During the Week of the Albatross Splash-In (February 2nd-11th, 2001) near Boulder City, Nevada, we, Steve McCaughey and Mary Jahn, were betrothed in flight over Lake Mead aboard an Albatross on February 3rd! This wonderful strange bird, the "Gitmo Ghost" is owned by Dennis Buehn. It has been lovingly restored by Dennis from the boneyards! She is painted in her Navy colors with her serial number 927 proudly displayed on her nose! 

We met Dennis (pictured above) and his lovely wife, Laura, over Thanksgiving weekend, in November 2000,  to begin making arrangements for this extraordinary wet, wild and wonderful wedding. The phenomenal sight when arriving at their hangar and office was every seaplane enthusiast's dream come true! There out on the tarmac were row after row of Albatrosses and other Strange Birds! 

What a sight to behold... A few of the old  HU-16 Albatrosses were in restoration process or upgrading or, as in the case of the "Gitmo Ghost",  in a state of perfection ready to roll off the tarmac, climb into the blue sky and land with a huge splash in a nearby lake! Dennis graciously showed us around his entire operation and we just fell more in love with these glorious huge flying water birds! 

            The planning and discussions with Dennis were like sitting and listening to a wise man, spinning his tales of life lessons and always being able to see beauty in all that may at first appear ugly.  That's how he found his cherished "Gitmo Ghost"... as an ugly wreck in a military "boneyard" for discarded old planes and machinery! He saw past that, to the beauty that she once was, when he worked on her in Guantanimo Bay, so many years ago, and with his loving dedication and hard work, would make possible once again! Dennis shared stories of the years working on Albatrosses, for customers who became life-long friends. He has his Warbirds business set up to make repairs and upkeep for the few precious Albatrosses still out there flying as well as those being resurrected from the Navy and Air Force salvage yards. 

After that weekend, we kept in touch with Dennis, diligently planning our wet, wild and wonderful wedding on Lake Mead with the Albatross flock of birds surrounding us... 

And in late January, we began our dream wedding journey... Click Here: Wedding Trip

One of our Strange Bird contemporaries,
Jimmy Buffett, puts it best in his song:

Half fast and seldom seen 
He don't blip the radar screen 
On the deck below the dune 
Under the commander's moon 
Strange bird from a different nest 
Flying low not like all of the rest 
God only knows where the strange bird goes when he's flying 

Everybody's trying to find him 
But they don't know where to start 
The ornithologist lady says that he has wings on his heart 

Chorus: 
Strange bird from a different nest 
Flying low not like all of the rest
If you can't catch him you can't name him 
If you can't see him you can't claim him 
Stay on the ground or he will shoot you down 
Wings on his heart, he's a strange bird 

Frequent flyer, seldom seen 
High above the Caribbean 
In my day I've met a few but he's the strangest bird that's true 
 

But he's in love with the lady of the waters 
And she lives somewhere up around Cheauxvan 
He's gonna circle high above her runway of love 
Until she gives him her permission to land 

Chorus: 
Strange bird from a different nest 
Flying low not like all of the rest 
If you can't catch him you can't name him 
If you can't see him you can't claim him 
Stay on the ground or he will shoot you down 
Wings on his heart, he's a strange bird 
Watch out girl, he's a strange bird

Strange bird flying low 
'Cross the Gulf of Mexico 
Strange bird not like all the rest 
Watch out girl he's a strange bird 
Shoot you down, he's a strange bird 
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a strange bird 

Strange Bird 
By: Jimmy Buffett, Jay Oliver 
1989