[PSUBS-MAILIST] More youthful wetsub experiences

[tmsmalley@usinternet.com]

A few years earlier (1964-65, I was 14 or 15 at the time) I did build a simple wooden tow behind-the-boat "wetsub" that you laid down on plans gleaned from another Pop Mech (Mech Illus?) article. I looked like I was lying on a cross - only face down. 

The cross' arms had diving planes hinged on the trailing edges. I ran an airhose (from a gas-powered aircompressor I made from a $5 lawn mower motor and an old air compressor) down the tow rope to a hotwater bottle air reservior and mouthpiece that I had pulled the idea from another Popular Mechanics story. A diving faceplate and fins to help steer completed my ensemble.

Dad ran our 12 foot duckboat with a 9.5 HP motor (very slowly) and pulled me along about 30 feet astern. I pushed the plane controls forward and down I went, right into a weed bed of lilly pads! Ecchh. 

The sub came to a screaming halt - and of course so did the boat. Mom, who was watching out the front door of the cabin, thought "the old man" was going to drown me for sure. I was fine, but the "sub" got put away after her first dive. But subs were in my blood after that - plus a little CO from the lawn mower engine!

I still have an old black and white Polaroid photo of me standing on the dock with my homemade hookah diving rig. A very proud moment!