It looks like a giant fishbowl, only squatter, supported at its base over a larger pool, and it’s one third filled with water. We’re about ten kids that climb in and horse around and look out at the people waiting in line, through the hard, clear plastic. The real fun starts when the bowl starts spinning, first slowly and then faster and faster. The bowl’s wavy inner surface catches some of the water and puts it into motion, and centrifugal force pulls it and some of us up towards the sides.
It’s like a whirlpool in reverse; soon everybody’s drawn up and out to a perimeter ribbon of water, swirling in the air. I try to half stand, half squat in the G-forces, horizontal to the spectators, and the water that hasn’t yet gotten up to speed flows by me with its human cargo like a rain-swollen stream.
The ride is just starting. Now the bowl begins to tilt, slowly to keep its wet contents contained in its oval cross section. Soon it’s standing vertical, and I’m floating in the water, watching another swimmer on the other side of the bowl, sometimes over me, sometimes under me. When I think we’ve had enough, the orb continues to tilt until finally it’s upside-down. I feel a little dizzy when I look down through the open hole at the whirling pool beneath us.
Finally the bowl slows abruptly and it’s just we and the water still held in a gyrating limbo. As the water decelerates, it starts pouring out “over” the edge, and finally my fishbowl fellows and I reluctantly also slide down to be flung outwards into the pool below. When my inner ear has caught up, I rush to the end of the line again.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 15 2004 CamelBeach Vortex & Spin Cycle http://camelbeach.com/bowlslides.shtmlProbably different. [waugsqueke, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] I wouldn't fancy swimming around in someone else's puke.-- Ling, Mar 15 2004 For you, there's the single rider, private pool version.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 15 2004 a (+).-- britboy, Mar 15 2004 Can I have a snorkel/air hose in case I'm pinned to the wall underwater for a bit too long?
It would be a matter of time before Synchronized Spinning Bowl Swimming becomes an Olympic "sport."-- RooneDitoff, Mar 15 2004 //pinned to the wall underwater// I would guess that the water, undergoing the same pressure forces, would buoy you as earlier.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 15 2004 The water wall of death-- Ling, Mar 15 2004 In a way, like those carney rides that leave you stuck to the wall by ?centrifugal force only to have the floor pulled away from your feet. Now, this could be drained, couldn't it?-- dpsyplc, Mar 15 2004 The water could be drained, but that would be another experience and, as you say, baked.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 15 2004 Scary. Fun, but someone's gonna end up bruised, at least.-- yabba do yabba dabba, Mar 15 2004 Been there, spun, tilted, and poured over the edge in my early " I just have to dive this beach " days....used a thousand psi of air in 3 minutes. I saw fishbones.....-- normzone, Mar 15 2004 [+]I wouldn't ride it myself, but [+] for the brave souls who do.-- Klaatu, Mar 16 2004 If you get a bunch of people (i.e. swim team) to walk around in the shallow end of the pool, you can create a whirl pool without all the fancy equipment. Granted, you won't experience the G-Force of an astronaut in training, though it is still quite significant.-- WordUp, Mar 16 2004 If you got this right you could swim in a vertical loop. If you got it wrong, you'd be dead.
Reminds me of my first free fall. Instructor a says to me "WHAT EVER YOU DO, DOn't..." then the door of the Pilatus Porter opened and he was drowned out by the air and engine noise. I asked the other instructor "WHAT'D HE SAY". Came the answer: "HE SAID ...DON'T SCR*W UP!"-- FloridaManatee, Mar 16 2004 Thanks for censoring that.-- yabba do yabba dabba, Mar 16 2004 random, halfbakery