[PSUBS-MAILIST] MINE! ALL MINE!!!!

Imagine, having a 4-Million Dollar, 48 passenger luxury commercial submarine, complete with crew, all to yourself for a joyride through the beautiful blue waters of Hawaii. Sound like a prize in some fantastic underwater sweepstakes? The stuff that a submariner's dreams are made of? Well, maybe so; but nonetheless, that's exactly what Lynn and I did today; and we've got the video to prove it!

Today, we drove to Kailua-Kona to have some contributed footage transferred to a useable format for the HOMEBUILT SUBMARINES VIDEO at a company that specializes in that sort of thing. And while we had a couple hours to kill, we went over and rented the ATLANTIS VII SUBMARINE.

The good folks at ATLANTIS SUBMARINES were really amazed when I introduced myself and told them about the NAUTILUS MINISUB. They gave us the red-carpet treatment, just like we were part of the family or something! It was really just too cool!

The weather during the early-afternoon excursion was slightly overcast, but the sea was pretty flat and conditions were excellent! We went aboard with three camcorders, including one with lights and one with a special wide angle lens, and filmed the operation from every conceivable angle (except outside).

We'd been on the ATLANTIS IV at Lahaina, Maui back in '92; and it's a great experience even when the boat is loaded with paying customers. But having this 65-foot leviathan all to ourselves was the ultimate experience of this psubber's lifetime (so far, anyway!)

The crew was most cordial and fun to be with for the entire experience; and our pilot was super cool! When I wasn't roaming around the cavernously empty interior filming from various angles, I was up in the cockpit talking submarines with him, and filming the action from that viewpoint.

The entire dive was just plain incredible; but the high-point was when we surfaced! Ordinarily, they bring these babies up nice and easy, out of consideration for the less-than-adventurous passengers. But the pilot and I got to talking about what our favorite things to do in submarines was, and we both agreed that our second-favorite thing was blowing radical ballast and "grabbing some air."

Man! He kicked that sucker through the roof at an 8-degree up-bubble, and brought the front dome into the daylight! Remember: this is an 80-ton tourist submarine! WHAT A RUSH!!! ;-)

Lynn and I feel especially fortunate, because they told us the only other folks they've done this for was Tom Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman. (OK, Tom and Nicole went us one better: she got to drive, and he was outside filming her at the controls!)

I asked about making a video-dive with them OUTSIDE the boat at some time in the future; they said they weren't sure if I could swing that due to liability concerns. They once had SCUBA divers in the water who put on a show for the passengers, but had to stop that practice because the sub has thrustors with exposed prop-blades, and the insurance was just too costly. The pilot did give me the name and number of his Boss, though; and said I might ask him. I doubt they'll let me stand on the deck with my SONY MARINEPAK while she goes under, but I'm hoping there's a chance I can be in the neighborhood while she's underway some time soon. Seeing about that is next on the agenda.

Anyway, it was a wonderful experience. Lynn and I made some new friends (they want me to bring the NAUTILUS MINISUB to Kona), and a great time was had by all. You can bet this dive is going to be featured in our upcoming HOMEBUILT SUBMARINES VIDEO! (Which, by the way, is fast-becoming more about all kinds of civilian submarines; not just the homebuilt variety; and it might need a different title in the future. Will keep you advised of changes as they occur.)

Well, that's about it for now. Today goes down in my life-log as one of the best days of "messin' around in submarines" that we've ever had. Just had to share it with you guys.