Eco Warrior by Philip Roy

Author:Philip Roy
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781553803485
Publisher: Ronsdale Press

Chapter Fifteen

IT WASN’T LIKE ANYTHING I had ever seen before. The fins resembled enormous duck feet on either side of a skinny whale. They looked funny, yet oddly seaworthy. I was dying to know if they really worked. “Do they work?”

“Of course. Everything works. That’s the beauty of it. The fins are hydraulic, and they’re made from titanium. They’re hellishly strong, but lightweight. Come inside and I’ll show you.”

I followed Merwin up a stepladder and squeezed through a narrow portal hidden inside a dorsal fin. That was cool. I had to pull Hollie off my back to get inside. The sub swung side to side as we climbed in. Then we had to crouch down because there wasn’t enough room to stand. The hull was made of steel, which Merwin had cut and welded expertly, but hadn’t painted, insulated, or lined with wood, so it was pretty rough. It really felt like we were inside the stomach of a sea monster.

“You sit here, put your feet there, and pull back on the levers the way you’d row a boat. The webbed paddles open up against the water on the backstroke, then fold together like bat wings and rush to the front on the forward stroke, then open again on the backstroke. The hydraulic arms give you a powerful stroke.”

“It looks awesome. Have you tested it in the water yet?”

“No.”

“I see you have an engine, too.”

“Yeah.”

“Does it burn vegetable fat?”

“It does.”

“Is there a propeller?” I didn’t see one.

“It’s underneath the tail. It’s just a small one.”

I stared all around. There was nothing as fascinating to me as a submarine, especially one with mechanical invention. I couldn’t help wondering what this thing would look like cutting through the water. What would whales and dolphins think? What would the coast guard think? “What will you use it for?”

Merwin rubbed his hands together anxiously. “My dream is to join the Sea Shepherd Society, and help save whales, but I know that’s probably unrealistic in a vessel this size. If this proves seaworthy, I’ll make a bigger one.”

“Cool. Where are your air compressors?”

Merwin looked surprised that I asked that. “It’s here.” He pointed to a blue tank. It was pretty small.

“Is there only one?”

“Yeah. Why would you need more than one?” He looked a little confused.

“For safety. Do you have a heating system?”

“A heater? No, I didn’t think to put in a heater. I figured I’d just dress warmly. I suppose a heater’s not a bad idea.” He took a notepad out of his pocket and scribbled it down.

“The ocean gets really cold. What about an air-conditioner?”

“An air-conditioner? Why on earth would you need an airconditioner inside a submarine?”

“Because of the sun, and the heat of the engine, and to circulate the air.”

Merwin looked at me strangely, then wrote it down in his notepad. I looked around some more. “Where are your batteries?”

“There aren’t any. That’s why I have the hydraulic paddles. I’ll use the engine on the surface, and the paddles when I submerge. I don’t see the need to complicate things with batteries.

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