mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 03:08 PM |
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Next time swimbo moans about the car
Show her this........It could be so much worse
TRY A SUB
To hear Carsten Standfuss tell it, a two-day cruise on his boat is like any other weekend excursion. "Three to four people can go, walk around,
sleep, eat, drink, and dive for wrecks," he says. Sounds relaxing - until you realize he plans to plunge his guests into the Atlantic Ocean in a
57-ton submarine he built from scratch.
Standfuss, 40, is building Euronaut, the world's largest amateur sub, a project he started in 2000 and aims to finish this summer. The 53-foot
vessel has a range of 600 miles and can descend more than 1,000 feet. It's propelled by a 190-horsepower diesel engine for surface sailing and
an electric motor with 6.5 tons of lead-acid batteries for traveling underwater. Three drop weights under the keel can be released, forcing the sub to
surface instantly in case of an emergency (say, a giant squid attack).
When asked how much the Euronaut has cost him so far, Standfuss would say only that he's refinanced his house in Berne, Germany, to pay for
materials. Of course, the guy knows his way around a submarine: He built the world's smallest personal sub at age 22, a 9.8-footer that set a
Guinness world record in 1989 (it has since been broken). Standfuss subsequently became a serious wreck diver, but the North Sea is often too
difficult to navigate with a surface ship. "The weather is bad, the currents are fast, and there's a lot of traffic." The Euronaut
features a pressurized chamber for divers entering and exiting the vessel, and for eating and sleeping while they decompress. It makes riding around
in an oversize tin can seem almost … safe.
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JoelP
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 04:24 PM |
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absolute blinder, ive always wanted to make a sub  
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Peteff
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 04:26 PM |
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I see a Haynes manual coming out.
Build your own submarine for the price of your house and sink it. What a forum that would be. I am just learning to weld and am wondering whether to
build a diving bell or a proper sub?
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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stevec
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 04:32 PM |
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I had a Sub once, but it kept going down on me!
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scotty g
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 04:45 PM |
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I've got a wife like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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zilspeed
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 04:54 PM |
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You wish.........................
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Peteff
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 06:15 PM |
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I bought a blow up doll like that and I took it back. I said it keeps going down on me and the bloke said that usually costs extra.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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zilspeed
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 06:28 PM |
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Boom tish !!!!
Eyethangewe.......
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Simon
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 06:43 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
absolute blinder, ive always wanted to make a sub
I think they tried that on Last of the Summer Wine many years ago
ATB
Simon
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SixedUp
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| posted on 31/12/05 at 06:52 PM |
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Having done lots of diving over the years, the thought of being trapped in a submarine scares the pants off me. No thanks ...
However, my personal idiotic dream is to have a go at building a hovercraft big enough to carry 4 or 5 people in reasonable comfort. Preferably
without having to refinance the house first. Maybe one day
Cheers
Richard
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