my adventures, page 1

I'm at work, so don't have time to go into the development of my subs (though, suffice it to say, 2 of the 3 sank with me in them), but I thought this latest adventure might amuse you guys... the following is copied from an email I sent to a friend:

"Tested out the sub again yesterday (monday). To be brief: I pulled up alongside several docked barges and tugs yesterday and got some good photos (I hope... you guys will have to understand that it's hard to take quality photos through a porthole or periscope while operating a sub at the same time). This, in itself, was a pretty interesting adventure... but the most fun was the last dive. Essentially (i'm at work now and can't elaborate), I planned to surface pretty close to the shore, by some houses in Robbins (for those of you from Chicago, you can picture the scenery, here). Anyways, I had just come back from putting around at 'periscope' depth, so was really just below the water (this wasn't a deep dive session). After checking the radio for any incomming barges, I did a quick periscope sweep. On panning towards the shore, I saw this 13 or 14 year old boy, just hanging out with a 40 of beer. He seemed to be just 'chillin'' by the canal... So, I figured, "why not give the dude a little entertainment?" I pressed on towards the shore, near the point where I'd run aground (though, in a canal, most of the shoreline is a steep drop). I rocked the sub back and forth and did a spin... hoping that he'd see the periscope, radio antenna, anti collision prong, or, perhaps, the flickering of my lights coming up from under the water. Well, he did. He just stood there, gazing. After a minute he picked up a stone and tossed it at me... a gesture I assumed was to see if I was really there. At this point I figured I'd surface and show him what he was looking at, so I dropped my solid ballast and breached the surface of the water. At this point he just totally freaked-out. Instead of waving to me or trying to hollar a greeting, he started picking up BIG stones. In a matter of seconds they were landing all around me--- I could hear the 'KERPUNNNNKKK' splashes from within the boat. He kept missing with the big ones, though, so he switched to medium sized rocks.... which actually kept hitting my sub (some even collected over my top porthole). I wanted to open the hatch and tell the dude that I 'came in peace', but I was afraid that he'd hit me in the process... So I just opened the hatch enough to get fresh air. As I did so, he really went ape-# and took off towards the houses. Oh well, I thought, that's the end of that. Well, no... in a second he was back with a friend of his. They were both throwing rocks, now, and screaming. As I had ejected my solid ballast I couldn't dive, but, since my water ballast was still oboard, my props were still below the water line. Well, at the risk of sounding less than brave, I beat a hasty retreat back to 'friendly' waters. I thus lost my first naval battle, the Battle of Robbins, IL."

In a way, I'm worried that this tale will become an urban legend, and so will lose some of its charm.. so, if you retell it, be sure to say where you got it from

Also, I have photos in development right now. When I get them I'll try to put them up here.... but, as I lack my own website, I don't know how I could post them for all to see.

Enjoy,
Jim