|
Woohooo! Reading this made my day, and is a motivator to keep on building!
Great, great job Dan! Alec -----Original Message----- 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. |