Apparently, there were some miscommunications. The guys expected a larger diameter of the pipe, and Tony, well let’s just say Tony didn’t expect us to purchase the pipe at all. In the moment, it was a sense of helplessness and frustration.
Tony was confused as to the mechanics of our boat. That session, we learnt what the PVC pipes were for: stability. One on each side, not on all 4 sides due to the unstable nature of the box. The PVC pipes were meant to be used to prevent capsize, if the pipes were longer than the box. Putting PVC pipes as a lifebuoy would not help with stability at all.
Moreover, the box we purchased was too buoyant. The high volume ratio meant that little water would be displaced when put into a pool, something we greatly overlooked. We only considered buoyancy, and having made rough calculations, we decided to play super safe in getting a large box such that it would be able to float. While we thought we had settled the issue of not floating; we failed to consider the other extreme: too much floating!
“Then how?”
Anita took it all in stride. “No blaming. We are a team.” She was a role model and her moving forward mindset carried the disheartened us forward. We gathered together and discussed the next steps. What if we bought a smaller box? What if we used a swimming board? Can we get ideas from other boats? How about that previous project on the ‘Underwater Drone’?
It felt like we were back to the drawing board; like we took a sprint forward, but only to realize we had to go back to the starting line. But as Zheng Xun rightfully pointed out, “we are better now than we once was, nothing was wasted.” It was all part of learning, you win some, you lose some.
And though it was not the ideal experience, it was a fruitful and lesson filled one. We came together as a team, instead of falling apart. We took into account a lot of other considerations: first buoyancy, now stability, and then in the later part, mobility. It wasn’t easy, but we sat ourselves down and came up with many drafts and drew many rafts (yes I am a poet now)…
After discussing for an hour, we came up with a second draft and presented it to Tony. Anita our spokesperson made the meeting light hearted albeit the initial downcast atmosphere.
Though he was rushing home, he stayed back to help us figure out a compromise and how to move forward from here.
Armed with a way forward, we were slightly more optimistic and had a better direction on how to proceed for the next meeting!
Yet another long and tiring day, that paved way for the next.