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

Sat Feb 25 16:40:47 EST 2017

So true... a battle scar from the fight with the davit. :)

On 2/25/17, via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
> Cosmetic? Pshaw! In Germany, real men have dueling scars. Glückwünsche!
> Vance
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles
> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> To: Personal Submersibles General Discussion
> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> Sent: Sat, Feb 25, 2017 4:05 pm
> Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Islamorada Trip / Dive Report...
>
> Thank Tim. Yes, I do have a few photos which I will post on the site
> and then share the link. I would give a thousand dollars and my left
> eyeball for a video of that davit failure, unfortunately we didn't
> catch it on film.
>
> Alec, I agree with you that hoisting/maneuvering the hull is probably
> the most risky part of standard sub ops! In the aftermath of the
> incident, I remembered your story about Snoopy falling a short
> distance in your shop... she is a tried-and-true vessel, that's for
> sure.
>
> Re-reading my hastily prepared report, I now realize that I included
> nothing about what we did following the davit failure... so after we
> got over the shock and got our wits about us, dad jumped back in the
> water to make sure she wasn't leaking anywhere and to recover the
> spreader bar (still attached to snoopy's lifting lugs). Dad handed up
> the spreader, then slowly swam snoopy down to another davit, which
> Mike and I thoroughly inspected before snapping on the spreader and
> lowering it down to dad, who hooked her up for a second time that
> evening.
>
> With dad back out of the canal, we cautiously lifted Snoopy out of the
> water and onto the dock with the second davit. During our normal fresh
> water hose-down we spent extra time checking everything over to make
> sure any damage was discovered and noted, though we noticed nothing
> serious (unfortunately there is a fresh surface gouge in the port
> saddle tank where the spreader bar came to rest, but it's only
> cosmetic). ~ Doug
>
> On 2/25/17, Alec Smyth via Personal_Submersibles
> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
>> Great report Doug, thanks! I always maintain the most dangerous part of a
>> little sub is in the workshop, and in particular the lifting. There's all
>> sorts of precarious situations one can let onself into when you need to
>> do
>> things like flip the boat upside down to work on the bottom, etc. My
>> scaries incident by far was when a chain lift broke and dropped Snoopy a
>> foot onto the concrete floor of the garage. It was just a foot, but it
>> was
>> probably picked up by nearby seismographs.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Alec
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 4:06 PM, 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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>>> Personal_Submersibles at psubs.org
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>>>
>>
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