(^^ this is a more detailed sketch of my plane.)

--- Day 13 ---

I climbed out of my tent, and then walked down the the dock, approaching my clay pit. I began my mold making process quickly and efficiently. I took my two original panes, and pressed them together, then packed the clay around them, and slipped it into my wood-burning smoker for about 4 hours. While that was running, I was draining more latex, because I would always need it, and spearing more fish, then cleaning them.

I pulled out the clay, and channeled my inner artisan as I went back to my college art class, and baking clay molds for a glass vase. I carefully opened the mold, and laughed. "Perfect... 4 inch thick glass molds. I'm amazing." I laughed.

I fetched my glass mixture, and then began pouring my mixture, adding latex every layer, so that my glass was shatterproof, and there were layers of rubber, preventing leaking of any find.

Then I closed the mold and let it rest, which would take a few hours, so I went and hunted down some more glass and latex. I ended up with so much glass I truly didn't know what to do with it.

That is, until a stroke of genius hit me. "Scales..." I was going to make protective scales to cover my entire Shark/Ray. The wings looked more like shark fins than Ray wings, so I decided it was a shark, now.

And sharks have scales.

--- Day 20 ---

I ended up scrapping the Windows, in exchange for a much smaller, rounder, extremely thick window, that was actually two inches thicker than the plane itself. The surfaces were concave, to allow for light to come in, but making it hard for light to come out.

The Nautilus was taking shape, very nicely. The outside was painstakingly scaled in glass that'd been melted with metal shavings, and also latex, and clay, to create a porcelain and steel, almost. My gigantic Porcelain/Steel Shark was sturdy, and I tested each scale with a rock, smashing on it with my full strength.

If it held, it passed. If it didn't, it did the second time, after I threw it into the molten glass.

The Eel Habitat was finished, and operational, though devoid of all but one eel. That's all I'd found, though I went looking every other day.

I continued to smoke fish, and build bridges to and from all the islands. Giant, amazing, structurally sound bridges made of rope and roots, some of the roots a full foot thick.

I found several fruit trees in the many islands, of which I counted 18, (I'd originally thought they were just breakwaters. They weren't.)

I started drying the fruit, and preparing myself for a journey.

I had completely sealed the two side doors, of the plane, caking over them with scales and latex, though I left my windows uncovered, as viewpoints. I replaced them with the more traditional airlock, which was a glass box that was allowed to have water in it, and then as soon as the door was properly sealed, the water was sucked out, and you could open the second door. Then you were in the ship/plane/Nautilus.

--- Day 26 ---

Now, another problem was ballast. I had to retain buoyancy, but I also had to be able to sink. I knew from college that submarines used a water and air system to sink or raise up, so I set about making a ballast tank in one of the smaller back rooms, and also under the nose and in the joint of the wings and directly in the middle of the ship.

Luckily for me, my laptop was designed to be connected to systems and run them remotely, so I created a wired connection, and my laptop became a part of the main console.

I sealed all the doors, and then commanded the plane to take on water through the ballast tanks and the main ballast vents. That mean that the air would open up in the five vents specifically designed for that, and then the water would be pushed out when I didn't need as much ballast.

Since I'd recently moved off of the large X's that'd been holding the plane up, and I was now next to the main island's dip, I immediately started sinking.

This was the deepest bit of water in the archipelago, so it was perfect. I saw several sharks swimming around, and shivered. I waited, and then grinned. Nautilus was running smoothly.

Then the lights started flickering, squashing my hopes, and I started sprinting on the treadmill to power everything, typing in the order to go topside. The lights stabilized, and I relaxed as we reached the top of the water. I opened the airlock, and then laughed, sitting on top of my new ship.

"Alright... Now I need more power. This won't cut it, I will not lose power at the bottom of the ocean, no thank you..." I got on my raft, and paddled back to the docks. I tied off, and then nodded to myself. "More eels will be necessary... I wonder... Where will I get them? I'll try the reef again tomorrow, but... Hm."

--- Day 27 ---

I anchored my raft, twenty feet from the coastline, and then slipped my mask on, and the scuba rebreather. It was quite ingenious, actually. It separated oxygen from water, allowing you to forgo a tank, and basically acted as a set of gills. I swam down towards the reef, and grabbed hold of some coral, looking around slowly, catching every detail.

There were a few sharks out today, but they wouldn't bother me if I didn't bother them. I spotted a good spot for an eel, and readied my sack, and my hook. Usually these kinds of hooks were used to get octopi, but I wanted a Moray eel.

I darted the hook inside the crevice, and hooked something, then yanked it out. It was an eel, alright, and he was pissed the hell off now. I stuffed him in the sack, and closed it, then continued on.

---

I caught three more, in the end, and they joined their brother in the back of the ship, and I close the net off.

Then I got an idea for air, underwater. I decided to make gills.

--- Day 32 ---

I'd quickly figured out the simple components to my rebreather, and then started replicating it, only much much bigger. It was a relatively simple system, so it was easy to reproduce, even on this scale. I fitted my gills over the openings to my secondary suction jets, on the wings, and then went inside.

I fired up my systems, and nodded. "Everything is looking good... How will it hold up, though?" I started all the systems at once, and monitored the resulting functions on my laptop. I had 2,500 volts, but that wasn't much, comparatively. I needed something more...

I blinked. "Hydroelectric Generators..." I had three giant fans already, converting them would be a snap. That way, I'd be creating energy by moving through the water. I quickly piloted the ship towards my main island, and settled it in the Net, and then got to work.

--- Day 40 ---

It took me a few days, but I found a good sized current in the Bay of my island, and settled the Nautilus in it, the twelve small fans I'd made from the three giant propellers each powering a generator.

I sat and read the readings, nodding when I saw the battery was charging very quickly. The eels would become a source of auxiliary power, not my main source, now. I leaned back, grinning. "Living La Vida Loca..."

--- Day 45 ---

I hung the last of the plants up in the cabin, and nodded. "Perfecto..." the plants were the same basic principal as what NASA put on the International Space Station, to purify and enrich air. I also had a system in place that would refill George's air pump, which he used to fill his oxygen tank. I used it for the air compression in the ballast system.

I loaded the Cargo hold with all of the Smoked Fish and dried fruit I could, carefully stored, and then looked around for any more details that needed handling. Everything was copacetic. I nodded, and then walked down the dock, and relaxed on the beach, reading the maps George had had of the ocean currents.

I was in the Indian Ocean, so just about any direction would get me to a mainland, but I was headed due south-east, back to Manilla. I was sure I could make it, but navigation without sunlight or stars would be hard. Then again, if an unmarked submarine starts going through international pirate waters, it may cause issues...

I sat and thought about my options. I had no radio the one on the dash had been trashed. I didn't have a phone, or internet, so... oh god do I have to make smoke signals? Not happening, I don't need anyone's help...

I hummed and just decided to say fuck it and try my luck. But I wanted to be able to get back, eventually... dammit... I guess I'll just try to get back the old fashioned way. By searching for my island by satellites, of course.

I began mapping a course that used the currents to my best advantage, and set it into my computer as a series of directional commands, as I didn't have any GPS. I spent a few days fixing the main command console with my laptops screens and keyboards. The other instruments were still necessary, so I left them where they were, but I used the passenger side of the cockpit to make into my own personal techie paradise, or as close as was possible with what I had.

I looked up from my work, and blinked. The water was getting choppy, and the wind was picking up. I hummed and slipped into the ship, locking the door, and then submerged. "Time to test if you can handle a storm, Nautilus..." I said quietly, patting the ship.

I sat at the command console, and played with a Rubik Cube that George had never finished. I solved it, and then unsolved it, and again and again, to occupy my hands and most of my brain, though part of it was monitoring the gentle rocking of my ship.

It steadily increased for about an hour, until my ship was tilting back and forth at 5-10 degree angles, back and forth. The waves above me were stirring up the water, and at only 45 feet down, that meant the circular motions were still hitting my ship.

The ballast in my wings stopped most of the rolling, so I congratulated myself on that stroke of genius as well, and slipped into my hammock, falling asleep quickly with the rocking.

--- Day 48 ---

The heavy rocking continued for two full days, and when it finally stopped, I hummed. "Is the storm done? Good..." I pushed the ballast lever forward, and the ship slowly rose to the surface.

I climbed my ladder, and opened the top, whistling a tune.

My whistle died in my throat as I viewed the wreckage that was all around me. Trees were ripped out of the outlier islands, and the water was filled with timber, and dirt. The previously crystal clear water was now muddy and disgusting.

My dock had survived, as did most everything else on my island. The trees were stripped of their bark and leaves, but that was just about it. The other islands were elevated higher, and shielded my island, taking the massive brunt of the winds and waves.

"Did I just sleep through a hurricane? Seriously?" I whispered in awe. The water had gotten a little rough, but... I hadn't expected something like this... I stepped onto the dock, and then looked into my fish trap. Apart from being filthy, it was empty, which I suppose I expected.

I started cleaning up, and then nodded to myself, hands on my hips. "I think that's as clean as a beach can get after a hurricane... alright." I gathered as many buckets of rubber and glass as I could, to act as repair materials, in case Nautilus was damaged,

I stored them in the cargo bay, walked back, leaving my shirt on a branch, proudly waving farewell at the end of my dock. I also left a small bundle of papers on the counter in the smokehouse, detailing how to survive as I did, and where to get materials.

I threw George's last half-empty bottle of whiskey at the keel, smashing it wide open, and christened the ship, 'Nautilus 2.0'. It was even written on the side in big letters, with Black scales, instead of White.

That finished, I climbed inside, and then turned my focus to the ocean. "I'm coming home, my friends..."