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

Fri Feb 24 16:43:12 EST 2017

Hey, look at the silver lining. It's busted. You can upgrade. Woo hoo!

-----Original Message-----
From: Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
To: Personal Submersibles General Discussion <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
Sent: Fri, Feb 24, 2017 4:27 pm
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Islamorada Trip / Dive Report...

Good idea with the turnbuckles Vance. We definitely need to update our
lifting equipment down there. ~ Doug

On 2/24/17, via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
> Doug,
> Good going. Splashdown! Nerves tested. Toasts made. Cigars smoked. Sunset
> appreciated even more than usual. A good day with a few extra gray hairs
> ain't all bad. As to the lifting yoke, if height is a problem, go with
> something like a pair of long bottle screws (turnbuckles) with end closures
> rather than open hooks. Make sure they are long enough so that slack in the
> lift line will result in the yoke pivoting to one side from the sub's welded
> lift points. I'd do the carpet thing, too, being a belt and suspenders kind
> of yahoo like I am.
> Vance
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles
> <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> To: personal_submersibles <personal_submersibles at psubs.org>
> Sent: Fri, Feb 24, 2017 4:07 pm
> 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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>
>
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