DECCA BAHAMAS

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The Decca Bahamas chain.  (Map courtesy of: http://www.scubayellowpages.com)

John McGauchie, an ex-Decca employee, recalls his stay in the Bahamas. "From the Gulf I served my  next tour of duty in the Bahamas. What a super difference from where I came! I was flown down to Golding Cay (Green Slave) in a Grumman Goose seaplane where I sat in the copilot's seat. The pilot circled the landing area several times and thought about the best way to land on the choppy water. When the aircraft touched down, there was a solid wall of water over the windshield - nothing was visible. We bounced up and repeated the maneuver several more times before stopping about 50 feet from the beach.

Golding Cay  is an island about 1/2 mile wide by 3/4 mile long which we shared with the RCA personnel running the AUTEC equipment. There was a truck there to haul supplies from the dock to the living quarters and the chow trailer, a distance of around 200 feet. The station transportation was a 14 foot lap strake boat with an 18 hp  Evinrude motor. Night life consisted of running ashore to the local bars in ether Driggs Hill or Mangrove Cay. Coming back to the island in the dark with a beer or two under the belt was very interesting top say the least. There was more than enough fishing and snorkeling at Golding Cay. The island was also haunted by the ghosts of the Golding brothers who were lost at sea. The local help refused to stay after dark. One night, the station dog started growling and it's hackles were up. We figured that there were intruders on the island and went out with flashlights to investigate. The dog went barking off towards the landing beach past the ruins of the Golding house where I could hear footsteps running away. The track dead ended at the beach with high scrub either side. We found no one there so we attributed it to the ghosts. We told the local about it the next day, he was plenty scared. Nearby,  was the Golding family graveyard,  set back far in the bush.  One day I hacked my way into it. The feeling there was very creepy especially after buzzards started circling just over my head.

At the station, we ran the Decca ran Mk12 equipment powered by a pair of Model 271 Korean war-era diesels. These were 2 cylinder, 2 stroke,  supercharged diesels. At 1800 rpm,  they were the noisiest things running.

A particular incident with the diesels will forever be etched in my memory. One day the alarms were clanging wildly and people were yelling to get to the diesel shed in a hurry. An alarm indication showed that one of the diesels had failed. The #1 GM-271 was screaming wide open and the noise was something else. I ran into the shed and saw what was going on. A governor linkage had become inoperative and the fuel injectors had jammed in the fully open position. There were two options - either run like hell before the connecting rods flew apart and burst the crankcase or tear the valve cover away and try to pull the injector linkage to the off position. Rapidly I unscrewed the two wheels holding the valve cover in place and saw what had happened. I quickly grabbed the linkage shutting the engine down. Needless to say, I sustained some burns to my hands and chest from the hot oil spraying all over the place but it was not serious. A split pin (ie cotter pin) had broken allowing a linkage pin to drop off. All it took was the failure of a 5 cent part that almost resulted in the engine blowing itself to pieces.

From there, I moved to North Eleuthera (Purple Slave). At least there we had one Cummins diesel along with two screaming General Motors units  It was a relief when just the Cummins was on-line. Life there was pretty good - at least there was a decent social life.

At Andros, where 20 RCA personnel were stationed, there was very limited social life outside of the base although  North Eleuthera was pretty good with the Hatchet Bay Yacht Club being our favorite watering hole. On Saturday night we could watch "The Green Hornet" movies out on the patio. Now and then we would get another old movie but the camaraderie was so good it did not matter too much. There were some really fancy yachts pulling into there. The owner of the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team  pulled in there and took up the entire length of the dock. I also saw Richard Widmark in the club one week. Such was life at the best posting in my career.

This turned out to be my last contract with Decca since I decided to immigrate to the US where eventually I joined Motorola and remaining with them for 28 years until I retired".

 

The Copa Cabana bar at the abandoned station on Pipe Cay in Decca Station Bay. Thomas Burnett, KC5JNY is standing by the bar. The two semi-circular concrete forms supported a pressure water tank inside the water pumping building. Water was pumped out of a 10,000 gallon external storage tank, chlorinated and sent to the pressure tank for the station's water supply. (Photo by Scott. Courtesy http://www.svprana.net)

 
 

This map of the northern part of Andros Island shows the approximate location of AUTEC HQ to the Tongue of the Ocean. (Map courtesy -  http://www.the-bahama-islands.com/islandmaps/androsmap.html) AUTEC's semi-tropical climate, quiet acoustic environment, and extensive capabilities make it an ideal year-round test facility. AUTEC is located at Andros Island because of its close proximity to the Tongue of the Ocean (TOTO). TOTO is a unique deep-water basin approximately 110 nautical miles long (204 kilometers) and 20 nautical miles wide (almost 37 kilometers), varying in depth from 700-1100 fathoms (1280-2012 meters). The basin floor is relatively smooth and soft, with very gradual depth changes. TOTO is bounded on the west by Andros Island, to the south and east by large areas of very shallow banks that are non-navigable, and to the north by the Northwest Providence Channel. This unique geography results in very low vessel traffic, minimal distant shipping noise, an absence of large ocean swells, and slight currents, while providing operational security and easy access to deep water. These factors make the TOTO an excellent location for a test facility.  (Ref: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/autec.htm)

Aerial view of the master station at Pipe Cay.

View of the master station from the beach. It was located on Pipe Cay, about halfway down the chain of Cays. There were no inhabitants except for the Decca staff of three. This island was 2 to 3 miles long and about 1/2 mile wide. Initially, furniture in the dwellings was made from wooden crates or plywood and was very basic. It was later replaced.

Another view from the harbour. Life was easy on the island. There were three yacht clubs within an range of about 6 miles. Since the Decca supplied boat was  rather slow, the crew clubbed together and purchased a Boston Whaler. This, even with a small outboard, went like the clappers.

A Grumman Goose amphibious aircraft  arrived monthly with food and other goodies.

This tanker brought fuel, water and furniture to the station..

Main equipment room which housed the transmitter.

Power generating house.

Clockwise (L-R): Unknown, Ken (diesel mech.), Malcolm Parton, Max, and Alan.  Max was a Bahamian, who was relief when one of the crew went to Nassau. He was trained by the crew and  became an excellent technician. Every three months or so, one of the crew went to Nassau for a week of sex and sin. The U.S. Navy had hotel and car hire concessions. It was very cheap. At this time, the place was full of American tourists, who just loved a British accent.

This end of the lounge provided passage to bedrooms. When Norman Morris took charge of the station, one of his first actions was to threaten the area manager with a strike if the crew was not supplied with decent furniture. It arrived instantly along with a pool table. Prior to this action the furniture had been sitting in a Nassau warehouse for weeks.

Malcolm and Hugh Ross erect a TV aerial.  Under the right conditions it was possible to receive signals from Florida.

All photos in this table from the collection of Norman Morris

July 1/15