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Persistence is now official!
The following is a LONG account of launch
day.
We launched Sunday June sixth. What an
occasion! I never though it would draw such a crowd. I know there
were over a hundred people there, and maybe another hundred through
out the three hour we were diving and maneuvering in the water.
We served hotdogs and snack food to maybe every second person. We
brought four cases of soft drink, two cases of snack food
packs and a hundred hotdogs. We came home empty
handed. A little yellow sub in a lake sure attracts some
attention. Many of the people there were people that had a hand in
on some aspect of the project over the years of construction and some
were just long time friends. One special guest was my "just in case"
rescue dive and fellow PSUBS'er, Al Secore. He was kind enough to
bring his underwater cameras and shot some pics and footage in the "pea
soup" water.
The weather wasn't sunny but at least it didn't
rain as it has for the two days before. It would have been better if the
water was clearer though. Visibility was about two feet. I couldn't
see the front of the sub from the pilots seat.
At home we packed up and headed to the launch site
with food and a grill in tools in the back of the truck and the sub following on
it's trailer. The launch site is only about six miles from home in a State
park lake. It was chosen for it's close proximity and the nice park
setting for the people that wanted to see the launch.
I cleared the launch with the park officials two
weeks earlier. They were very accommodating. Truth be told, I think
they were quite excited that I chose them for the launch site. When we
arrived at the park I was surprised to be confronted with a four page lawyer
written document. It was a release to clear the park, the state, the
rangers, and probably even the governor if something goes wrong.
OK! If I have to. One surprise though, was the requirement that I
have a rescue diver present. I guess they didn't have the
same confidence in my little yellow toy that I did. A
rescue diver was discussed early on, but it wasn't a requirement, now it
was. It sure was comforting to know our own PSUBS, Al Secore,
was in route, with diving equipment and cameras. I signed and that was
that.
After all gather had a "look see" at the sub
on the trailer, including climbing up on the fenders to see inside, we moved
into position for a group picture. It was a BIG group, so getting everyone
together for a picture wasn't easy. It looked like a yellow billboard. We
all wore yellow T-shirts I had printed up for the occasion and stood in front of
the yellow sub. After that we repositioned the trailer again on the ramp
and started the launch procedure.
My trailer has a 19 foot tongue extension which
requires the trailer to be disconnected from the truck and then rehooked
with the extension in place between the truck and the trailer. The trailer
converts to a five wheel cart with a nineteen foot pipe to push and pull it
with. Just before it was ready to start into the water, my nephew
handed me a bottle of bubbly to bash on the bow as we christened the
sub "Persistence." As submarines go, it's small so it
was tiny bottle. Since we were in a State Park where alcohol wasn't
permitted, the bubbly was only tonic water. I waked the tiny plastic
bottle on the hull a few times and then opened it and pored
it out on the bow. It fizzed like champagne and the crowd cheered.
By this time Al Secore was there and suited
up. The rangers, the lawyers and the governor could now rest
easy.
It was now my turn for a test of nerves. With
fake champagne still dripping from the bow, I clamed up and
into Persistence. The trailer was then backed down the ramp and into
the water. After I climbed in, I stood in the conning tower and
reaching out where I unlatched the bar holding Persistence to the trailer.
Once I could feel the sub floating I released the bar from the sub and
Persistence and I were on our own. I did have
communication with the shore through a walkie talkie. It worked well even
though there was no outside antenna.
It was time to make waves. I flipped the rear
thruster into reverse and taped the power switch. Persistence backed away
from the trailer. Next I tried the side thrusters and used
them to turn around. The fine tuning I did on the props the week
before reduced their bite in the water. They now matched the thruster
motors better and kept the motor current below maximum.
With the sub away from the launch ramp about
a hundred feet or so, I closed the hatch and secured it. Things get
real quite in the sub when the hatch is closed. I couldn't hear any of
the hundred people watching from shore or anything else outside the
sub. It gives you a feeling that confirms, they're out there and I'm
in here.
I started releasing air from the forward
and aft MBT's. Persistence was slowly lowering in the
water. As the MBT's filled with water the sub pitched forward
then back some giving me quite a ride as it lowered. The
pitching was fifteen degrease forward then fifteen degrease to the aft.
Some of the pitching was my fault since I now realize that I was over correcting
by closing and opening the MBT vent valves to balance them
off. At one point I was worried that if the free weights on the
floor of the sub slid to one end, I'd be in trouble either nose up
or down. As the conning tower lowered into the water deeper, the
pitching settled out. I was
still in contact with the shore by walkie talkie.
Seeing the pea green water rise over the outside of
the conning tower view ports was another psychological hurdle. By now the
people on shore were both out of hearing and out of sight. I knew they
could still see the top of the conning tower but I couldn't see them. Air
was still venting from both my MBT's. It kept venting as I saw the
water slosh over the top of the view port in the hatch cover. I was
officially underwater and going down. I still had air in the MBT's but
shut the vents off so I didn't get heavier then I already was.
I knew I was in only ten feet of water but it
seemed that I was dropping fast and for a long time. Communication
with the walkie talkies was lost once Persistence was under about six
inches of water. All the while I was going down it was getting darker and
darker. I did mention the "Pea Soup" water, didn't I? I felt a very
gentle thud as Persistence came to rest on the bottom. I have to
admit, my hart was pounding at that point. I know, I know! Only
ten feet of water meant that if I stood on top of the conning tower I could
stick my head above the surface. But I was IN the sub, remember?
I didn't even release all the air from the
MBT's and I was already on the bottom. I knew I had to remove some of the
lead ballast to set neutral buoyancy with the VBT. Ok I thought, the five
seconds that felt like five minuets I've been down here is enough time to count
as a dive. I shot a few short blasts of air into the MBT's and started
rising. It was getting noticeably lighter again as I neared the
surface. I popped a few more bursts of air into the MBT's and could now
see out above the water lowering past my viewport. I was back on
top and it was a comfort to know. It was comforting for two
reasons. One, that I could get back up, and two, that the gathered crowd
saw what they thought was a perfect dive. What did they know? It
went down and came back up!
The sub pitched for and aft again while
blowing the MBT's but rested smooth once they reached full empty. I
radioed with the walkie talkie that I was coming in to drop some
ballast. OK, was the first words I heard since leaving the
surface. I motored in toward the dock and unlatched the hatch. As I
opened it and stuck my head out the gathered crowd was clapping and
yelling. I thought to myself, I did it! I got through this launch
thing successfully even though I knew I had to shed some weight. It really
felt good to hear the crowd cheer though. Most of them knew how long I
worked to make this moment happen.
We unloaded forty pounds of lead ballast and I dove
again. This time was a repeat of the first dive, only now I KNEW
Persistence could come back up. After the second dive I also
came back in and handed out another forty pounds of lead.
On the third dive the MBT's
vented all their air and I could still see the sky through the
hatch cover view port. I opened the VBT vent and water
valve, waited a few seconds and I once again saw water over
me. I played around with blowing and adding VBT ballast
until I was neutral buoyant. Persistence just sat there a bit below
the surface. With a short burst of the thruster pointing upward I popped
up and another short burst in reverse sent me down. Hey, this is
fun!
I did about ten dives the rest of the day.
They were all in relatively shallow water, eight to seventeen feet.
Two of them were with passengers, the two guys that were most involved in
the project with me. My nephew and a good friend. Both loved
the experience but were disappointed with the poor visibility. Next time
I'll try somewhere with clear water.
Throughout the afternoon I got better diving and
surfacing. I reduced the tendency of the sub to pitch when operating
the MBT's. I was over correcting at first. The only hitch was
an intermittent short in a wire coming from one side thruster that kept blowing
fuses. I knew I crimped the cable while it was on a rack
for painting but couldn't see the damage. I'll have to work on that.
It was relatively easy to maneuver with the rear thruster and one side thruster
though. If I didn't have the rear thruster, I would have been in trouble
just traveling in circles.
The day ended with a near perfect landing on the
deck of the trailer where I reached out of the conning tower and grabbed the
holding bar and then latched it to the top of Persistence's hull.
Next we were both toed out of the water.
As usual there are a few little changes and
additions to be done. I need a shelf to rest a flashlight and the walkie
talkie on for starters. But other then some little things like that,
Captain George Kittredge designed a pretty good little boat. He also was
very accommodating anytime I contacted him through my building
process. I met the Captain twenty years in the past and again
two years ago. He's quite a remarkable guy.
Again, I want to give a big thanks to Al Secore for
coming down from New York to be my rescue diver and photographer. I know
he took a bunch of pictures. Every time I saw a flash go off
underwater, I thought I blew another fuse. If the water was clearer, we
would have some great pics. I know we'll have some good
ones to post anyway.
Also thanks to Ray and all you PSUBers that
helped me along with the project. The web site was a major factor in
Persistence becoming a reality.
Thanks, Dan H.
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