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

[James Frankland via Personal_Submersibles]

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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