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A
K-boat under the best of conditions will have a hard time breaking 3 knots. R/Jay Respectfully, Jay
K. Jeffries Andros
Is., Bahamas Talk
sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
- Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC) -----Original Message----- Hi Andy, I attended UI, but missed Hawkes. I was only there
for the one day that I was speaking and I think Hawkes spoke the day
before. Dan Lance was there for Hawkes presentation though and could probably comment
on it. Dean, check out Alec Smyth's video from the 2006
convention when "Snoopy" ran into an underwater cable that was suspended about a
foot or so off the bottom. The cable is first visible at about time
mark 2:23, and collision occurs at about time mark 2:25. Assuming Alec had a
speed brake of the kinds that have been discussed, he would have had about
two seconds to react, throw the switch on the brake, and then have the
brake deploy and actually start working. In the film, it appears
obvious that Alec never saw the obstruction and therefore couldn't have reacted to it
to deploy a brake. You'll notice that the motors on "Snoopy" are
still running even after first contact with the cable. With the force of the
motors continuing to push "Snoopy" against the cable, it
"snaps" upward which makes a loud noise and gets Alec's attention. Then you hear him stop the
motors and the tension in the cable pushes the sub backwards. I'm not very
good at guessing speed through water, but I suspect he was doing no more than 3
knots. Even in clear deep water, visibility may be limited to the
distance your lights are thrown. Jon |