Pierre Odier - Bhutan: Seeking the Brakpa Minorities in East Bhutan
Pierre Odier
Join us as Pierre Odier, Member #988, once again tells it like it is, while taking us on another amazing adventure.
After visiting most of Bhutan and a 3 day trek to the east a rare chance to witness the rare Yak dance,
performed in Pierre's honor as a guest of the royal grandmother.
The villagers had not seen this dance for several years and thanked him for making it possible.
Pierre did not understand how that was made possible,
but just went with the flow and later respectfully thank the royal Grandmother with a gift of a native American woven basket.
Rich Abele, International Adventurer The Search for the USS GRUNION (SS-216)
Rich Abele, International Adventurer Navigating off Kiska Island
In March 1942 the USS Grunion (SS-216) – a newly commissioned GATO-class submarine, quietly left New London, Connecticut
for her first war time patrol in the Pacific.
While patrolling near Kiska in the Aleutian Islands in July, she disappeared.
For over 60 years, nothing was known as to what happened to this fast attack submarine.
Rich Abele, a retired Navy Captain, aerospace professional and adventurer, was asked by one of the son’s of
the sub’s commanding officer to join him on an expedition in 2007 to search for the missing submarine.
Rich went along on the expedition which found the sub with the use of a state-of-the-art ROV.
The search was well documented, AP releases ensued, a video segment appeared twice on the TODAY Show, and
two books have been recently released.
The US Navy has finally acknowledged that, indeed, the USS Grunion was found and memorial services have been held.
Grunion Plaque, Pearl Harbor
Rich’s presentation will highlight the efforts to find the location of the sub, the multiple searches, and its discovery.
But the cause of the sub’s loss is the primary mystery that still is unresolved.
Various hypotheses and scenarios will be explored during his presentation.
The whole story of the son’s of the commanding officer (LCDR Mannert L. Abele) – who are cousins of Rich –
is a fascinating one and should not be missed by Club members.
Rich is an avid international adventurer who is following his passion of travel all over the world.
He has visited over 130 countries and has been to both the North and South Poles including five trips to
the Antarctic including the running of a marathon on this frozen continent.
Recent trips include visits to 17 west African countries, the NW Passage, Indonesia and the remote islands in
the South and Mid-Atlantic oceans.
He has climbed 3 of the highest peaks on the 7 continents, as well as mountaineering treks in Nepal, India, South America, Greenland and Europe.
A passionate photographer, he has contributed to both books about the search for the USS Grunion and
has made numerous presentations to various civic organizations, schools and expedition cruises.
In his spare time, he enjoys repairing old miner’s cabins and leading tours aboard the museum battleship USS IOWA (BB-61).
Ken is a photo-journalist who specializes in motorcycles.
He has been to 73 countries and has ridden motorcycles on six continents.
Ride along as he shares his experiences with the Colombian Army in mountainous areas where they are
fighting the FARC rebels in ongoing cocaine wars, picks coffee at a plantation,
explores remote villages and dodges landslides on steep mountain roads.
In Peru Ken followed part of the Dakar Rally route, visited the “lost” Inca city of Machu Picchu,
descended into Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon,
and rode the world’s highest paved road.
Join him as he rides the “Road of Death” in Bolivia, where 20,000 people have died,
zipline a mile across deep canyons,
ride across the world’s largest salt flats,
and sail on the world’s highest commercially navigable lake, with floating islands!
Go deep inside a mine at over 13,000 feet, explode dynamite, and more.
In September 2012, 67 Sherlock Holmes fans and an International press corps of 27 reporters went to Switzerland
to follow in the Detective's footsteps culminating in the confrontation between Holmes and Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls.
The pilgrims, members of Sherlock societies from many countries, ranged in age from young adult to dead.
The group cruised on Lake Brienz, rode funicular railways up to remote waterfalls, visited a cave with a waterfall inside,
rode an antique steam train, and went to the summit of Jungfrau in a more modern train.
We participated in two parades, met numerous Swiss officials,
and stopped traffic wherever we went because we were in full Victorian costume for the whole trip!
Moriarty, Holmes and Watson at Reichenbach Falls
Marty is a native of Brooklyn New York, so be nice to her or she'll kill you.
Her father was a stevedore on the Brooklyn waterfront,
her mother was a model... naturally she looks like her father!
She survived the subways and the New York Public School system and escaped to California as soon as she graduated from college.
She has dabbled in everything from rock climbing, hot air ballooning, hang gliding (she perfected tihe "chin landing") and white water rafting.
She became a fixed-wing pilot and ten years later, after serving as an observer in helicopters (security and traffic control)
during the 1984 Olympics, she learned to fly Helicopters.
She has a commercial license and a turbine transition in Jetrangers.
She was 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Professional Helicopter Pilots Association,
and was also on the airport associations for Burbank and Whiteman ariports.
She has traveled to all 50 states, 12 foreign countries, and still likes California best.
Marty was an Engineer at Caltrans for 37 years, which is where she met Bob Walters.
As part of her duties in Public Transportation and Rail she got to play with real trains.
Now retired, Bob and Marty live part time in a cabin in Washington state.
Through the years Marty and Bob have had horses, raptors, and many dogs and cats.
Marty volunteers at the animal shelter in Washington and also does volunteer work with the Friends of the North Head Lighthouse.
She has been a Sherlock Holmes fan since childhood and belongs to Holmes societies in Los Angeles, Portland OR and London.
L'Image Odier Publishing
