2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

[boomerfunker]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th



Overdue and presumed lost...

Was really hoping they'd find her Tom

[salmon]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Thanks Tom! It was great to meet you.
So, what happened?
I ran it on Friday and at the very end of my run the pump stopped working. No smoke or smell of a burned motor. I could see the green light working, but still no pump. If I sucked on the tube, it would free up and begin running. I tried to flush the motor out and tested it. It seemed to work fine. On Saturday, I took the sub out and was able to run her. Surfacing and diving, surfacing and diving, boy that sub looked good, then I dove her a little deeper than I wanted tried to fire the pump to empty the tank, but she kept going down and the pump did not bring her up. I did an all stop. Tried a whole bunch of maneuvers to bring it up, but nothing. I thought the diver would have found it, but he did not. He tried also on Sunday.
I should not have run with a possible bad pump. I should have followed good safe practices. Lesson learned, but I earned the Davy Jones Award!

The Gato ran well. It did a funky dive (like a surface boat attendee turned on his radio), but the gas system brought it up. My heart did not do so well. Visions of another diver searching for the Gato came to mind. Since then I did not want to run the Skipjack or Gato. Lost my confidence.




So, am I going to give up the hobby? Definitely NO! Plans are being made to make a Type XXIII Mark II - Tina (my wife) had pity on me and gave me the O.K.
The next sub to be built will be the one Sam (my son) and I build together - Skipjack mini. Then on off days I will rebuild the Type XXIII.

[PaulC]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Bummer, Tom. That's a real shame. Your Gato still looks great, though.

[salmon]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Bummer, Tom. That's a real shame. Your Gato still looks great, though.

Thank you Paul. Yes, it is a bummer, but you and I know what is really important. Stuff is not on top of that list.

[thor]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

I am on the same page with you, Tom. However, it is still sad that you have to recreate that beautiful model of yours.

Matt

[boomerfunker]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Some pics

































Kind of a cool skimmer-puke

[sam reichart]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

sweet fleet boat and XIII in that photo set. nicely done.

[dhffr]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Any other links to photos? I have not seen anything else.

D

[tsenecal]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

I didn't have the chance to take many pictures (duties as host took precedence), but here's the best of what i took...

[tsenecal]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Tom, I too feel your pain, but am glad you got the Okay to start on mkII.

[salmon]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Thank you all for the kind words.

Here are some photos:













There are more photos here]http://s1089.photobucket.com/user/t_chalfant/library/Keystone%202014?sort=3&page=1[/url]

[bwi]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Hi Tom, I hope she pops-up one day.....but a bad experience can result into a great opportunity flying by......you never know.....I keep my fingers crossed for you.

grtz,
Bart

[tommydeen]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

I will be in contact with the people that take care of the lake. hes going to let me know if they drain it or if the sub surfaces hopefully we can get it back

[jefftytoo]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Tom,

I too was heartbroken by your loss. I know what that awful feeling is like, even though I was supremely lucky enough to only have to suffer with it overnight. Perhaps you could contact Sam to make another attempt, this time with a strong underwater light? Or perhaps Sam (or the Keystone people) could put you in touch with local divers (from a club?) who could be HIRED to continue the search? I'd be happy to be the first contributor should a hat be passed to make this happen. There's gotta be something that can be done. She's not very deep—just in low-visibility water. The goal would be a retrieval before the pond's winter freeze sets in, when she might be seriously damaged if she winds up being relatively shallow after all.

Any other suggestions out there?

JeffP

[salmon]

Re: 2014 SubRegatta July 18,19,20th

Thank you all. This is a great conversation that unfortunately needs to be brought up. It is a good reminder that we always remember the basics of safety. That being said, I also would like to shift the conversation to the great conversations, new friendships, and areas we can improve on for next year.
I also want to thank Don Kibbe and crew for all the work they put into this SubRegatta! Thank you all for making it a fun weekend!