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

Fri Feb 24 20:45:27 EST 2017

Glad you all appreciated the report. Hank, I would love to add a
snorkel to Snoopy so we could have some surface airflow (via a fan)
while in seas that prohibit the hatch from remaining open. I think
that combined with the swamp cooler and JB umbrella would do nicely
for the crew. Cliff, as to the davits... time to replace all cables,
give the structures and winches a good looking over, and come up with
some better hardware. And as I've hinted before, I'm also working on a
surface tender design that has been proven necessary with Snoopster. ~
Doug

On 2/24/17, Steve McQueen via Personal_Submersibles
<personal_submersibles at psubs.org> wrote:
> Thanks for the report Doug. Good job. Looking forward to the next one : )
>
> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Personal_Submersibles
> [mailto:personal_submersibles-bounces at psubs.org]
> On Behalf Of Douglas Suhr via Personal_Submersibles
> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2017 4:07 PM
> To: personal_submersibles at psubs.org
> 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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