[PSUBS-MAILIST] Thoughts on homebuilt submarines...

["Captain Nemo" <vulcania@interpac.net>]

There is more than one way to obtain your own submarine; and they all provide different forms and levels of experience.

 

If one buys and operates a sub, he may learn how they work.

 

If one starts with a set of plans for an established design, he may learn how subs are fabricated.

 

But if one starts from scratch, he will need to understand everything from initial design to recovery on the trailer. 

 

Of the three methods described above, the third is the most challenging and difficult way of acquiring a sub; but (I believe) it is also the most rewarding.

 

When I began my involvement with homebuilt submarines, I did not have access to a computer; there was no PSUBS website where people could exchange information; I didn't know anyone else who had built his own submarine; and, while I searched for knowledge in every place available to me (and had the published histories of past-masters as a guide) most of the skills I developed were self-taught  (derived of trial-and-error through my own research).  It was like groping in the dark along a path paved with numerous mistakes, frequent self-doubt, and occasional risk; but the personal satisfaction that came with eventual success, coupled with the acquired ability to progress in building own subsequent designs, made it all worthwhile.

 

Having a submarine is great; but getting there is a big part of what it's really all about.  Or at least, that's how it was for me, anyway.

 

Pat