One late October night, Ernie Bean had a dream that he had built a big blue submarine and traveled the ocean to new places he had never seen. When he woke up the next morning, he decided to follow his dream and build a big blue submarine! There were a few problems with Ernie’s dream. Ernie lived on a farm far from the ocean and he had never really seen a real submarine. Ernie was determined and would not give up on his dream. He was going to build his big blue submarine. Ernie knew he would need some help building this submarine, so he told his two best friends, Mike and John about his dream and his plan to build his submarine. They thought it was neat and the greatest thing to build and travel in a big submarine! Mike and John agreed to help Ernie build this big blue submarine. Ernie knew he had to get started, and would be starting from scratch, so he went to the only one around who he knew who may have seen a submarine and that was old Admiral Sternrudder. He lived in a small house near the lake and kept a large collection of ships in bottles there. Ernie, Mike, and John decided to pay the Admiral a visit for help building a submarine. The Admiral listened closely and said Ernie had a pipe dream. He explained that they don’t build submarines on land far from the sea. He said it would take a lot of steel and iron, cranes, frames and welders to build that sort of thing. Since Ernie insisted, the Admiral loaned Ernie a book on ship and submarines and wished Ernie, Mike, and John well with chasing their dream.

Ernie, Mike, and John read the book from cover to cover, soaking everything up like a sponge, and finally hatched a plan to build a submarine right here on land! Ernie, Mike, and John were known to march to a different drummer and could not be stopped when the started something new. Ernie drew up the plans. Mike added the measurements and John gathered the materials needed to build the submarine. They decided to visit Scrappy’s JunkYard to find most of what they needed. They told Scrappy what they were building and Scrappy asked if they were in over their heads? He said he knew a man who ran marine scrap yard far away on the coast, but it would take a while for the parts to make it to town. Ernie, Mike, and John said that would be great! See what happens when they put their heads together! The boys decided that the submarine would have to be motorized so that it could make it to the shore. John found the right thing-three old tractors could do the job! Scrappy had a couple of old cranes that he was willing to trade. Ernie had collected quite a few spare parts from his neighbors’ farms and traded them with Scrappy for the parts they needed.

They visited Root and Trunks Lumber Yard for as much spare wood as they could get for the frame. When the told Limb Root and Leaf Trunks about their plan, they told the boys they had rocks in their heads but would help them with the plan. Limb and Leaf showed them the section of the lumber yard with the surplus wood and told them they could have as much wood as they wanted. The last stop they made was at Hit The Nail On The Head Hardware Store for the blue paint. Mike calculated that they would need 1,000 gallons of Marine Blue paint to cover the submarine. The boys placed their collection of material and tools outside of Ernie’s barn. Ernie, Mike, and John rolled up their sleeves and worked on building the submarine day and night. The word got around to the neighbors in town and they started to come to Ernie’s to see the building of the submarine. Some said the boys were out of their heads, some said their idea was crazy and so was their dream, some called the submarine a white elephant, and some said it was queer as a three dollar bill. Only one little girl said she supported their dream. Ernie, Mike, and John did not seem to care. They gave them a deaf ear and just kept building the submarine. One day before they knew it, they had completed the thing. It was one giant blue submarine. They cranked it up and checked it out! Everything worked as planned. The boys packed their bags and climbed into the tractor and began their journey to the coast. The neighbors gathered down the streets of town as the big blue submarine passed down the main streets to the highway that ends at the coast. The neighbors gawked and some even cheered. Others did not have a clue. Some were so happy that they didn’t know what to do! The boys got lots of looks and were asked by many for pictures as they kept trucking down the highway headed toward the sea.

Ernie, Mike, John finally reached the ramp, christened the submarine with a bottle of apple cider and launched it into the water. They climbed into the sub and began to live their dream. The boys learned early that if you stick to your goals and follow your dreams, you can do anything! Ernie, Mike, and John were now sailing the world in their big blue submarine!