Back to doing the "finishin'"on Conch Fritter

[daveesl77]

So, finally got some time and great weather to get back to working on the camper. Got my interior wood trim pieces made and installed on the wall. Installed the 3/4" sisal rope for trim around the the wall-roof-walls joints. The rope trim idea came up in a thread from last year I think and it works great. Was hard to find it though, but Rural King has it from 1/4"- 1" diameter. I used 1/2"

Opened up the ducting system and will build and install the connection box underneath to attach the AC when needed or just using my 12v fan systems. Changed out the giant, heavy battery converter portion of my RV panel and put in the guts of nice light weight automatic 2/10 amp charger. Hope to have the on-demand hot water heater heating system built next week. Still have a couple of pieces of wood face pieces for the bed support.

After that, I'll remove the existing tongue box system and build the pirate chest. We'll then hopefully do the aluminum rock guard, finish paint and trim cedar on the face and rear areas over the PMF. I'm hoping to have it all complete by the 2nd week of March.

I love working on this thing, nice being retired.

dave

[steve cowan]

I still have a few years before retiring and get to hit the road whenever.We saw your trailer at Anastasia gathering last November.Great job.I saw in another thread you referred as a "sewer pipe sailor".Never heard that term but I spent my time on SSBN 643 as EM in the engine room.It was an adventure!

Good travels.

steve

[daveesl77]

Yep, we are both old "boomer jockeys". I saw your trailer at the Anastasia gathering in November and it is what settled our plan on how to finish the front/rear of our trailer. I really liked the contrast of your paint and wood. My one addition is that i'm going to add in some additional cedar strips (maybe) for a design through the painted sections.

I was on the 633 and spent my time staring at blinking lights in the Nav compartment and listening for the occasional "beep" of the original satnav. I loved being on FBMs, even if we never actually went to places we were allowed to see.

I'm sure you get the same comments I do, "how could you be on something so small?" or "it would drive me crazy not seeing the sun for so long" . It really wasn't small and I far preferred not seeing the sun to the crap I knew the surface guys went through. I'll never forget when we gave a tour to some sailors from a DD that was in port and they couldn't believe how big the sub actually was. When I tell people it is the size of a WW2 light cruiser, but only carried a fraction of the crew they begin to understand. I usually don't talk about it too much as...well you understand.

dave

[daveesl77]

On the build side, I got most all of the interior trim wood finished, just a couple more pieces, got the fabric and rope installed. Now just need to do the faceplate for the ducting and build the lower duct access box. Got my wood ready for the "pirate chest" tongue box.

I need to get back to the woods or I'm going to go crazier than I already am.

dave

[KCStudly]

Speaking of boomers, I worked on the ERP of SSBN 640, the first boomer, and one of the jobs was restoring a large motor generator, including swapping out the rotor. Now the rotor on one of these things doesn't fit thru an access trunk, so boy howdy let me tell you when those sailors see a big hole cut in the side of their hull they sure get a dumbfounded look in their eyes.

In the yard we were so used to seeing hull sections being moved around and joined all of the time, but for those sailors who had never seen such a thing it was like someone had cut a hole in their lifeline. Imagine walking into your living room and having one of the walls of your house missing, kind of like that but think under water deeper. Mild shock.

Which brings me to another interesting thing, some of the yard welders had 30 years of x-ray welds under their belts w/o a single rejection. I like to say, "If we can build it, we can fix it."

[KCStudly]

Well I guess my memory is failing me. I know I have worked on the 640 boat and was thinking that that was the George Washington, but I've just had a look and see that the GW was the SSBN598 (cut and elongated after originally being laid down as the Scorpion SSN589). So the 640 was first in class, but not first boomer.

[daveesl77]

Yeah, the 640 was the Ben Franklin. It was the first of its class. I was on a Madison class boat. Some of the Madisons were converted twice, first to the Poseidon then to the Trident1. I was out by the time the Trident change happened. Not sure I'd want to have been on it when launching one of those birds, as they weighed about 10,000 lbs more than the Poseidon and it was 30,000 lbs heavier than the Polaris A3. Sub launch missiles don't fire their engines until they break the water, from launch depth to the surface they are literally thrown by high pressure steam systems. That's why if you watch a video of one, it is usually at a weird angle as it comes out of the water, then the engine fires and it straightens out. What few think about is what happens inside the boat when that much power and weight are suddenly released. It is...interesting to say the least. However, all of us that served on those feel that we were a prime reason there was never a nuclear war. Nobody knew where we were, except those on the boat. Can't hurt what you can't see.

dave

[daveesl77]

This is what happens when a skipper thinks he is Sean Connery, the USS San Francisco hit a seamount at flank speed in about 500 feet of water in about 2005. I can't believe they actually saved the ship. This had to be terrifying.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_San_Francisco_%28SSN-711%29#/media/File:US_Navy_050127-N-4658L-030_The_Los_Angeles-class_fast-attack_submarine_USS_San_Francisco_%28SSN_711%29_in_dry_dock_to_assess_damage_sustained_after_running_aground_approximately_350_miles_south_of_Guam_Jan._8,_2005.jpg

[KCStudly]

I remember that incident. There have been others, too, but we won't go into the details.

Funny you should mention hovering at launch depth. My first position at EB was in the Special Engineered Valves Group. My boss had been deeply involved in the development of the "breather valves" that helped keep the balance of pressure inside the tubes constant so that the diaphragm on the tube wouldn't rupture prematurely after the missile hatch was opened.

Other systems I worked on were the high pressure air and emergency blow. Seeing that boat with so much of the forward ballast tanks completely gone is rather disturbing, reminding me of other subsafe systems I worked on, stern planes.

Have you heard my story about being the only calibrated human feeler gauge in the shipyard?

Sorry to go OT on your thread, but it brings back memories.

[Olddog1]

USS Narwhal SSN671 back in 69-72. Interesting days back then. We went thru the hole in the hull experience with the replacement of a steam generator that destructed.