Nantucket Sound Testing, Day 2

In the morning, the crane operator moved Odyssey onto the boat -- it was a matter of minutes. Life is easy with a giant crane truck.


The crane on the boat was also really convenient for putting Odyssey in the water.


Taking the vehicle out of the water was also fairly painless, which is good because we had to do this a few times while adjusting the trim.



Mike operates the crane, Mike and Seth fend the vehicle off of the gunwales, and Noah guides both the crane and the quick release. We're still getting the hang of this part.


Noah is about to pop the quick release.


As the vehicle pops free, we have to work to keep it off the side of the boat while Justin takes the controls.


We do a good bit of manual control to maneuver the vehicle in tight situations, and to get it set up for missions. This will get a little easier as we get the control system and behaviors set up.


While Justin and I work on some simple missions to test the control system (goal: good yaw control without vertical stabilizing fins), Seth tests whether fish are attracted to bits of hot dog.


Then something familiar happens...

The vehicle starts going in circles when it should be going straight. Have we lost a thruster again? Seaweed? Mike and Seth check it out in the zodiac... apparently the cable got wrapped around the thruster and had disconnected.


So, Seth grabbed a handful of zip ties and went to secure the cable.


Unfortunately, the thruster cable had been damaged internally... so the day was over early. Meanwhile, Mike Ryan and Noah had upgraded the refrigerator on board to a model with a freezer. We debated putting an outboard on it and having a boat race.


But the day wasn't a total loss! Seth caught a fish with the hot dog after all, which he filleted and stuck in the new refrigerator. Possibly for lunch tomorrow!