It was a great time and more to follow. I slipped through a hatch that gives you access to the electric motors and the brushes/staters, etc. If you have any kind of beer belly....you ain't going through this hatch. What was really cool was glass circular windows maybe 6 inches in diameter that you could flash a light in to see how the brushes are. I guess this was needed if one went down you could find the problem easily. Anyway, we opened these to find new brushes and such that were not completely installed. At this point in the sub I was at the very bottom of the hull. What is cool is tourist that walk through just see the surfaces of guages and switch, etc. When you volunteer to work on it.....you get to go everywhere and if you can fit where other can't, you get to go there also! There is plexiglass that cover the doors to the Capt/Officer quarters/Yoemans room and the radioroom. As a volunteer, you get to go in and sit in the chair, see all the things up close and personal. It is a hands on sub where you can turn switches and knobs. Reason being, when the Navy turned it over they basically cut all the wires that would make the sub functional again. The electrical panel still functions but is fed from a land line and the wiring for lighting is set up off this panel. We repaired the warning speaker that goes off when water reaches a certain height in the bilges so it can be pumped out. That thing went off and scared the bejebbers out of a visitor! So, volunteering gives you the golden key to the whole deal. Kind of sweet when it is something you are really interested in and interested in restoring.
They also sponsor Boy Scout sleepovers on the weekends. The Boy Scouts spend the night aboard! Kind of cool if your a kid!