Replies

Submarines: Not Just for the Navy
By Louise Knapp

Story location: http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,46612,00.html

02:00 AM Sep. 20, 2001 PT

There's a growing number of would-be Captain Nemos visiting the octopus' garden in their own yellow submarines.

Building your own personal sub is a new hobby that is taking off like a torpedo.

A rarity a few years ago, there are now scores of people designing, building and diving their own submarines.

"It's definitely growing in popularity," said Ray Keefer, who runs the PSubs (Personal Submersibles), website. "When we started (five years ago) there were four members. Now we have around 160."

These days, small submarines are relatively easy and cheap to build; although at around $15,000 a pop they're not everyone's idea of a stocking stuffer.

Keefer estimated there are 50 to 100 privately owned personal submarines currently plumbing the depths of American waters.

Building a sub isn't rocket science, either. John Farrington and Monica Lemay, a couple from Austin, Texas, are building their own two-seat submarine in their garage.

"When we tell people that we are building a submarine, most think we must mean a model submarine," Farrington said.

The couple are welding their sub out of steel. When it's completed, it will look like the mini-subs used on oil rigs, or by Jacques Cousteau.

The sub will weigh two tons and dive to about 350 feet -– a depth equivalent to a 30-story skyscraper.

"Our local lake has a maximum depth of 180 feet which is too deep for scuba diving," Farrington said. "In the submarine, we can easily get down to this depth and we can stay down much longer than a scuba diver could."

The sub could stay underwater for 48 hours, but it's unlikely the couple will be submerged for more than a few hours at a time.

Unlike custom cars, the sub is not being made from a kit, although the couple did spend $350 on a set of plans.

The couple is building the main hull out of quarter-inch-thick steel. In order for them to be able to weld the sub together themselves, both took welding classes.

"We ordered the bulk of the material from a Texas boilermaker," Farrington said. "The material is easy to find -- you just need to find someone who makes pressure vessels or boilers."

In fact, all the parts are either raw blocks of metal that have to be machined into a specific part, or are a basic shape, like the cylinder for the hull.

By doing most of the work themselves, the couple hopes to trim the estimated cost from $15,000 to about $10,000.

The sub will be driven by five battery-powered motors. A main motor at the tail will be for thrust; four smaller motors will maneuver the craft.

With the pilot sitting upright in the conning tower -- or the hatch -- and the passenger seated or lying down in the back, the sub will be launched from a trailer, just like a traditional motor boat.

The sub will have 10 windows, all made from a special kind of Plexiglas, and maintain atmospheric pressure, eliminating the danger of getting the bends.

But there's one important aspect that has not yet been decided: the color.

"A lot of people suggest yellow but we will probably go for a World War II-type look with a dark gray or black," Farrington said. "But we may end up with an Austin Powers sub with flowers and things painted on it."

The sub should be finished by next spring.

The sub's construction is documented on the couple's website.

For Farrington and Lemay, both consultants for IBM and certified scuba divers, the attraction of a submarine is its social aspect.

"We will be able to talk to each other down there -- we can take food down with us, listen to a CD player," Farrington said.

The couple is preparing to fully test their sub before going on a manned expedition. They will lower the submarine, unmanned, to 500 feet and leave it there for one hour. If it manages to be watertight, they believe it should be safe to use down to 350 feet.

Despite the apparent ease and affordability, building a submarine is not for everyone, PSub's Keefer warns.

"I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is just going to stick a couple of pieces of cardboard together," Keefer said. "They are asking to kill themselves. Building a sub is not something you want to approach without a lot of research and technical savvy."