by Commodore Jim

September 22, 2009

Looking at my calendar, the annual Regatta of the St. Louis Admirals is about a month away. I look forward to this event each year, along with another similar event, the SubRegatta in Carmel, IN. This latter gathering is for model submarine enthusiasts literally from around the world. The SubRegatta most recently has been held in early August, so that means I have just returned. In anticipation of both events, I want my boats to look good and operate properly.

I went to the SubRegatta location a day early this year, finding the crystal clear reflecting pond in Carmel totally devoid of any other boaters. Great. No need to worry about transmitter frequencies, Rules of the Road - just great running possibilities. So I placed my big 6'-6" Engel WW II fleet boat in the bigger than a football field pond, turned the transmitter on, performed a little trim magic to finally get the boat to submerge on an even keel, and started to make periscope runs in the pond. Again great! The boat was running well, I was getting some operating time to practice forward, back, left, right, up and down - the three dimensional aspects of model submarining. And of course no one was there to watch these marvelous activities.

Then came Saturday morning, the first day of the actual SubRegatta. I lugged my 37 pound boat onto a table, met some friends whom I hadn't seen for a while, looked at other boats, and was thoroughly enjoying myself. I had a quick hot dog lunch and decided it was time to get the boat in the water.

Now it's a good idea to actually test everything out before you place any craft into the water, lest you stand on the shore and watch it float away with no control of its RC functions. So I started through the ritual, only to find a rudder that wouldn't swing properly and stern planes that were not moving correctly. Grrrrrr. So back up to the table for some checks and repairs. The rudder suddenly freed itself and I found the need to re-anchor a stern plane control rod and support. A superglue and Walthers Goo fix. Easy.

So after a wait, I again checked out my transmitter from the impound, and gave things a try. Now the rudder worked fine, the stern planes were secure, but the internal pitch controller had decided to malfunction - and I could get no power on the starboard prop - nothing - nada. With that, I decided that the sequential gremlins had hijacked my boat and it just wasn't going to run without a disaster. So my big beautiful boat never actually made it into the water at the SubRegatta, even though it ran flawlessly the day before. And of course when I tested these things upon returning home, everything worked fine.

What does this story have to do with our Admirals Regatta? Well first, in order to expect your boat to run, you MUST get busy and start checking EVERYTHING out. Getting to the Union Station pond is not the time or place to remember that you haven't charged up all of your batteries: receiver, transmitter, main power, spares. There should be no linkage binds or difficulties. You should have lubed everything that needs to be lubed. The speed controller actually works and works well. The boat does not have a 15 degree list that you forgot to work on. All of the parts are well glued on, screwed on, or welded in place. In short, MAKE SURE YOUR BOAT IS READY FOR THE REGATTA!!!!!

Oh yes. And if by chance you find that my crew of gremlins has left my boat and found yours, just shrug, wish them well (then they might go to someone else's boat), and enjoy the day, the visitors, and your other model boating friends. It is, after all, just a hobby. And it's designed for you to have FUN. Enjoy the day and have a good time.

Hope to see you at the Regatta

Commodore Jim