Greetings Mr. Jon Wallace,
My name is Douglas Suhr. I am currently 18 years old and a senior in
high school. I live in Oil City, Pennsylvania with my parents, Sarah and Doug.
I have been interested in building, owning and operating my own one atmosphere
submersible for some time now. I have recently joined psubs.org in an effort to assist in fulfilling my
underwater dream.
I could spend a great deal of time (and paper!) explaining every little
detail of my personal history as it relates to diving and underwater
exploration, but I don’t feel that this is the time or place to do that.
However, I would like to give you a relatively brief synopsis of my personal
history pertaining to diving and my quest to dive in the comfort and safety of
one atmosphere. I feel that once I explain my circumstances and position, you
will have an easier time of assisting me in fulfilling the difficult goal of
constructing my own submersible.
Both of my parents were SCUBA divers before I was even born. My dad was
a lifeguard instructor and was trained in SCUBA diving in his early twenties.
My mom learned to dive after meeting my dad. Not only are they “life
partners,” they are dive partners. So needless to say, I grew up around the
sport of recreational diving. I had my first underwater experience when
I was 8 years old. Too small to wear a tank, I used my dad’s hookah rig. With
both of my parents, one on either side, I explored some underwater rock
formations in about 12 feet of clear Canadian lake water. This was a true
life-changing experience because from that point on, I loved the water.
I spent the next few years slowly gaining more experience underwater,
eventually graduating to using a traditional SCUBA tank. Then, for my
11th birthday, my parents purchased me a BellAqua B.O.B. I spent a
good year and a half with my little ambient wet sub before I was dreaming of
diving in one atmosphere – what I regarded as “the professional
way.”
As most 12-year-old boys are, I was quite ambitious and eager to get
started building my submarine. My dad, though, told me that it would be
“prudent to do some research first.” I spent a great deal of time that year
playing “online sleuth,” trying to find the best way to go about home-building
a submarine. As you might imagine, it didn’t take me long to discover psubs.org! I received a great deal of inspiration
from psubs, as well as from movies like Men of Honor and Grey Lady
Down. My grandpa was also a huge source of inspiration, showing me a
diving helmet that he built in a college class back in the 50’s!
But after learning some of the “methods to the madness,” I was
overwhelmed as a 12 year old boy. The cost and complexity necessary was just
beyond our means. I didn’t give up hope completely, but I decided to put the
submersible project on the “back burner” for a while. Several years now pass
by.
Another three years went by and I was now in the 8th grade.
A renewed interest in the project prompted me to contact Captain George
Kittredge and Mr. Ian Ellis about their UEM submarine. At the time, they were
trying to find a buyer for the proto-type vessel. I could not help but
entertain the thought of purchasing the submarine, but I just wasn’t able to
persuade my parents to make the investment. Instead, I settled for purchasing
a set of the UEM plans. When I received the plans a few days later in the
mail, I was surprised to see that the Captain had included a free copy of his
book, along with a very nice letter to me. Our correspondence transpired
through the winter of 2008, but Captain Kittredge asked if I would come to his
location in Maine to try out the UEM in his test tank when the weather
brightened up a bit. He described a sort of new lexan propeller that he wanted
me to see. Unfortunately, due to my parents busy work schedules, we never made
the trip up to see him. I am saddened to see that he has passed away because
he sounded like a really nice guy who I would love to get to know.
Over the next year, my dad and I looked over the UEM plans. We also
purchased the “diving trials” DVD, which enabled us to view the vessel in
action. No doubt that this is a formidable submersible design, but after much
consideration, we decided that the dome hatch is just not what we want.
Instead, we want to build a K-Tree 50: the name we gave to our hybrid design.
The “tree” is a combination “two” and “three.” The tree also symbolizes the
environmental friendliness of the UEM design. Basically, It’s the hull of the
UEM/K-250 with the steel conning tower assembly of the K-350. Maximum safe
operational depth would be 250 feet. One of the biggest design goals is to
keep the vessel as simple as possible. That probably means the exclusion of a
variable ballast tank. We are also working to keep the vessel simple by
designing a very simplistic (thus safe) aspirating cabin refreshment system
for breathing air replenishment and by rethinking the traditional launch and
recovery methods. On a side-note, we have decided to name the vessel Spirit
of Calypso after John Denver’s song pertaining to Jacques Cousteau’s
research ship.
This design modification is what prompted me to order the 4 acrylic
viewports from psubs in 2009. Obviously the UEM plans don’t cover the
construction of a conning tower assembly, so we will need much assistance with
this, hopefully from fellow psubs members.
I know that
safety is of utmost importance to the psubs community. It is most definitely
the same way here on our end. No doubt that the main goal of this undertaking
is to have fun, and attending a funeral is not considered fun. Dad and
I understand the inherent risks of building and operating a piece of
life-supporting equipment, and we most certainly do not take it lightly. After
thoroughly constructing and testing our submersible, we plan to have a series
of well-thought operations guidelines (like never operating the vessel in
areas where bottom depths exceed 250 feet, thus avoiding any
possibility of crushing). We also plan to have a very regulated set of
emergency procedures so that if, heaven forbid, an emergency situation would
arise, we are prepared. Of course this also includes thorough pre-dive checks
on all emergency equipment (what good is a weight release system if it hasn’t
been moved in so long that its frozen!?!?).
Anyway, I’m sure you get the point that we are very safety oriented
people ourselves. No more “Seeker 100” foolishness. I am currently working to
earn my private pilot’s license and subsequently own a share of a Cessna 172
Skyhawk. Our airplane is treated with love and respect, more like a person
than an airplane. I am of the mind that applying this philosophy to our
submersible is a good idea: Treat her with love and respect every time,
and she will bring you back to the surface, every time. As a matter of
fact, we just lost a couple of guys from our airport to a crash last summer
(summer of 10’). This fall the official FAA report came out. Result: CFT –
Controlled Flight into Terrain. In other words, they were treating her like a
Las Vegas hooker, not a mother or girlfriend.
Concerning our capabilities, this summer we just completed a new
garage/workshop that will provide us with plenty of fabrication space. We have
a Kubota tractor with forks, as well as a homebuilt gantry crane. We have both
an oxy-acetylene rig and a buzz box. And of course all the basic tools that
you would expect to find in a shop. We don’t have a metal lathe and probably
won’t be buying one in the near future, but we do know some really great local
fabricators who I’m sure will come in handy! If such help is available from
the psubs community, we might ask for some specialized parts to be made for us
(?). We aren’t the greatest at welding yet, so we will most likely ask a
professional to do the critical welds for us.
We are just finishing up our first major steel project, which is the
construction of a one ton, 8-inch siege mortar. This involved ordering,
cutting and welding 1-inch plate, and gave us some practical experience with
ordering and handling large pieces of steel. If you would like, I’ll send you
a picture of the gun when he is complete (his name is Barker).
Barker will be finished up by May, which is also when I’ll be
graduating from high school and subsequently finding a tremendous amount of
free time on my hands! I plan to start construction of the Spirit of
Calypso in early June. To date, I have saved approximately $11,500.00 to
start the project. I deem this amount large enough to start construction, for
more funding will materialize as time passes. Because both my dad and I will
have a lot of free time on our hands, I’d really like to see if we might
accomplish the bulk of the construction in a span of two years, beginning this
June.
We have access to housing and boats (through family members) on Lake
Kamaniskeg in Canada, Lake Chautauqua in New York and down in the Florida Keys
as well. We are familiar with diving in all three of these locations, and they
will make great testing facilities when the time comes. We have a large
suburban for towing a heavy submersible, as well as deep-ramp launching
facilities in Canada and New York. Down in Florida, we have davits and a
canal. We have no vessel large enough to carry the sub, but plenty that we
could tow with. This is why a strong tow ring will be essential!
I have obtained a Minn Kota trolling motor that I have been fooling
with, and I’m working with my dad to build an approximate model of the sub out
of PVC pipe and wood. Again, if you like, I’ll email photos of these items
when completed. We will be going down to our relative’s cottage in the keys
this Easter for vacation, at which time I am going to snap a few pictures of
two one-atm submersibles in the area. Both retired, one rests at a boy scouts
camp and is very large (48 inch dome). The other, down the Keys a ways in
Marathon, appears to be a Kittredge designed vessel. It has been sitting there
for years. I will forward pictures of both of these vessels to you when I get
them if you wish.
Now when the Spirit of Calypso is complete, I plan to use it for
research and educational purposes, including my own as well as others. I also
plan to do some wreck diving down in the Florida Keys. As we design the
submersible, we are incorporating various elements into the design that will
make salt water operations easier, from buoyancy control to corrosion
resistance. My dad is an electrical engineer by trade, so he will be
exceptional with the wiring of the sub.
I understand that at this point, I don’t even have a submersible, so
that really takes precedence, but in the future, I would love to become a more
active member of the psubs community, organizing PR events in my area to
promote the safe construction and operation of personal submersibles. I feel a
tiny bit guilty that I live in PA because I saw that you folks are trying to
extend coverage South Westward, but I will say that once the submersible is
complete, we will definitely have the ability to travel with it!
I thank you so much, Mr. Wallace for taking the time to read this
“long” letter. I have accomplished the objective of informing you of my
position. My second objective is to ask you for assistance. Could you make
yourself personally available (via email), or connect us to someone
else in the psubs community (with experience) who could make themselves
personally available to assist us? We will have many questions about many
specific things. I know that since we are now a member of psubs.org we can post questions, but I don’t think
this is the best method when we have so many questions to ask. What do you
recommend? Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Douglas Suhr
Douglas Henry
Suhr Jr.
9 Shady Oak
Lane,
Oil City, PA
16301
(814)676-5236
spiritofcalypso@gmail.com
Well greetings to you Captain Smyth! I really appreciate
you reading my letter! Moreover, I am so pleased to hear that I made your day!
I was a little nervous as to the reception I might receive from the psubs
community when they learn of my young age, but my fears have diminished since
receiving your hopeful words of encouragement!
I also really appreciate your willingness to answer
questions… I’ll try not to bombard you, but I do have many topics to
discuss. I have a feeling that a group like psubs is a
well-knit community because we are brought together by something we are all
very passionate about, and this is definitely a good thing.
I apologize pertaining to the vagueness in my letter
concerning propulsion of the submersible. After re-reading it myself, it is
more than understandable how a reader would be confused.
To clear it up, let me explain that we are only using the
UEM plans as a basis for main hull design. In retrospect, purchasing the K-250
plans would have been much more helpful. Daddy and I agree that trying to
pedal-power a submersible of the Kittredge design would be strenuous exercise,
not to mention the resulting dramatic increase in human air consumption
through natural respiration. No, we plan to power our sub with three thrusters
in the same configuration as your Snoopy.
As I mentioned in my letter, I have already started to fool
around a little bit with a minn kota trolling motor. Pressure compensation,
rotation of the motors and power-to-power through hulls are all on the
“consideration board” at this time concerning the propulsion. How are Snoopy’s
thrusters pressure compensated (oil?/air?)?
I have a very common-sensish approach to my projects.
Overall, this is a good thing, but I have found that at times this method is
at fault for omitting small but important details. But anyway, here goes: I
have split the in-shop construction of the submersible into 5 stages, those
being:
1.
Pressure Hull ~ (including skids, windows, conning tower,
hatch, etc.).
2.
Buoyancy Control ~ (including hoods, ballast, drop
weights, tanks, plumbing, etc.).
3.
Propulsion ~ (including two amidships and one stern
thruster, battery bank, controllers, etc.)
4.
Cabin Environment ~ (including fresh air replenishment,
life support, monitors and alarms, interior lighting, seating, etc.)
5.
Electronics and Gauges ~ (including master pressure gauge
panel, master battery bank panel, exterior lighting, robotic arm and
excavation vacuum, various instrumentation like depth gauge, compass,
thermometer, etc. as well as sub-to-surface communications and eventually
sonar).
As I mentioned, daddy and I are working on a 1/12 scale
model of the submersible. As we do so, we are “mapping out” where we want
certain assemblies placed, how we will fabricate them, etc. Although we most
likely won’t have every little detail figured out until after we start
construction, I feel that it’s a good idea to figure out most of the details
before we start to build. The fear is ever-present in my mind that after we
complete the bulk of the assembly, we’ll realize that we forgot to add
something early on that now requires the dismantling of the newly built
vessel. So having a well-mapped construction plan is my basic strategy.
Pertaining to our electric welder, we have a Lincoln
Electric weldmark ac/dc arc welder. My dad does some welding now, but I think
you have a very good point in learning the trade well. I suppose it’s a pretty
universal skill that will stand you in good stead, regardless of whether
you’re building a submersible or not. We are thinking about enrolling in
welding classes together this summer at our local vocational
school.
As far as sharing my first correspondence, I think your
idea is a good one. I will make a post on psubs explaining my position and
project, but first I’ll wait to hear back from Jon Wallace.
I may actually write up a separate statement for the post, including
things that weren’t in the first letter, like the 5-stage construction plan.
So about your motors…
Sincerely,
Douglas
S.