Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] fascinating stories

[Steven Mills <cirtemoeg@juno.com>]

I wrote a babbling commentary to your obsevations.  I'm getting over
a bad cold and a long tiring trip., so I'm not sure what was babble
and what was commentary.  Instead, I thought this might be more
interesting :                                                [ --Steve  ]

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/worl
d/europe/3227295.stm


> Sources: BBC News (30 October 2003) 
> 
>
> Hunt for Lost City of Atlantis 
> 
> One team of experts believes Atlantis lies under the seas west of
Gibraltar, while an American researcher believes the Lost City was in
Cyprus. 
>      The team heading to Gibraltar is led by pre-historian Professor
Jacques Collina-Girard, aided by the two men who led the expeditions to
the Titanic. They believe that using a combination of literary pointers
and geological evidence they have pinned the lost city's location to just
west of the Straits of Gibraltar, on a submerged mud shoal now known as
Spartel Island. 
>      The story of Atlantis, a fabled utopia destroyed in ancient times,
has captured the imagination of scholars ever since it was first
described by the philosopher Plato more than 2,000 years ago. His
depiction of a land of fabulous wealth, advanced civilisation and natural
beauty has spurred many adventurers to seek out its location. Debate
rages over where it may lie, with it being placed variously near Cuba,
off the coast of Devon, near The Azores or slap bang in the middle of the
Atlantic. 
>      Professor Collina-Girard says that whilst researching patterns of
human migration from Europe to North Africa 19,000 years ago during the
last Ice Age, he became convinced that in pre-historic times a land
bridge linked the two continents. He says that by making a map of the
ocean floor as it would have appeared at that time, when the sea levels
were much lower, he discovered an archipelago just in front of the
Straits of Gibraltar. The professor believes that about 11,000 years ago
the rapidly rising seas submerged the archipelago - not in one day as
Plato describes, but nonetheless at a rapid rate in geological terms -
some 2 metres per century. 
>      On the first two-week mission, set to take place next July, a
two-man submersible will be sent down to investigate areas of the island
most likely to be inhabited. The $250,000 to $500,000 estimated cost of
the first expedition is being covered through a combination of private
collections and sponsorship. 
>      On the other hand, according to Robert Sarmast Atlantis was in
Cyprus. "The island of Cyprus was, or is, part of Atlantis -- a
mountaintop," Sarmast said. Geologists say the land mass of Cyprus's
central mountain range once formed the ocean floor. Sarmast says the
mountainous island was the tip of the civilization submerged in a
devastating earthquake and flood thousands of years ago. 
>      Using deep-sea imagery, simulations of the seabed, and following
some 50 clues found in Plato's "Critias" and "Timaeus" dialogues, Sarmast
says he has discovered a sunken rectangular land mass stretching
northeast from Cyprus, toward Syria. "Everything matches the descriptions
in the dialogues of Atlantis to an uncanny degree," Sarmast said. Using
scientific data collected a decade ago, Sarmast says he came up with
detailed three-dimensional maps and simulated models of the eastern
Mediterranean basin. "We lowered the sea level by 1,600 meters and an
island popped up," he said. 
>      However, this theory has been challenged by archaeologists, who
say the Atlantis story is a myth and Sarmast ideas are not supported by
tangible evidence. Also Cypriot scholars are skeptical of Sarmast's
conclusions. 
> 

On Tue, 04 Nov 2003 16:44:41 -0500 SeaLordOne@aol.com writes:
> Thijs,
> 
> When I first joined this group, I asked myself, where are the 
> stories?  I assumed that people who are passionate enough about 
> diving to build their own submarines would "flood" the site with 
> interesting stories of their adventures.  But that has not been the 
> case, in my assessment.
> 
> One hypothesis is that most folks are still at the design and 
> engineering stage of their boats, so they have no stories yet to 
> tell.  But I don't see data to support that hypothesis.  There are 
> quite a number of folks on this site who have in fact had those 
> adventures...but they do not talk about them very much.  They 
> continue to discuss the engineering of the boats.  I sometimes 
> wonder if they are more interested in operating their boat, or 
> designing the next one?
> 
> That hypothesis suggests that many of the folks on this site are 
> more interested in designing and building their boat than they are 
> about operating it.  That might explain why people who already have 
> their boats keep talking about design issues.  We may have a lot 
> more "engineers" than "romantics".  I am a romantic.  The only 
> reason I am willing to do all of the math is because I want to be a 
> U-Boat Commander, a Captain Nemo.  I just may not be typical of this 
> group.  This group may have more "engineers" than "romantics".  (Not 
> to say these are mutually exclusive categories: John Holland and 
> Simon Lake were both).
> 
> Mark Ragan spoke at the PSUBS conference this year.  He built a 
> K-350, which led to searching for the Hunley, which led to writing 
> books on the Hunley, which led to moving to the excavation site of 
> the Hunley to become the Hunley Historian in Residence at the 
> Museum.  Something like that.  He traced this theme, how one thing 
> led to another, and concluded by telling us that if we simply build 
> our boats, the adventures will come along.  He too, it appears to 
> me, is a romantic.  To him, and to me, the psub is not the goal. 
>  The adventures are the goal.  The psub is just the bridge (no pun 
> intended) to get me there.
> 
> Another thought is that once folks build the boat, they leave the 
> group, or at least become less active.  Perhaps you need the group a 
> lot to design, you need them less to build and test, and you hardly 
> need them at all to operate and maintain.
> I don't know.
> 
> Just a few musings.  Perhaps I need to share a few Undanuted 
> stories?  Or would "the engineers" roll their eyes at me and steer 
> me back to the math, like a wayward grade school student who had not 
> done his homework?  Just kidding!
> 
> Doug Farrow
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!