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Dean, Frank
I don't have a float system on my sub but have given one some
thought. It would be pretty difficult to have a cable on the sub capable
of lifting the subs weight flooded. Mine was just about 30 pounds negative
when we tested it on a line and had to hand pull it up from 540 feet.
Al Secore probably still is walking bent over. Thirty pounds heavy, in
rough water, with the resistance of the water flowing around the sub as it rises
is a lot more then thirty pounds hanging on a hook in the shop. Any
cable would have to have a reasonable safety factor for rough conditions.
Also, having a way to communicate with the trapped sub would be nice for
the folks on both ends. I was thinking of making my float pull up a
wire pair from a spool on the sub. It could be used with equipment you
surface crew can carry for emergency communications and also serve as a guide to
send help down to you.
Your surface support crew can carry a latch mechanism that is designed to
mate with a mushroom shaped pin on top of your sub. If the emergency alert
line emanates from the top of the mushroom, your latch mechanism can be threaded
on the wire at the surface and slide down till it hits the top of the sub and
latches. Of course you first need to attach a strong cable to the latch
before you let it down. The big question is, will there be a winch heavy
enough and a cable long enough available but you need the winch no matter how
you do it.
We used to use a similar system to retrieve rock core samples from a drill
tube instead of pulling up the entire drill string. The latch was sent
down the drill pipe till it hit a mushroom pin on top of the core barrel. It
would catch and you started hauling it up.
I like the idea of wires to communicate through.
Dan H.
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