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submarine yacht is possible and affordable


wellmer

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I have built and dived a submarine yacht since 1996. Based on this experience i would suggest submarine yachting a new segment for yachting enthusiasts. Check out my prototype project at http://concretesubmarine.com

And share your inputs, comments, and opinions on this topic with me.

Cheers Wil

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...yes ferro cement is quite a established boat construction material by now. It works best with bigger yachts that have thicker hulls. Anyhow the building method of my prototype submarine yacht was not ferro cement as used in boat building - it is normal concrete construction as used in oil rigs, tunnel and similar tasks. A surface yacht normally is designed to have a thin light weight hull. In contrary a submarine is designed to have a thick pressure resistant hull. The benefits of concrete construction, thick walls easy to make , high pressure resistance, no regular maintainance required - come together quite nice with the needs of a submarine hull. My prototype had 20cm thick walls in a 9mx2,5m boat and a displacement of 20 tons - this is unimaginable for a surface yacht but just right for a submarine.

Cheers Wil

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A submarine yacht similar to my prototype can be built at a cost of 331 Euro / ton of displacement. This includes a sea ready hull with propeller shaft and screw, rudder, with sea trials including some shallow dives on building site. The hulls can be shipped anywhere in the world. We deliver bigger hulls including ocean crossings. So a submarine yacht is not so expensive as it looks at first. Hull building cost is lower than a normal surface yacht. Diesel Engine required is by far smaller than for a surface yacht of similar size, cruising economics is better for a submarine as a submarine yacht avoids wave resistance. Marina costs are by far lower, as a submarine yacht can be parked in a remote anchor bay absolute burglar safe and weatherproof. Slip cost are by far lower because a concrete hull as i build it is designed to stay in water for a lifetime - which is decades - similar as tunnels or bridge foundations.

Cheers Wil

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I like it. Does it have ballast tanks so that it can be totally submerged? I was a reactor operator on a Navy submarine back during the 70s. What depth and speed are you talking about here? How long can you stay down? What kind of drive are you using on the surface and when submerged? What is the range? Of course, with 9/10s of the hull below the water, you are limited in where you can go due to the draft.

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the testsite of my submarine yacht prototype had a strict no anti fouling policy for any boat due to environmental concerns. So first thing i did was a thin tarmac skin of 2mm with fiber reenforcement assuming that tarmac would not be a ideal ground for barnacle growth. Second i had a mechanical approach, scrubbing the hull once a week with a rope passed around it from surface. The idea was to get rid of marine live on the hull while it is still soft and easy removable. This worked very well during all those years. Anyhow i was prepared to take extreme measures for a case of extreme barnacle infestation. Baseline is boat stays in water at any time. So if you check out the photos on my website you will see the floating status of the hull without ballast. In this status with ballast out you can turn around the hull over its length axis with hatch closed. So you can work the belly without getting your feet wet AND without taking the submarine yacht out of the water.

Cheers Wil

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dive depth

The depth the hull would hold, including security factors usual in oilrig construction would be 606m. The weak point are the viewports which will fail far above that depth. Vieworts as built in in the prototype are good for some 100m with good security margin.

Cheers Wil

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Speed

The speed of any submarine and displacement hull is given by the formula so is basicly a result of boat lenght. A 9m submarine makes the same speed as a heavy 9m surface yacht it only can achive that more economic as wave resistance is avoided. In general we are taking of economic cruising speed in the same area of a whale - some 6 knots.

Cheers Wil

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Range

This speed can be achieved by a combustion engine in snorkel mode that burns less than 1 liter of fuel per hour. Total load capacity of a 20 tonner as my prototype was, is 10 tons. To stay realistic take half of this some 5 tons for diesel. You get 5000 cruising hours at 6 knots. Due to the big load capacity if you replace part of the ballast with diesel a submarine has a tremendous range that makes it capable of ocean crossing. A surface yacht never could take 1/4 of its volume for diesel it could not maintain the constructive floating line.

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Interesting concept, but-- Just out of curiosity, what does one DO with a submarine yacht? Underwater sightseeing, maybe? Is there all that much to see compared to, say, scuba diving? Where I am, at least, the water isn't clear enough even for good scuba diving. Being confined below deck while underway and peering at the world through little view ports seems a poor way to tour, otherwise.

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submarine yacht - what would you do with it - well you would enjoy yachting - it will not be for everyone ... to give you a clearer answer here is the difference in a yachting day between submarine and surface boat.

First event of the day both the subber and the sailor row out to anchor place in a dinghi and board their vessels - the yacht is full of bird shit so the sailor starts with cleaning his deck - the deck of the subber is clean as the waves do this job. The yachty also has to perform a couple of repair jobs in mast, sails, lines due to UV light, wind, etc... Finally both open their hatches - the yachty gets a blast of 60 degree celsius hot air - stinky - product of heating of the teak deck from sunshine. The subber gets fresh cool air - product of a hull cooled by surrounding sea water. So the yachty stays on deck to wait for air circulation trough the hatches to make the interior of his ship bearable. The subber goes down trough the hatch in his "blue saloon" light comes in trough the viewports which with 50 cm diameter are bigger than windows you would find on a standard yacht so interior gets more light than you would have in the belly of a sailing yacht, as light goes trough water before it reaches the interior of the sub the effect is like in famous "gruta azul" in italia.

The yachtman may find things under deck a bit shaken, everything - on the floor, liquids spilled around, product of the last storm the yacht suffered on anchor place. The subber will find anything on its place even if things was not properly stored away at end of last trip. This is because the sub did not move in waves and if there are any movements they are very gently almost imperceptible.

Both vessels will leave anchorplace for a trip. While the yachtman has to store anything away before he passes the breakwater the subber leaves the coffee cup on the table even in rough weather. He will open a valve and take some 300 liter of water into the ballast tank so the water will cover the hatch and only thing above surface is a pair of snorkels. In this condition the boat runs with diesel engine. In a sailing yacht the noise level under deck when diesel is running may be very loud. Sound dampening is most of all a product of the weight of the walls - bad news for sailing yachts where the walls are made of light and thin material. - the subber is separated from the engine by a heavy concrete wall of 10cm so noise factor is much better. The sailor will enjoy sun, rain, wind, nature, the subber will get a view of the underwater world see fish. He might stop the diesel and close the snorkels to take up a few liter more of ballast water to dive down to the seaflor installing the boat a meter or two above the bottom in a neutral trim so currents will give a free underwater voyage making seafloor slowly pass in front of the viewports. You can stay down for hours without using battery power. At the end of the day the sailor will head for a secure port or anchor site running trough bad weather to make it before nightfall, risking his boat, depending on exact navigation. The subber will simply go asleep where he is - a save port is anywhere - just go to snorkel depth or lay the sub on sea floor during a quiet night sleep. After trip the clear up the ship is much easier on a sub- just close hatch drop anchor - ready - no spray hood, no storing away - a sailing yacht always must be prepared to stand the worst possible weather condition - alone on anchorplace - for a sub even on anchorplace weather is meaningless. ( concretesubmarine.com )

Cheers, Wl

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Interesting concept' date=' but-- Just out of curiosity, what does one DO with a submarine yacht? Underwater sightseeing, maybe? Is there all that much to see compared to, say, scuba diving? Where I am, at least, the water isn't clear enough even for good scuba diving. Being confined below deck while underway and peering at the world through little view ports seems a poor way to tour, otherwise.[/quote']

I agree. Boating is the excuse for being outside under the blue sky not camped below in a cabin unable to see the horizon. The other primary flaw of this submarine is its draft. If you have to keep to deep water the whole time there's no point in leaving your living room.

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Guys,

I worked for a small submersible company back in the 60's. We had a commercial "arm" and tried to sell these submersibles to the general public. We did not have many takers and managed to sell one or two, but we did not have the sales we expected and/or hoped for. These look like pretty good machines, but I'm not sure if they will have many buyers, because most waters that are close to population centers don't have water that you can see anything through, or don't have much seascape worth seeing time and again.

I worked a bit with concrete underwater habitats when I was a Navy Diver and we had a habitat in 600' of water at 1 atmoshere for 1 year. The only concern was that there was some seepage of water into the structure through the concrete.

The concept is great, however I cannot see a practical application for me. Someone else might enjoy it.

One other concern is atmospheric control inside the sub when you are submerged. It doesn't take long to build the carbon dioxide in a small space when it is sealed. What provisions are in place to scrub the air?

Pretty cool thing!

Steve

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Pretty good answers from Mr Welmer, though as a trailer sailor many don't apply to me personally. But they raise another question: how do you avoid your submarine becoming a navigational hazard to everyone else, whether underway or at anchor?

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I think the concrete sub is pretty cool, even if it isn't for everyone. Neat project.

I share Jeff's concern for safety though... how does one prevent other boaters from striking the submerged submarine if it is lying at "snorkel depth" or when it is at the surface (but still not nearly as visible as a boat, if I perceive the pictures correctly)?

Also, it seems to me that years ago someone told me it was illegal to operate a submerged craft without a special license and without filing some kind of plan to notify authorities where the vessel would be operated and at what time (sort of a submarine equivalent of a small aircraft flight plan). I don't know whether that's true or not, but it sounds very plausible to me. Do you happen to know? Is special certification and or planning required to operate such a vessel?

Wes

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8) In the town where I was born

Lived a man who sailed to sea

And he told us of his life

In the land of submarines.

So we sailed up to the sun

Till we found the sea of green

And we lived beneath the waves

In our concrete submarine.

We all live in our concrete submarine,

Concrete submarine, concrete submarine

We all live in our concrete submarine,

Concrete submarine, concrete submarine.

And our friends are all on board

Many more of them live next door

And the band begins to play.

We all live in our concrete submarine,

Concrete submarine, concrete submarine

We all live in our concrete submarine,

Concrete submarine, concrete submarine.

As we live a life of ease

Everyone of us has all we need

Sky of blue and sea of green

In our concrete submarine.

We all live in our concrete submarine,

Concrete submarine, concrete submarine

We all live in our concrete submarine,

Concrete submarine, concrete submarine.

:D:D 8) :!:

Sorry, couldn't resist!

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