[PSUBS-MAILIST] Jodie-B dives at last.

[Steve McQueen via Personal_Submersibles]

James. good report, thanks!  Good to learn from others.  I enjoyed the x
girlfriend and pressurized container bits.

Steve


On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 6:23 AM, James Frankland via Personal_Submersibles <
personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Managed to get my boat in the water this weekend at last.  I used the
> crane again to lift in and out.  My trailer needs some modification before
> i can use it.  Plus the crane is a lot easier just for initial testing.
>
> I had proper commercial divers and boat in the water this time so i was
> doing everything proper.
>
> I attached a temporary wooden bar to the side of the starbord battery pod
> and hung weights on that until it was trimmed up sideways.  Put 24kg of
> lead on that side.  Then loaded up with lead inside and eventually put in
> 160kg (352 pounds) on top of what i'd already put under the deck and rear
> tank.  Estimate ive added a total of 250kg (550 pounds) of lead both inside
> out out.  Maybe i should get on the pies and sausages.
>
> Once trimmed up i managed to dive at last.  Didnt really intend to go to
> the bottom but didnt have a lot of choice on the first ever dive.  Landed
> on the bottom of the harbour at 6m (20ft).  Went up and down loads of times
> and got the hang of getting neutral using the variable tank.  Seem to have
> got the weight about right.  Drove about just off the seabed and found it
> was quite easy to spin around and control.  Drove around on the surface a
> bit as well to test surface running.  Again this was ok using the rear
> thruster.
>
> Some problems.  Internal depth gauges didnt work at all, had to rely on
> the exterior one.  Ive put the pipe work going up so there must be an
> airlock.  Never thought of that when i was fitting it.  Will probably make
> an oil bladder.  No big deal.
>
> Port side motor stopped working.  I thought it might have filled with
> water, but when i drained it, it was all ok.  Unplugged it and plugged it
> back in and its now working again.  Not exactly sure what was wrong there.
>
> Got an air bubble stuck in the forward tank that could not be removed if
> the boat didnt go down evenly.  A tactical hole should sort that out.
>
> Quite a bit of corrosion on the dome retaining ring which is not
> anodized.  Not sure how i can stop that.
>
> I'd filled the variable tank with Lanolin to protect it in storage but
> although id pumped most of it out before diving, some residue was left and
> formed a greasy film on the surface of the water.  This got on the video
> camera and has fuzzed up a lot of the videos.
>
> Completely forget to test the lights until right at the end.  Put them on
> for about 5 mins, but not enough time for a proper corrosion test.
>
> A completely random X girlfriend turned up.  I think she was with one of
> the divers and didnt realise it was me.  I popped out of the hatch and
> could see she was suprised "er, hello".  That was a bit awkward.
>
> Divers scratched my lovely new lettering.  grrrr
>
> All in all a fantastic day for me and i celebrated with several small
> pressurised cannisters later in the evening....
>
> Ive got loads of pics and video which i'll send in the next day or so
> after ive sorted them all out.
>
> Kind Regards
> James
>
>
>
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