Re: Ken Martindale wet sub

[Subscuba@aol.com]

Hello Dick,

Sorry to be so long in answering but I've been out of town. Just got back 
yesterday.

The answers to your questions are as follows:

 The Sub is buoyed such that I have no problems with stability but the 
turning radius is about 20 feet which is not suitable for investigating 
wrecks. The area I dive does not need a tight turning radius but does need 
range and speed. The speed I calculated is 5+ knots but I haven't measured 
it. I believe it is as least that fast. The conning bubble does slow the Sub 
down but I don't know by how much. It doesn't seem noticeable. At the full 
cruising speed I should have more than 15 nautical miles of range. I use the 
sealed AGM lead acid batteries, three each group 27.

I originally painted it all white but the blue strip added a lot in 
appearance but not performance.

I made the front port myself out of polycarbonate 1/4 inch formed in my 
wife's oven around a Wok. The conning bubble I bought from Edmund Scientific. 
It's 1/4 inch thick at the rim but only about1/8 at the top. I cut a 1 inch 
hole in the top of the bubble to release air.

I launch the Sub with one other guy or my wife but I can launch it by myself 
if I desired. Launching and pickup is fairly easy very similar to a small 
trailer mounted boat.

I have no desire at present to build a second Sub because where I plan to use 
it, I will be going solo or a second diver crammed in. I'll be glad to help 
someone else build one if someone wanted to copy the design. 

The control box has a digital voltmeter installed and I have a compass on 
board but nothing else. The Sub's air supply has a scuba regulator and 
pressure gage. My regular diving gear has a dive computer etc.The way I dive 
has a boat following a surface buoy such that I don't worry as much about nav 
aids. 

I built the Sub primarily to extend my diving range on the reefs off 
Sebastian Florida and wanted the ability to exit and jump back in. I'm 
slightly paranoid about the large animals I've seen diving here. Also I feel 
the wet Subs are much lower risk than the dry Subs.

Due to time constraints I have not tested it in the Atlantic present testing 
has been in fresh water only. I hope to in the next few months.

Thanks for the interest,

Ken Martindale

In a message dated 6/6/99 8:29:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
rmorrisson@unidial.com writes:

<< 
 Ken,
 I was finally getting a look at your wet sub.  Nice job, basic white
 with a blue accent stripe!  I was wondering how the "sea trials" went.
 It looked like you might have some directional stability problems
 considering the size of the fins.  Also, did you make the dome yourself
 and does it add a lot of drag?  I can't tell from the pictures how many
 (or what size) air bubble relief holes are in the dome bubble.  Could
 you provide some more details?  Speed on surface and underway?  Can you
 load and unload by yourself?  Is there a second sub in the future so you
 can stick with the buddy system?  Nav aids?  Basic compass, depth gauge,
 and clock or do you have some high tech stuff tucked into there?
 Between your accomplishments and Ricks pic's I am starting to think more
 wet sub (and much sooner launch date) than dry sub with all its expense.
 
 Thanks again,
 Dick
  >>