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Mikey wrote:
I could go on forever, but for now I am going to tell you why log flumes have a special place in my heart:
So at log flume we played a game called sinkers and floaters. At the top of low lift and high lift was an attendant of which both were responsible for all trough forward of their positions and insuring that no boats were taking on to much water. If they did take on to much water they were to call the next forward station with the # so we could take it out of rotation by putting it into the unused side of the loading dock using the diverter gate.
Depending on the season (leaves clogging drains etc) and how many guests of extraordinary size rode in a particular boat determined how many times a boat would get pulled out of rotation to be drained. Normally we would leave them on the air lift in the station to drain if we had enough space, otherwise if we were running max units we would manually dispatch them into the mix overriding the ADT (automatic dispatch timer, that thing with the metal gate that pops up with the wheels on it) to let them ride behind a loaded boat to be stopped on the lifts as spacing required to allow the one way drain values on the back to do their job. The later it was in the season, the harder it was to keep the boats afloat because they get banged up so much and start taking on water.
We would use the ring back phone to silently communicate when we thought a boat was going to be a sinker, or when we thought we would see the record splash for the day, or when that hot chick took her shirt off half way through the ride. The normal splash wave would come off the corner leading into the station and splash up onto the dock when loaded with four people. It would also slightly knock the boats forward on the air lifts in the station. Maintenance had a few test boats that were weighted with concrete under the floor to maximum load. They were used to calibrate the run out each season because it was constantly sinking due to its age, to test rollers and anti-roll backs, and for the general amusement of the guys in the fiber glass shop.
No one ever told us these boats existed, nor did they tell us that one summer day they were left in rotation and unmarked. That morning I did the safety check and I noticed that one of the boats when coming off the lift made a noticeable thunk followed by a much larger splash profile. I didn't think anything of it but I pulled it out of the rotation so I could look at it later before decided to flag it or later. So the day goes by and I totally forget about the issues with it. I am finally forced to put it in rotation when someone through up in a boat.
These group of four show up, and there is not a single one that is under 250lbs. They all get comfy when I notice the sound of rushing air and the boat starting to drop below the dock. I open the air valve and let it go. The boat kinda sits in the current for a bit with out moving before its pushed very slowly down stream into the ADT. Boat hits the ADT gate and just keeps going with out a care in the world even though it's in the up position. Anyways the boat is getting further away now but I know that it isn't floating but is infact driving down the trough on the running wheels.
I tend to the next boat when I hear in the distance that annoying wet rubber belt slipping on fiberglass boat bottom noise. Yep, it didn't make it up onto the belt all the way. Dock phone to Low lift confirms its not on the belt but that the front wheels are on the belt. No problem I say let the boat behind it bump and it will go up. Sure enough the boat goes up after two boats bump into it. They clear low lift which has a 8ft drop into a corner on the other side.
In my head I was telling myself that this is going to be interesting problem because the angle to high lift is 3 degrees steeper then low lift. Sure enough boat can't make it onto the belt with out the two boats behind it. Only this time the belt is slipping with the boat fully on the lift. It slowly makes it to the top and over the crest. Now at this point everyone working the ride is watching because this is going to end up being a guaranteed sinker.
Boat clears the top of the lift, flys down the hill, slips into the water and the biggest splash I have ever seen on a log flume. I would guess 25ft high by 40ft wide. The boat reaches the end of the run out but is still going at a pretty good clip. At the end of the run out is a deep trough pan where the two rails the boat rides in are submerged to have the boats splash plate be 3-4 inches under the water level. (The rails gradually enter the water from the base of the drop to the end of the run out so that the boat slows over time versus ejecting the riders.) However it is expected that they will float over this box so there are no rails just a gradual incline back to the corner and into the station. For the first time in 20 years we managed to send the first boat to touch the bottom of the box. When it did so the front of the boat was fully submerged by at least 5-6 inches of water.
When it cleared the box, and I should say it only did so because it was traveling at a good speed, it sent a wave of water 2 feet tall around the splash wall and up onto the dock in the station. All the boats we unloaded and left on the air lifts were lifted off them and push up onto the dock. We ended up having to unload the boat just short of the unload air lift because between the weight of the concrete we didn't know about, the guest of extra ordinary size, and the new installed swimming pool in the setting compartment it was not possible for the water to push the boat back up onto the air lift.
After we unloaded the guests from the diamond just after the diverter gate, we found the boat filled with 18 inches of water. The water inside the boat, was equal to the water outside the boat, so the one way drain valves could not function. Before we could shutdown the pumps the ride shut itself down because we managed to pump all the water out of the bottom reservoir and out into the grass around the ride via a 16 inch inch gashes in the bottom and sides of the trough in the corner after low lift. Further inspection found bent rollers, both belts needed to be re-aligned and the bindings replaced because they had been stretched out under friction from heat and the carry load. The chassis of the concrete boat was bowed and eventually written off.
The fiberglass shop was ecstatic to have some mid-season over time, but were immediately disappointed that they were being charged for the 8 days it took to repair. (Weekly bonus pay was calculated based on department performance.) In the end I learned some valuable career lessons: Departments with safety responsibilities should be drug tested regularly. The only log flume boat in the world to ever have half a ton of concrete in the bottom of it was destroyed carrying it's first paying passengers. It takes 13 minutes and $23 in electricity for two circulating pumps to drain 105,000 gallons of water out of the reservoir, but 5 days and $25,000 to refill it with a 2 inch wash down hose from the city supply. The game of sinkers and floats will never be the same.
In the next episode I will tell you why it's a bad idea to have a power outage on a boomerang with relay logic controls.
So at log flume we played a game called sinkers and floaters. At the top of low lift and high lift was an attendant of which both were responsible for all trough forward of their positions and insuring that no boats were taking on to much water. If they did take on to much water they were to call the next forward station with the # so we could take it out of rotation by putting it into the unused side of the loading dock using the diverter gate.
Depending on the season (leaves clogging drains etc) and how many guests of extraordinary size rode in a particular boat determined how many times a boat would get pulled out of rotation to be drained. Normally we would leave them on the air lift in the station to drain if we had enough space, otherwise if we were running max units we would manually dispatch them into the mix overriding the ADT (automatic dispatch timer, that thing with the metal gate that pops up with the wheels on it) to let them ride behind a loaded boat to be stopped on the lifts as spacing required to allow the one way drain values on the back to do their job. The later it was in the season, the harder it was to keep the boats afloat because they get banged up so much and start taking on water.
We would use the ring back phone to silently communicate when we thought a boat was going to be a sinker, or when we thought we would see the record splash for the day, or when that hot chick took her shirt off half way through the ride. The normal splash wave would come off the corner leading into the station and splash up onto the dock when loaded with four people. It would also slightly knock the boats forward on the air lifts in the station. Maintenance had a few test boats that were weighted with concrete under the floor to maximum load. They were used to calibrate the run out each season because it was constantly sinking due to its age, to test rollers and anti-roll backs, and for the general amusement of the guys in the fiber glass shop.
No one ever told us these boats existed, nor did they tell us that one summer day they were left in rotation and unmarked. That morning I did the safety check and I noticed that one of the boats when coming off the lift made a noticeable thunk followed by a much larger splash profile. I didn't think anything of it but I pulled it out of the rotation so I could look at it later before decided to flag it or later. So the day goes by and I totally forget about the issues with it. I am finally forced to put it in rotation when someone through up in a boat.
These group of four show up, and there is not a single one that is under 250lbs. They all get comfy when I notice the sound of rushing air and the boat starting to drop below the dock. I open the air valve and let it go. The boat kinda sits in the current for a bit with out moving before its pushed very slowly down stream into the ADT. Boat hits the ADT gate and just keeps going with out a care in the world even though it's in the up position. Anyways the boat is getting further away now but I know that it isn't floating but is infact driving down the trough on the running wheels.
I tend to the next boat when I hear in the distance that annoying wet rubber belt slipping on fiberglass boat bottom noise. Yep, it didn't make it up onto the belt all the way. Dock phone to Low lift confirms its not on the belt but that the front wheels are on the belt. No problem I say let the boat behind it bump and it will go up. Sure enough the boat goes up after two boats bump into it. They clear low lift which has a 8ft drop into a corner on the other side.
In my head I was telling myself that this is going to be interesting problem because the angle to high lift is 3 degrees steeper then low lift. Sure enough boat can't make it onto the belt with out the two boats behind it. Only this time the belt is slipping with the boat fully on the lift. It slowly makes it to the top and over the crest. Now at this point everyone working the ride is watching because this is going to end up being a guaranteed sinker.
Boat clears the top of the lift, flys down the hill, slips into the water and the biggest splash I have ever seen on a log flume. I would guess 25ft high by 40ft wide. The boat reaches the end of the run out but is still going at a pretty good clip. At the end of the run out is a deep trough pan where the two rails the boat rides in are submerged to have the boats splash plate be 3-4 inches under the water level. (The rails gradually enter the water from the base of the drop to the end of the run out so that the boat slows over time versus ejecting the riders.) However it is expected that they will float over this box so there are no rails just a gradual incline back to the corner and into the station. For the first time in 20 years we managed to send the first boat to touch the bottom of the box. When it did so the front of the boat was fully submerged by at least 5-6 inches of water.
When it cleared the box, and I should say it only did so because it was traveling at a good speed, it sent a wave of water 2 feet tall around the splash wall and up onto the dock in the station. All the boats we unloaded and left on the air lifts were lifted off them and push up onto the dock. We ended up having to unload the boat just short of the unload air lift because between the weight of the concrete we didn't know about, the guest of extra ordinary size, and the new installed swimming pool in the setting compartment it was not possible for the water to push the boat back up onto the air lift.
After we unloaded the guests from the diamond just after the diverter gate, we found the boat filled with 18 inches of water. The water inside the boat, was equal to the water outside the boat, so the one way drain valves could not function. Before we could shutdown the pumps the ride shut itself down because we managed to pump all the water out of the bottom reservoir and out into the grass around the ride via a 16 inch inch gashes in the bottom and sides of the trough in the corner after low lift. Further inspection found bent rollers, both belts needed to be re-aligned and the bindings replaced because they had been stretched out under friction from heat and the carry load. The chassis of the concrete boat was bowed and eventually written off.
The fiberglass shop was ecstatic to have some mid-season over time, but were immediately disappointed that they were being charged for the 8 days it took to repair. (Weekly bonus pay was calculated based on department performance.) In the end I learned some valuable career lessons: Departments with safety responsibilities should be drug tested regularly. The only log flume boat in the world to ever have half a ton of concrete in the bottom of it was destroyed carrying it's first paying passengers. It takes 13 minutes and $23 in electricity for two circulating pumps to drain 105,000 gallons of water out of the reservoir, but 5 days and $25,000 to refill it with a 2 inch wash down hose from the city supply. The game of sinkers and floats will never be the same.
In the next episode I will tell you why it's a bad idea to have a power outage on a boomerang with relay logic controls.
I absolutely love this Mikey.
We should make a topic of just this stuff
Stories like this make me wonder how parks like SF put employees like these on such huge rides.
