<font color='black' size='3' face='Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif'>Put up a Jimmy Buffet umbrella. You'd be surprised how much difference it makes to take the direct sunlight off that dome.
<div>Vance<br>
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<div style="font-family:helvetica,arial;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Alan via Personal_Submersibles <personal_submersibles@psubs.org><br>
To: Personal Submersibles General Discussion <personal_submersibles@psubs.org><br>
Sent: Fri, Feb 24, 2017 4:48 pm<br>
Subject: Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Islamorada Trip / Dive Report...<br>
<br>
Thanks Doug, great report.<br>
As far as heat is concerned; air conditioning is very expensive<br>
on power.<br>
I have read of commercial operations pumping cooled air into<br>
the hull before boarding. You could do this easy enough in your<br>
canal by running an extension cord to an air conditioner. <br>
This won't help when you tow off the coast. It might be a bit tricky<br>
trying to pump air in from your boat in rough conditions.<br>
One solution we have talked about is a chilli bin full of ice with<br>
a fan blowing air through it.<br>
Here is 1 of many videos on how to make one.<br>
<a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I2LqIbm4cFI" target="_blank">https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I2LqIbm4cFI</a><br>
This guy suggests that you may also want to stick liquid refreshments<br>
in the chilli bin.<br>
They do sell air conditioning units for small boats.<br>
Alan<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPad<br>
<br>
> On 25/02/2017, at 10:06 AM, Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles <<a href="mailto:personal_submersibles@psubs.org">personal_submersibles@psubs.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> <br>
> Holy smokes is this email overdue - sorry guys - better late than<br>
> never (right?).<br>
> <br>
> Greetings fellow PSUBBERS, Doug Jr. here with a basic trip / dive<br>
> report from our October, 2016 excursion to the Florida Keys with<br>
> submersible Snoopy.<br>
> <br>
> The group ended up being no more than my own family and my friend Mike<br>
> Patterson.<br>
> <br>
> To start off, we had a relatively limited amount of time on location<br>
> (about 6 days), considering that it was our first real trial with<br>
> Snoopy. Complicating matters was the fact that October is still within<br>
> hurricane season and the weather was not kind to us... we managed to<br>
> be down in the Keys between (and not during) hurricanes / tropical<br>
> storms, but the weather was still a major obstacle, giving us rain /<br>
> thunder / lightning / strong winds / rough seas / poor water<br>
> visibility... the works. Luckily the canal (of about 25 feet in depth)<br>
> offered us enough shelter to conduct some test dives in spite of<br>
> conditions.<br>
> <br>
> Snoopy herself offered us excellent service with no major issues (no<br>
> leaks, no electrical issues, etc). Prior to operation, we O2 cleaned<br>
> the entire oxygen system (hoses, gauge, reg, valves, etc.) and when<br>
> first in the water, my dad as support diver noticed an extremely small<br>
> O2 leak on the exterior reg (producing super small / slow bubbles in<br>
> the water). We rectified the problem by snugging up the fittings with<br>
> a wrench.<br>
> <br>
> With Snoopy right off the dock in the canal, we all had a great time<br>
> acquainting ourselves with buoyancy and thruster control, noting the<br>
> slight delay in reaction to input as well as the overall sensitivity<br>
> of the controls.<br>
> <br>
> In terms of trimming out for proper buoyancy (via trawl floats), I had<br>
> been concerned that Snoopy wouldn't provide enough positive buoyancy<br>
> for two heavier occupants, but my worries were belayed soon enough<br>
> when I tried to dive solo (with no floats in the tubes) and the sub<br>
> was WAY too buoyant. We ended up using all of the dive weights we had<br>
> on hand, plus a few 10 LB anchors that we had lying about and finally<br>
> I came to nearly neutral buoyancy (I weigh about 190lbs).<br>
> <br>
> I don't have much doubt now that we have enough flotation in the<br>
> submersible's current weight/float configuration to safely dive two<br>
> heavier occupants, however, we ran out of time to test with two people<br>
> aboard.<br>
> <br>
> Aside from limited time and poor conditions, here are a few other<br>
> issues we encountered: As Alec, Steve and anyone else who rode in<br>
> Snoppy down in the Keys can attest, it gets HOT in the hull when you<br>
> are on the surface (even if just for a couple of minutes). Being under<br>
> the dome (in the Keys) reminded me of being in a greenhouse: hot and<br>
> humid. We need a better way to control the humidity within the hull<br>
> (if nothing else than for the electronics' sake). Air conditioning<br>
> would be a dream!<br>
> <br>
> I made the silly mistake of not bringing a scale for proper weight<br>
> calculations (I assumed we had one at the house, but we didn't, then<br>
> couldn't find any at the local drug stores!?!?). So we were doing a<br>
> lot of guessing and checking when it came to trimming out. It took a<br>
> while, but we ended up getting a pretty good system figured out.<br>
> <br>
> The only real nasty experience we had through the duration of our stay<br>
> in the keys occurred when the davit we were using to launch and<br>
> recover the sub failed and dropped the sub down into the water. The<br>
> davits we use are rated at 5,500 LBS and Snoopy weighs in at around<br>
> 2600 LBS, so no problem... when the lifting equipment is new. Problem<br>
> is that these davits have galvanized cable that has a way of looking<br>
> healthy on the outside but ugly within the strands (after being<br>
> exposed to the elements for some time). On one of our last recoveries,<br>
> the cable of the davit we were using snapped violently, dropping the<br>
> sub about 5 feet through the air and right back into the canal.<br>
> Thankfully, it didn't occur when we were swinging the sub over the<br>
> concrete dock and no damage resulted... but it taught me a powerful<br>
> lesson in being prepared for the unexpected!<br>
> <br>
> I know that to most of you guys these tips are common sense, but for<br>
> the sake of safety, let me review a few things to consider when<br>
> launching/recovering with cranes/davits:<br>
> <br>
> 1. Never allow anyone under (or even close to) the vessel when it's<br>
> being hoisted.<br>
> 2. Use at least two tag-lines to control direction and arrest sway if<br>
> lifting from a single point crane.<br>
> 3. Don't lift higher than necessary.<br>
> 4. Inspect equipment regularly and replace components when necessary.<br>
> 5. Ensure hatch is closed and secured prior to lifting (this probably<br>
> saved Snoopy from going to the bottom of the canal, as the<br>
> 'splash-down' was extreme).<br>
> 6. (for dome hatched vessels), wrap spreader bars, pulleys, blocks and<br>
> other hardware in carpet (secured by tape or zip ties) so if a failure<br>
> occurs the submersible won't incur damage (another thing that saved us<br>
> - the spreader bar bonked Snoopy on the head, but she was protected by<br>
> thick padding).<br>
> 7. Never stand in line with tensioned wire rope. When it snaps, it<br>
> whips with tremendous force.<br>
> <br>
> Although at the time I was shocked that what happened actually<br>
> occurred, in retrospect I'm happy it did, because for such a failure<br>
> to occur at all, it couldn't have had a better outcome or made a<br>
> stronger impression on me. Still a novice submersible operator, but<br>
> getting better with each lesson I learn! ~ Douglas S.<br>
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