chapter?
The briefing was for the team that is going ashore.
The other team members have been preparing for their ROV work behind the scenes.
Also wish there was a part of the team that was more interested in serious machinery, like at least a brush cutter with a saw blade for cutting underbrush (Stihl has them)
TIGHAR developed its own pneumatic loppers for clearing scaevola--I believe the design came from Jim Thompson, our GIS expert. The team also takes chain saws. They have learned what works. They know how to clear ground when they have to. But they can't clear the the ground at random. Step one: find targets. Step two: clear what needs clearing.
... maybe not an ice chest, but wouldn't it be an advantage to have more goodies stached there rather than having to wait to get back to the ship for refreshment? Or what if a storm comes up and you're unable to get back to the ship before you're back pack runs out?
I'm pretty sure Ric and the veterans have got contingencies covered. People have stayed overnight on short notice--and with great zeal and delight.
Nobody is more anxious about covering all the bases than Ric is: food, water, tools, first-aid kits, plans for this kind of emergency or that kind of emergency, etc.
Shipping, packing, transporting, offloading, preserving gear is a series of tradeoffs. Decisions have to be made about what can and cannot be provided. Those decisions were made weeks, if not months ago. If the gear is not already in transit, it will be very shortly. FedEx has been WONDERFUL over the years providing free shipping. I think they are still one of the corporate sponsors for TIGHAR, all year long, every year.