Pulling into Hong Kong Harbor for some much needed R & R after months on Yankee Station off Vietnam and salvage ops in Westpac during my first cruise aboard Lipan.  Circa late 1966 or early 1967.
	The Hong Kong skyline as we pulled in circa 1966/9167.
	One of the ferries in service back then taking passengers between the mainland and the island of Hong Kong.
	Tossing a heaving line to tie up as some Brits wait on the pier to help us into our berth.  Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony at the time and the English presence was large.  There were submarines ahead and astern of us in this tight spot and skipper Chandler had to use all his skills to get us into the berth.
	Another heaving line is tossed as Lipan tries to tie up.   Between the currents, the wind, and the tight quarters Lipan had difficulty getting close enough to get our lines to the pier and after many attempts we finally were able to tie up.
	Success.  Lipan pulls itself into the berth.
	A British Officer supervising the line handlers on the pier awaits to board and greet us to Hong Kong circa 1966/1967.
	Hong Kong 1968 during my second cruise aboard Lipan.  I snapped this classy Junk in the harbor as we pulled in.  It was huge, obviously well made with expensive materials, and probably belonged to a very wealthy individual.
	A fast hydro-foil transport in use at the time in Hong Kong.  These ferries were incredibly fast and darted around the crowded harbor.
	SN Bob Stradford on the mooring buoy to assist as we tie up out in the harbor.   After we tied up a nuclear sub berthed alongside us and we rigged a bridle on its bow and hooked up our towline before they shut down their reactor.  This was standard practice at the time, being so close to the Communist mainland, the navy feared problems may arise and the sub would need hours to re-activate its reactor.  If a problem occurred Lipan's job was to tow the sub out to sea before its reactor came online.
	The USS Seadragon SSN 584, the nuclear submarine that tied up alongside us in Hong Kong.  We went aboard for a looksee and it was surprisingly homey.
	L to R Headlee Daniels RM3, Paul Silman SM2, Mr. Lawrence our Executive Officer, and Abraham EM3.  Our pay records were lost and we never got paid all the time we were in Hong Kong and guys were selling their clothes to make a buck.  We finally got paid 24 hours before we pulled out.  It really put a damper on a much needed R & R.
	Mary Soo and her sidecleaners.  Sounds like a rock group but Mary Soo was known far and wide by sailors in the region.  We'd save all our old brass shell casings from our big gun after we'd fire it.  Anything brass and no longer useful also was saved in our "Brass Locker", along with defunct equipment.  Mary Soo, an ancient Chinese woman, would come aboard and assess the paint job and then examine all the old brass and junk we'd assemble on the forecastle and we'd strike a deal to have the entire ship painted by her workers.  The scope and scale of the job depended on the size of the pile of brass and junk.  We had enough for a topnotch paintjob inside and out.
	Some of Mary Soo's sidecleaners.  These folks, mostly women, worked feverishly for long hours.  They used paintbrushes tied to sticks to extend their reach.  The people who painted the cabins for us would cut up a foot long piece of nylon line and unravel it into a ball which they grabbed with their hand and plunged into the paintbucket.  Then they'd use the paint-laden rope to paint the overheads which were covered with cables, wires, etc.  They could really get into all the nooks and crannies with their hands and the painting went quickly.  Ingenious.  Circa 1968.
	The sidecleaner's children would sit on the fantail and sell soda.  None of us had any money because our pay records had been lost and at night much of their soda would "disappear" without payment.  What a paint job we got.  They sanded and scraped everything, applied red lead and zinc chromate primer as needed, and painted out the entire ship from stem to stern using primitive equipment.
	Tiger Balm Gardens in Hong Kong.  A park-like area with lots of fancy decorated buildings, grounds, and statues.  With no money due to our lost pay records it was one of the few things we could afford to do.
	Me at Tiger Balm Gardens.
	Ron Davis SN at Tiger Balm Gardens.  Circa 1968.
	L to R Jim Ventura RM3 (SN at the time), Bob Stradford SN, and Ron Davis SN.
	The Buddha was off limits and surrounded by barbed wire but that didn't stop Jim Ventura.  I don't have the photo (maybe he does?..... Jimmie where are you?) but Jimmie climbed over the barbed wire and we snapped a photo of him sitting on Buddha's knee and sticking his finger in his belly button.  Like I said, we lost our pay records, had no money, and had to make our own fun.
	L to R Jim Ventura RM3, me, and Ron Davis SN.
	Bob Stradford SN and me.