RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Lost my submarine virginity.

Hi all, I've been a silent watcher of this group for quite some time but I thought I might share my first submarine experience with anyone that may not have had the pleasure of riding in one. I just got married on July 14th, and for our honeymoon, my wife and I went on a cruise to Ensenada, San Diego, and Catalina Island. Before we even left I told her that I wanted to go on the semi-submersible that they had at Catalina. Upon our arrival to Catalina, my wife collected some brochures on activites to do on the island. As she walked up to me she said "I'm not sure if I should show you this or not." Then she handed me the beautiful brochure of a two man submersible that was giving rides on the island. Not a semi-submersible mind you, but a fully enclosed two man sub that is operated by an individual in SCUBA gear on the outside. The company that manufactured the sub has a web site at www.seamagine.com . I pushed my eyes back into my head and we immediately headed over to the ticket booth. The brochure had everything on it but the price so of course that was my first question. I won't put the exact amount up but it was a little over $100 per person for 45 minutes. Now, some may say "Wow, that's reasonable" and some may say "Holy Crap, what a rip off!" But for someone who had dreamed about riding in a submarine for quite a long time, it was a small price to pay. "One please!" I said with the enthusiasm of a child buying his first toy. "Oh, we can't sell them single, you need two people." A side glance to my wife who is extremely claustophobic let me know I was looking in the wrong direction. Then, the lady standing next to the ticket attendant says "Oh no, they're accepting single seats now." WOO HOO. Sign me up. Ticket in hand, we left to walk around while the time ticked away. Upon arriving back to the dock where the sub was, we waited for the go ahead to come down. One of the sub operators looked up and asked if "we" were next. "Well, I'm next." His reply was, "They only sold you one ticket????" My heart sank. "Why isn't she going?" He asked pointing to my wife. "She's extremely claustophobic." I said. "Not in my sub she isn't, come on down and sit in it, you'll see." After signing the waver and going through the extensive safety session, he had my wife and I climb in so he could do a dry run. "I'm just going to close the canopy, the life support system will kick in, if you feel uncomfortable, just let me know and we'll let you out." Now you couldn't pry me out of the sub with a jack-hammer but my wife looked like a deer in headlights. He closed the big clam-like bubble on us. As he opened the bubble, he asked if everything was ok and if my wife would like to go. As all eyes were on here she stammered out and "OoooooooK". Let's go. It was everything I could have dreamed of after that. We were submerged a total of about 45 minutes, the most exciting part for me was being halfway below the water and half above. What a feeling. When he asked if I would like to pilot it for a while, I snagged up the joystick and followed the kelp line. We scooted around at about 60ft and observed the submerged wildlife. It was a whole new world down there, animals that aren't afraid to come up to you and play. The whole submarine vanished as I was caught up in observing everything around me, fish, kelp, sea slug, and the glass-bottom boat from a new angle :-). I was so excited I hated to leave, I can't wait to get the pictures back and re-live the experience again and again. One of these days, I will have my own Psub to take out and explore. Thanks to all who have contributed to this site and the list. I know I've been long winded, but for those who have not had the chance to be in a sub, it will be everything you think it will be and more. Keep up the good work guys.