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

Fri Feb 24 19:33:22 EST 2017

Thanks for the report Doug. Good job. Looking for ward to hearing about the
next one : )

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: Personal_Submersibles [mailto:personal_submersibles-bounces at psubs.org]
On Behalf Of Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2017 4:07 PM
To: personal_submersibles at psubs.org
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Islamorada Trip / Dive Report...

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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