[PSUBS-MAILIST] PC2021

Tue Jan 26 19:07:54 EST 2021

Whoa, Doug, you have taken some major hits in the last 12 months.

So very glad that you are still thinking and acting in positive ways.  Best of luck with the sub and plane build.

Hoping to meet up with you at PC'21, assuming it happens and we are able to attend.

Tim

From: Personal_Submersibles [mailto:personal_submersibles-bounces at psubs.org] On Behalf Of Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles
Sent: Tuesday, January 26, 2021 2:59 PM
To: Personal Submersibles General Discussion <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] PC2021

Jon - finally checking in on the list. My apologies that it has taken so long, unacceptable on my part. 

Thanks to both Cliff and Jon for starting these threads on project updates and a possible PC '21. 

I'll take this opportunity to share an update of my own, sorry that it's going to be rather long-winded. 

For those who might not have heard through the Facebook grapevine, my family has experienced a bit of bad luck lately (well actually a lot of bad luck, haha). During a ferocious storm back in the summer of 2019, our family home was struck by lightning! The smell of ozone and burned wiring filled the whole house but we checked scrupulously and there was no fire. We had to replace our TVs, computers and other appliances because the electricity from the lightning seems to have entered the house through the power main. We also inspected and replaced as much wiring as we could, but wiring behind walls and in the ceiling proved nearly impossible to replace so we left it alone. Apparently that was a big mistake because a few months later in October of 2019, the house caught fire and, for all intents and purposes, burned to the ground. Some of the structure was salvageable but much of it was lost. We are very fortunate that we also own a sort of 'guest house' on the same property that was untouched by the flames, so we've been living in this little place for the past 15 months now as the house has been getting gutted, redesigned and now rebuilt. Unbelievably we suffered a second, completely unrelated, fire on the same property this July, 2020. A tree fell in strong winds bringing a 19.9KV line down onto our detached garage. The metal garage became electrified and started emitting sparks. This eventually caught some fireworks on fire that went off and set the whole building alight. After the house fire we had made extra room in this garage for the storage of any salvageable articles from the house, so the garage was loaded to the gills with valuable stuff and unfortunately it was all lost to smoke, fire, water or some combination thereof. Several fire departments responded immediately but there was little to be done before the electric utility killed the line and for some reason that took the better part of an hour. It was painful for us to watch as the garage went up in smoke and flame with the firemen standing by but unable to safely fight the fire. Luckily in the lightning strike and both structure fires, no lives were lost and in the final analysis that's all that matters. But throw in the pandemic that we've all been dealing with and this past year has been no picnic at the beach! 

Starting in the fall of 2019, right before the house fire hit, I had embarked on the project of a lifetime - building a light airplane. I rented out a business-jet hangar at my local airport and began quick-build construction of Zenair Ltd. CH-801-SD bush plane. Because the hangar affords ample work room, I decided to take the K-250 submersible Snoopy out to the hangar as well. This turned out to be a real blessing-in-disguise because out at the hangar Snoopy was safe from the impending doom that befell our property a short while later! Snoopy was torn apart for overhaul in late 2018 (a process which both Alec and Steve have been extremely helpful with) and her parts were all moved out to the hangar over the summer before the fire, so she's all safe but still in need of sandblasting, painting and reassembly. Beyond having the sub project and airplane project running concurrently, I've also been working on a house of my own down the road from my parents' place... the fire was God's way of telling me that it's time to move out of my parents' home and starting living like a so-called "adult" hahaha. 

Both the rebuild project of mom and dad's house and the restoration of my own house down the road are coming along nicely despite some delays caused by the various virus shutdowns. With any luck we should be moved into our 'new' homes by the late spring and then full attention can be returned to the projects at hand. I try to head out to the hangar when I have a couple of spare hours and get a little something done, mostly with the establishment of a "shop" (crane, work bench, drill press, lathe, etc. but I put shop in quotations because it's pretty makeshift at this point).

As to a potential PC-'21, I would love to participate but I am hesitate to offer my services, especially so down in Islamorada until I get a better idea of when we'll be moved into our new homes and have our lives back on track (obviously this takes priority at the moment). We also have several events coming up this year including an airshow and a wedding, but those are partially dependent on how COVID plays out as well. Although I really can't offer any hard and fast assistance this year, my desire to participate in sub events remains strong. If you guys come up with something for this year, please keep me in the loop because I'd like to see if I could make it (almost certainly without Snoopy for this year). I am eager to get back under the water ASAP, but sometimes the best things are worth the wait. Best wishes to whoever might be reading this, hope you are all staying healthy and safe amid this dreadful pandemic. ~ Douglas S. 

On Thu, Jan 7, 2021 at 2:46 PM Jon Wallace via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org <mailto:personal_submersibles at psubs.org> > wrote:

I'm sure we will have a need for your services.

Jon

On Thursday, January 7, 2021, 12:09:21 PM EST, Sean T. Stevenson via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org <mailto:personal_submersibles at psubs.org> > wrote: 

I don't have a sub to bring, but I'd be happy to assist with sub ops again if I can make the dates work. Any need for a support / rescue diver?

Sean

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