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Your Own Luxury Submarine!
cheapo writes "Not exactly computer related, but fun none-the-less. Someone on my boating mailing list turned me onto this website for your own personal luxury submarine. For a mere $78 million, you can make all the other folks at the marina jealous with a 213 foot toy." That 78
million dollar price tag might seem steep until you discover that it comes
with its own docking mini sub. Now thats a bargain!
One of the measures of how dangerous a device
is is the amount of time from the second
you fsck up to the moment it's too late
to save you. By that measure, subs are more
dangerous than the space shuttles.
Thought I'd share.
copyright 1997-2002, U.S. Submarines, Inc. All rights reserved. All wrongs revenged!
Last update: January 9, 2002
Why does this seem like old news? Because it is!
In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us. - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Nope. Only ELF (extremely low frequency) signals can penetrate the murky depths.
Subs take a GPS fix when they're surfaced or close enough to the surface to extend an antenna. In between fixes they rely on inertial navigation systems (and the quartermaster's grease pencil) to determine location.
Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
I want to be the founding member of the "Mile-low club"
Sorry, no can do.
You need some serious hardware to reach that depth. The pressure is over a ton per square inch at a mile down. The specs on the website state 1000 feet for the main sub and 2000 feet for the mini-sub.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
I'm impressed. I don't know of anyone capable of walking nine miles in an hour -- they exist, but are pretty rare.
That said, these boats have about the same speed as a dolphin or penguin.
http://www.seaworld.org/Physics/key.html
Rod Taylor
Having worked at a Florida Marina for 4 years, I can tell you that yachts require a ridiculous amount of maintenance to keep them in working order. I am rather skeptical of this vessel, here's why.
First, there's the issue of bottom paint. An untreated hull in saltwater will be covered in drag-producing algae in a matter of weeks. Most bottom paints slow this considerably, but they still need to be re-painted at least once a year. More permanent paints are available outside the US, as they contain several environmentally detrimental chemicals. All this leaves me to imagine that those portals are going to be one royal pain in the ass to keep clear and clean.
Next, there's the issue of prolonged saltwater contact. Surface yachts must be sprayed down after every outing, or every week at the dock. Otherwise, the salt spray alone is enough to destroy any metalwork on the boat. As if salt spray wasn't enough, this boat will be saturated from all angles.
Now there's maintenance. Those outside the marine industry have no idea of the amount of work needed to keep boats running smoothly. You can't just leave it tied up at a dock - there is near-daily engine maintenance (markedly higher due to saltwater contact), external cleaning, interior maintenance, etc. Now, if this much effort is required to keep a much simpler surface yacht afloat and in shape, I can't imagine what this thing requires. Furthermore, the idea of a crew of only 3 on any yacht over 200' is absurd. It takes that many just to tie the damn thing up, nevermind who's driving it.
Finally, the price. I'm sure this will make a great novelty for some rich person, but that rich person could have bought over 1000 feet worth of brand new motoryachts or sportfishers with that kind of money.
--- Sigs are dumb.
Dude, 20,000 leagues under the sea means that Nemo and crew traveled 60,000 miles while submerged, not that they dived that far, however impressive that would be.