[Von Hinten]

Today was UC3 Nautilus day II.

It began by us first going over to the place where we left her yesterday, docked at the harbor. Peter passed us on his bicycle when we were almost there, mentioned that he had to take care of something small first and joined us a little later on. After opening up the sub and getting her started he then explained that he wanted 4 people to join him on the sub to sail it on the surface to the place where Oliver would meet us to get people on and off the ship from his boat.

At first I hesitated because I had already been on the sub the day before and there were also people present who hadn’t, but when no one was stepping up and Peter looked like he was ready to go I volunteered again and was happily invited on the sub again. Upon going below I greeted Peter with a cheery 'Good morning captain!'. He turned around, saw me and replied ‘hey there is my engineer, welcome back on board Biek’. Cool guy, the day could have ended right there and it would still have been a good one. Luckily for all of us it didn't and would have plenty more in store.

Then 4 more people joined in so we were with 6 on the sub, Peter included. This meant that before the sub could dive, Peter had to re-trim the sub in order to adjust it for the new weight and it was pretty cool to see firsthand how all of that worked as well. Peter then explained his strict but absolutely necessary rules, we made sure enough breathing device and goggles were accounted for and we commenced with the dive. Peter had everything ready and said 'right, let's see if she will sink'. Just in case we didn't hear it correctly we quickly made sure he actually meant 'dive' and then we were on our way below.

As some of you now know, the only outside view Peter has from inside his sub is his digital periscope. On it he has mounted 4 digital camera's which provide a 180 degree view forward and roughly 90 degrees to the back. The main screen is in color and when the sub went down we could first see the bow go under water shortly after followed by the conning tower. We've all seen this view in movies a couple of times but let me tell you, to see such a view in real life is just amazing. As soon as the whole boat was under the screen turned greenish with lots of air bubbles passing by. A very peaceful sight, he should make a nice recording from that and make it available as a screensaver.

Peter then re-trimmed the boat which made it hover in the water nicely level and enabled him to go up and down as smooth as silk. He explained to us he was going to set the sub down on the bottom but when doing so the actual landing was barely noticeable. We then went up again and Peter suggested we should do a emergency surface drill, ‘you know, just to see what happens’. Later on I heard that this isn't something he normally does with his guests so another special treat for the Subsim guys. We'll have to watch out not to get used to these or we'll probably end up being one arrogant bunch of people. *grin*

Now I’ve done countless of those maneuvers in the game to get back to the surface, either because I needed to or just because it looks so darn good, but experiencing one in real life was absolutely amazing. As smooth as the sub had touched the ground, going back up asap meant that the boat was going to move up pretty violently. Peter started opening the valves like his life depended on it and after the initial smooth, say, half a meter, the front of the boat went up really, really fast resulting in the sub going up in a guestimated angle of30-35 degrees. This was pretty cool but none of us really expected it to tilt that fast, so we were really surprised by the sudden movement of the sub. Later I heard from the guys ashore that it must have been an amazing sight to see the sub break surface like that.

For me, having assisted Peter with engineering the Nautilus one day, sailing it on the surface the next, actually being in there while diving it and getting it back up hurry-style, this really was a once in a lifetime experience and I like to again extend my gratitude for everyone at this Subsim met that made this possible. So Neal and Jonathan, the other guys from Subsim who took us all over town and of course Peter and his submarine. Thank you guys, I’m in your debt forever. Thank you so much.

Next up was a new challenge: a game of getting people on and off began and that proved so much more difficult to do than you would normally think. Having a sub floating at the surface with a moderately strong wind makes it move around a little so when you want to attach a boat to it, move the sub around and meanwhile get people on and off it will make things just a little bit, say, 'interesting'. But with Oliver behind the wheel all went pretty good and he did a great job on getting the new crew on the sub. Well done m8.

After my time on the sub was done, it was a matter of waiting around until all who would go down had their chance. But that was by no means a boring experience. I mean come on, having a real life sub diving and surfacing right in front of you is always an amazing sight, that stuff just ever gets boring. I enjoyed watching her going under, wondering if the guys inside had as much fun as I had. Judging from the expression on their faces when they got out, they sure did.

The final Nautilus crew got to sail her at periscope depth to the final destination. After a thank you speech from Peter, which I unfortunately mostly missed because we were the last to get picked up by Oliver, we departed to the same restaurant and had a good meal. This time the guy behind the counter had requested we all took the same dish so that the cook could prepare the lot a little easier. No problem, 20 times ‘the 139’ were ordered and we had to grin a little when the waiter came out asking ‘who ordered the 139’s’. Erhm ... actually, we all did pal, thank you. ;-) The diner was as good as the day before and lots of talking went on during.

From there on we all went back to the hotel to unload our stuff and to get ready to head back into town but that wasn’t going to happen before Neal opened up his seemingly 'never running out of goodies'-bag and started handing out gifts to us guys. Apart from the Ubi team, who naturally got a few really nice gadgets for their contribution to the past few days, a bunch of t-shirts were handed over and a few caps as well.

To determine who would get what from Santa's bag, Neal had thought up, or was doing so right then and there, a few challenges. One was to find out who had goofed up the most during the past few days and I hesitated to mention that I had managed to stall the engine of a submarine. That would probably have been a clear winner but sometimes it's best to keep stuff like that hidden. I mean you never know who's listening in so I waited my chance. In the end I still ended up with a very cool Subsim shirt and I’m sure each and every item that was given away will be worn and used with great pride and will add to even greater memories of the 2009 Subsim meet. I'm 110% sure mine will.

After this everyone got a chance to clean up a bit, change into our new shirts and then we head back into Copenhagen to get a drink and some snacks. We landed at a nice terrace on the opposite side of the Ferris wheel which I think was next to the Tivoli. There I was introduced to a new way of getting coffee and enjoyed that and talking to Chris and David very much.

Meanwhile Chad had a hard time fulfilling his new goal in life: getting the waitress on camera. As soon as he explained his plan to Lars, the later started calling Chad's bluff and I guess because Chad wasn't moving fast enough Lars got up and got his picture taken with the waitress. You know, probably just to show Chad the ropes. In the end Chad got all his strength together and asked her too. Luckily for his chapter this patrol report she accepted, so in the end both men succeeded. :-) And when she finished her shift and left, the camera friendly waitress waved the entire crew goodbye so I guess she enjoyed the whole thing as well.

The evening got on with us talking only to get interrupted by a small bathroom incident which involved poor Chad as well. I'm still grinning like silly just thinking of that one. I guess, in all honesty, our end of the table was having a little fun with Chad but he took it like a true sport.

With the evening getting on, and after him explaining that he was at legal alcohol age, we pushed our luck a little bit further by talking him into having a go at an Irish coffee. When the bowl arrived we could almost see the whiskey burning down his throat and he quickly decided that it wasn’t a very good idea for him to finish the entire thing. We pressed on a bit but having a few more sips he declined indefinitely so David and myself emptied it for him.

Good stuff that was, I had a truly great time.