Categories
Climbing

Climbing in an ocean of darkness

My climbing partner and I wanted to get a few hours of practice in, so we headed out to exit 38 Thursday night. We knew we would be coming off the climb in the dark, but I don’t think either of us expected it to be so fun. Once the sun went down it was like climbing in an ocean of dark.

Night Climbing at Substation

The bright spot in the picture is Clay’s headlamp. He’s building an anchor and about to bring me up. The climb is only a 5.6, but we just wanted to practice a new anchor setup – so it was perfect. I climbed it once in the light, then brought up Clay and hiked off while he built his anchor. So I got to climb it both in the dark and in the light. It was a totally weird and different experience.

Categories
Robits!

Shark Hull Water Testing

The shark hull just passed a 48 hours float test. There was no change in weight or other signs it absorbed water. Using the bathtub enabled float testing in clean water – and this hull is huge so the bathtub was the only volume in which it would fit. That said – it turns out explaining why there is a robot floating in the bathtub can lead to unexpectedly awkward conversation.

Water Testing the Shark Hull

The new hull uses a blown polyurethane hull filler, which cast under pressure. That creates a closed cell foam but one dense enough for the hulls littoral pressure ratings. Tests show clear for moving on the rest of the design.