----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 3:26
PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Wetsub carrier
water transport systems
Dear Vance and all.
One thing I forgot to mention is that I have
actually been kicking around the idea of having my water transport system
for my wetsub
be part of the sub itself and submersible. Here
is my thoughts on how this might be accomplished.
Picture several hobie cat style pontoons with
the sub permanently attached between them and the pontoons brought
in closer to the body of the sub but out maybe a foot
or two from the sub body. The top of the
pontoons could be utilized to hold extra strapped in tanks and also serve as
a kind of step for getting into the sub. The pontoons would flood
and
also fill with air from these same tanks and
might even have storage capacity for dive gear built within
them.
Now you may be thinking that this is
not good because the buoyancy in the pontoons would be below the center of
gravity since the weight of the battery pod and the
sub
would be ABOVE the pontoons. This is true,
BUT....if I used the air bladders in the nose and tail of the wetsub to
raise it and ONLY inflated the pontoons once I had reached the surface
so that the sub would be above water, then it
might work. Since the sub would be awash on the surface BEFORE I inflated
the pontoons there would not be any problem with turning over as
there
would be if I inflated them while submerged.
Then a small outboard motor and gas tank could be attached to the rear of
the pontoons and the sub could go out to the dive site, transfer the
motor/gas tank over to
another boat, submerge and perform, then
surface, inflate the pontoons, reacquire the motor/gas tank from the
attending boat and clamp it back on the pontoon's rear and motor back into
port.
Of course this would necessitate having either
quick detachable or submersible/corrision proof outboard motor controls
rigged up either just out of the cockpit within hands reach or within the
cockpit of the
wetsub itself.
Some might say... "why not just have the sub
towed to the site by the other boat and not worry about having an outboard
motor/gas tank attached to the pontoons of the sub and just use those
permanently attached
to the sub pontoons to get the sub up and out
of the water so it doesn't drag and can be towed easier?"
This is another option I have considered. Of
course it would be cheaper and easier to just have the permanent pontoons
attached to the sub and inflate them ONCE ON THE SURFACE ONLY, and then be
towed in and out
by another boat. it certainly would be an
easier and cheaper route to go, no outboard motor to buy, no controls for
the motor to construct, etc.
I was thinking of this other option only
because my sub can not take the pounding other boats hardly feel when
hitting waves. The problem is the boat operator has no idea he is rattling
your teeth and practically
rupturing your back's disks not to mention
damaging your sub because his boat is so thick and heavy he hardly feels the
waves that are pounding you to pieces as he tows you into the same waves he
hardly feels. Of course
you could tell him to take it easy and if you
had waterproof communication between the wetsub and the boat while it was
being towed this would eliminate this problem, but by having your own
outboard motor to get to and from the dive site you
wouldn't have to worry about any problems that
might arise from being towed.
Just options here my friends.
I came up with this idea so as to preclude
having to worry about waterproofing an internal combustion motor and
diving with it. But it entails always having a boat go out with you to
transfer the outboard motor
to while the sub is submerged which is not a
bad idea anyway since having another boat with you increases safety and
enables more storage for gear and other divers.
But unless I modify an existing pontoon boat
with its own outboard engine, or buy new pontoons and create my own custom
built pontoon boat with a new or used outboard engine($$$$!) that would
sling carry my sub, launch it and
retrieve it, I could attach small hobie
cat STYLE pontoons permanently to my wetsub and just let another boat tow me
and have communications wire incorporated into the tow line where I can talk
with the boat operator
to be able to tell him to slow down if need be.
Another option to this is to just have my sub's
pontoons attached to the sub temporarily while it is being towed and then
detach the hobie cat style pontoons on launching the sub and
reattach
them again once the sub surfaces, and then be
towed by the boat. This is good too and would decrease drag and weight
underwater. This would just be a detachable wetsub carrier made from an old
hobie cat sailboat.
This might be the best, cheapest and easiest to
constuct method of transport. Just an old hobie cat set
of pontoons with a horseshoe cradle between the
pontoons where the sub can be sling raised just above the water line and
then be towed by another boat. An operator could still be in the sub
operating a rudder attached to the pontoons to steer the
sub as it was being towed via a handle located
just outside the sub cockpit that would stay on the pontoons when the sub
was detached. If the operator in the sub wore a full face scuba mask while
being towed he could utilize the radio communications
equipment available for fullface scuba masks
and communicate with the tow boat without wires. The more I think about it,
the more this option seems the easiest, cheapest, and most practical to me
for transporting my wetsub.
Anyone have a comment about my design thoughts
or thoughts of their own regarding transporting a wetsub to and from
the divesite?
Kindest Regards,
Bill Akins.