[PSUBS-MAILIST] Islamorada Trip / Dive Report...

Fri Feb 24 17:22:41 EST 2017

Vance, that's definitely the way to look at it. Much rather spend a
few hundred on new hardware than a few thousand on boat / sub repair!

Alan, I like the idea of the ice chest with blower... seems like it's
simple, safe, cheap and probably (at least) somewhat helpful in
cooling things off. Only thing is, once your ice has melted, perhaps
it would actually increase humidity? I guess you'd need a way to cap
it off after its effective use.

It runs in my mind that someone here on PSUBS recently tried to build
one (maybe Brian Cox or Brian Hughes?). ~ Doug

On 2/24/17, Alan via Personal_Submersibles
<personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
> Thanks Doug, great report.
> As far as heat is concerned; air conditioning is very expensive
> on power.
> I have read of commercial operations pumping cooled air into
> the hull before boarding. You could do this easy enough in your
> canal by running an extension cord to an air conditioner.
> This won't help when you tow off the coast. It might be a bit tricky
>  trying to pump air in from your boat in rough conditions.
> One solution we have talked about is a chilli bin full of ice with
> a fan blowing air through it.
> Here is 1 of many videos on how to make one.
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I2LqIbm4cFI
> This guy suggests that you may also want to stick liquid refreshments
> in the chilli bin.
> They do sell air conditioning units for small boats.
> Alan
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On 25/02/2017, at 10:06 AM, Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles
>> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
>>
>> Holy smokes is this email overdue - sorry guys - better late than
>> never (right?).
>>
>> Greetings fellow PSUBBERS, Doug Jr. here with a basic trip / dive
>> report from our October, 2016 excursion to the Florida Keys with
>> submersible Snoopy.
>>
>> The group ended up being no more than my own family and my friend Mike
>> Patterson.
>>
>> To start off, we had a relatively limited amount of time on location
>> (about 6 days), considering that it was our first real trial with
>> Snoopy. Complicating matters was the fact that October is still within
>> hurricane season and the weather was not kind to us... we managed to
>> be down in the Keys between (and not during) hurricanes / tropical
>> storms, but the weather was still a major obstacle, giving us rain /
>> thunder / lightning / strong winds / rough seas / poor water
>> visibility... the works. Luckily the canal (of about 25 feet in depth)
>> offered us enough shelter to conduct some test dives in spite of
>> conditions.
>>
>> Snoopy herself offered us excellent service with no major issues (no
>> leaks, no electrical issues, etc). Prior to operation, we O2 cleaned
>> the entire oxygen system (hoses, gauge, reg, valves, etc.) and when
>> first in the water, my dad as support diver noticed an extremely small
>> O2 leak on the exterior reg (producing super small / slow bubbles in
>> the water). We rectified the problem by snugging up the fittings with
>> a wrench.
>>
>> With Snoopy right off the  dock in the canal, we all had a great time
>> acquainting ourselves with buoyancy and thruster control, noting the
>> slight delay in reaction to input as well as the overall sensitivity
>> of the controls.
>>
>> In terms of trimming out for proper buoyancy (via trawl floats), I had
>> been concerned that Snoopy wouldn't provide enough positive buoyancy
>> for two heavier occupants, but my worries were belayed soon enough
>> when I tried to dive solo (with no floats in the tubes) and the sub
>> was WAY too buoyant. We ended up using all of the dive weights we had
>> on hand, plus a few 10 LB anchors that we had lying about and finally
>> I came to nearly neutral buoyancy (I weigh about 190lbs).
>>
>> I don't have much doubt now that we have enough flotation in the
>> submersible's current weight/float configuration to safely dive two
>> heavier occupants, however, we ran out of time to test with two people
>> aboard.
>>
>> Aside from limited time and poor conditions, here are a few other
>> issues we encountered: As Alec, Steve and anyone else who rode in
>> Snoppy down in the Keys can attest, it gets HOT in the hull when you
>> are on the surface (even if just for a couple of minutes). Being under
>> the dome (in the Keys) reminded me of being in a greenhouse: hot and
>> humid. We need a better way to control the humidity within the hull
>> (if nothing else than for the electronics' sake). Air conditioning
>> would be a dream!
>>
>> I made the silly mistake of not bringing a scale for proper weight
>> calculations (I assumed we had one at the house, but we didn't, then
>> couldn't find any at the local drug stores!?!?). So we were doing a
>> lot of guessing and checking when it came to trimming out. It took a
>> while, but we ended up getting a pretty good system figured out.
>>
>> The only real nasty experience we had through the duration of our stay
>> in the keys occurred when the davit we were using to launch and
>> recover the sub failed and dropped the sub down into the water. The
>> davits we use are rated at 5,500 LBS and Snoopy weighs in at around
>> 2600 LBS, so no problem... when the lifting equipment is new. Problem
>> is that these davits have galvanized cable that has a way of looking
>> healthy on the outside but ugly within the strands (after being
>> exposed to the elements for some time). On one of our last recoveries,
>> the cable of the davit we were using snapped violently, dropping the
>> sub about 5 feet through the air and right back into the canal.
>> Thankfully, it didn't occur when we were swinging the sub over the
>> concrete dock and no damage resulted... but it taught me a powerful
>> lesson in being prepared for the unexpected!
>>
>> I know that to most of you guys these tips are common sense, but for
>> the sake of safety, let me review a few things to consider when
>> launching/recovering with cranes/davits:
>>
>> 1. Never allow anyone under (or even close to) the vessel when it's
>> being hoisted.
>> 2. Use at least two tag-lines to control direction and arrest sway if
>> lifting from a single point crane.
>> 3. Don't lift higher than necessary.
>> 4. Inspect equipment regularly and replace components when necessary.
>> 5. Ensure hatch is closed and secured prior to lifting (this probably
>> saved Snoopy from going to the bottom of the canal, as the
>> 'splash-down' was extreme).
>> 6. (for dome hatched vessels), wrap spreader bars, pulleys, blocks and
>> other hardware in carpet (secured by tape or zip ties) so if a failure
>> occurs the submersible won't incur damage (another thing that saved us
>> - the spreader bar bonked Snoopy on the head, but she was protected by
>> thick padding).
>> 7. Never stand in line with tensioned wire rope. When it snaps, it
>> whips with tremendous force.
>>
>> Although at the time I was shocked that what happened actually
>> occurred, in retrospect I'm happy it did, because for such a failure
>> to occur at all, it couldn't have had a better outcome or made a
>> stronger impression on me. Still a novice submersible operator, but
>> getting better with each lesson I learn! ~ Douglas S.
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