personalsubmarines-blog

[personalsubmarines-blog]

St Vincent & the Grenadines Yacht Charter

All are volcanic in origin and deeply embellished with inlets where the sea washes up on fine white sandy beaches. St Vincent has lush green mountains. A yacht charter in St Vincent and the Grenadines also offers the opportunity to visit some of the sites used in the making of the film xPirates of the Caribbeanx. St Vincent and the Grenadines is a yacht charter destination for those looking for peace and seclusion.

The choice of yacht charter in St Vincent and the Grenadines is wide including both sail and motor yacht charter, bareboat yacht charter, skippered yacht charter, luxury crewed yacht charter and both monohull and catamaran charter.

Carib Indians aggressively prevented European settlement on St Vincent until the 18th century. African slaves, either shipwrecked or having escaped from one of the neighbouring islands and seeking refuge in St Vincent, intermarried with the Caribs and became known as Garifuna or Black Caribs. In 1719, French settlers cultivated coffee, personal submarine price  , indigo, cotton, and sugar on plantations worked by enslaved Africans. In 1763 St Vincent was ceded to Britain. It was restored to French rule in 1779 but regained by the British under the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Conflict between the British and the Black Caribs lasted until 1796, when General Sir Ralph Abercromby crushed a revolt fomented by the French radical Victor Hugues. More than 5,000 Black Caribs were deported to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras.

After slavery was abolished in 1834, labour shortages on the plantations resulted in the immigration of indentured servants. Portuguese came from the Atlantic island of Madeira and shiploads of East Indian labourers arrived between 1861-1880. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the turn of the century.

St Vincent was granted associate statehood status on October 27th, 1969, giving it complete control over its internal affairs. Following a referendum in 1979, under Milton Cato St Vincent and the Grenadines became the last of the Windward Islands to gain independence on the 10th anniversary of its associate statehood status, October 27th, 1979.

Year round winds in St Vincent and the Grenadines make for the perfect yacht charter holiday. During the summer months a prevailing 10? 20 knot wind from the southeast blows. The winter months will see more challenging winds of 20? 25 knots generally from the northeast. Although St Vincent is below the hurricane belt there is always a possibility during the months of July to October. Check this with your yacht charter company. Average high temperatures range from 25°C to 30°C with the highest in July through October.

The major airport in St Vincent and the Grenadines is Joshua Airport on St Vincent. There are flights from Barbados, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Martinique and Grenada. Both US Dollars and x Euro are used. Major credit cards may be accepted in hotels, restaurants and some shops. There are many places throughout the yacht charter area to change money. English is spoken throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines

[personalsubmarines-blog]

Mini Submarine and Robust Submersible - Technical Overview

The Ocean Pearl mini submarine is a robust, safe, and practical 2 person (1 pilot + 1 Passenger) personal submersible that offers an excellent field of view to the occupants. This mini personal submarine opens as a clamshell and allows for easy entry and exit. In surface mode, the patented flotation systems permit the private submarine to float high above the water line with a high freeboard when docked to a yacht. When submerged, the personal submersible is positively buoyant at all times and, should the tourist submarine for sale stop, this mini personal submarine will gently rise back to the surface. Underwater, the private submersible remains horizontal at all times and does not roll or pitch. When the mini personal submersible is near the surface at the end of the dive, the flotation bladders are re-inflated such that the private submarine floats back on the water’s surface at which point it is docked back to the yacht.

LARGE ENTRY HATCH

Personal Small Private Submarines Ocean Pearl with large Open Hatch. MINI SUBMARINE COMFORTABLE BOARDING FROM YACHTS

The Ocean Pearl private submersible acrylic cabin is a clam shell design that fully opens in half for comfortable boarding and exit from the support luxury yacht. The mini personal submersible is launched from the yacht unmanned and floats high above the water line when on surface and is readily docked at the swim deck. The external joystick system allows the crew to drive the mini private submarine at surface without requiring the cabin to be opened until it is securely docked to the yacht or support tender. Once launched, the mini personal submarine can perform multiple dives in a day without the need of hoisting it back on deck of the ship. Between dives, a regular scuba tank is replaced on the private submersible to replenish its flotation air ballast. The personal submarine life support is provided by a large rebreather system. Oxygen is replaced as used and CO2 is removed by scrubbers so that normal air breathing levels and a 1 atmosphere pressure is maintained in the private sub. The mini personal submarine clam shell design is robust and can be opened from the outside by the yacht crew or from the inside by the pilot.

[personalsubmarines-blog]

Underwater Boat Lighting, Installing Below the Waterline

Of all the lighting that can be installed onboard a boat, underwater hull lights offer perhaps the biggest potential for dramatically waking up the appearance of an otherwise sedate looking vessel. From a purely vain point of view, hull lights immediately set your boat apart from the crowd and create an illuminated aquarium effect around your boat that you have to see to really appreciate. When we say an aquarium effect, we mean it in an almost literal sense, as illumining the water around your boat with hull lights works as a fish attractant, bringing in everything from baitfish to the gamefish that follow them. This last is one of the more popular yet practical reasons for installing hull lights, but even if you never put a line in the water, being able to illuminate the waters around your boat with a choice of blue, green, yellow or even red lighting has an appeal all its own.

One of the biggest worries most boaters have when considering the installation of hull lighting is the potential damage to their hull that could result from drilling, cutting, or otherwise opening up holes and possibly weakening the hull's integrity. While this is an entirely valid concern, the modern hull lights now available go a long way towards reducing the potential for problems. In the past boaters typically had a choice between halogen or HID hull lights that ran hot, required a rather large mounting hole, and needed extra care and attention to maintain their safe and reliable operation. These days however, LED lighting technology offers a newer alternative that either reduces or outright solves these issues.

Most of the older HID and halogen style underwater hull lights were of a "through-hull" design that required opening a rather large hole in the hull in order to mount them. Done carefully, these were effective and could produce some rather impressive illumination effects. However, the large size of the holes these lights require meant being very careful about choosing the correct location for mounting as the structural integrity of the hull could be seriously affected by such large openings. Additionally, these lights had to be sealed very very well in order to ensure that leakage could not occur, and even in the best cases of proper mounting it was a good idea to check and possibly reseal the lights every couple seasons just to be on the safe side.

One of the other problems HID and halogen hull lights presented was the high heat they produce. Both of these types of lights run quite hot and as a result of their being designed for immersion in water, required they be fully submerged any time they were in operation. This was because of the fragile nature of the glass used to personal submarine for sale their bulbs as well as the thin wire filaments contained within the halogen lamps. If the lamps were allowed to operate unsubmerged, they would generate enormous amounts of heat, and without the cooling effect of water to keep their temperatures in check, could shatter or even explode when cold water hit their surfaces. This meant no running of the lights while out of the water, and no running the lights while underway and on a plane. To make matters more problematic, the wire filaments contained within halogen bulbs could also easily break under rough conditions, leading to a hull light that had to be replaced on a fairly frequent basis.

LED hull lights solve these problems through a combination of their small size, solid state construction, and cool operating temperatures. They also up the performance factor tenfold through their ability to produce over four times as many lumens per watt compared to halogens, and exceed the lumen to watt ratio of most compact HIDs. For boaters this is a huge plus as power is limited and running lights is a luxury that is often rationed in order to save power. With LEDs though, you can produce just as much light as two 50 watt halogen lamps using 9 amps, yet use less than three amps doing it. This means you can run the lights longer without having to run the engines or generator anywhere near as frequently, which means you'll save fuel as well.

[personalsubmarines-blog]

A Look Back at Submarines

It was centuries ago when men first delved into exploring water. Historical accounts show that men would submerse themselves underwater and breathe through hollow papyrus reeds as they hunted their unsuspecting prey. And although it is chalked up to a mere legend, it has been told that Alexander the Great descended in a device that kept its occupants dry and admitted light, possibly a glass tube of sorts.

It wasn't until 1578 that a design for an underwater vessel was recorded. This first design would have been fabricated of wood and waterproofed leather. It would have had the capability to row underwater. It would have, had it made it past the design process.

While the first design never sprouted wings, or fins if you will, in the 1600s the idea of Cornelius Van submarine for sale , a Dutch doctor living in England, in 1620 took to the water. This submarine was powered by rowers pulling on oars that protruded through flexible leather seals in the hull. Above the water, floats held Snorkel air tubes up for passengers to breathe from. This allowed submergence to last several hours. Van Drebbel's submarine successfully maneuvered at depths of 12 to 15 feet below the surface of the Thames River.

The first American submarine, dubbed the Turtle, came about thanks to David Bushnell, a Yale graduate. Built in 1776, this one-man vessel submerged by admitting water into the hull and surfaced by pumping it out with a hand pump. This pedal-operated vessel was, in the hopes of the American people, a secret weapon that would soon take out British warships in New York Harbor.

Over the decades that passed, the submarine evolved from an egg shaped vessel to a cigar shaped. Inventors around the world worked to make an airtight contraption that would act as an underwater weapon against their enemies. Most failed upon testing, but each provided further information that would be used in future attempts. For instance, the submarines escape device was created back in 1850 when a crew was shot to the surface with an air bubble that blew the hatch open.

The first successful American submarine was a converted steam boiler invented by Horace Lawson Hunley, although to a tragic start. During testing, the lives of two crews were lost when the submarine sank. The second accident cost the life of the crew as well as the inventor, but that didn't stop the testing from going on. In 1864, renamed the Hunley, this vessel attacked and sank a new Federal steam sloop, USS Housatonic, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, armed with a 90-pound charge of powder on a long pole. After the attack, the Hunley disappeared, to be rediscovered in the waters off Sullivans Island, South Carolina in 1995.

From the early moments in time, man has been on a quest to conquer all the earth. With a little imagination, an incredible mechanical device was worked into something magnificent and powerful. Today, submarines are used for purposes within war, and revered all over the world.

[personalsubmarines-blog]

Rolex Submariner Wristwatch, Ref 14060M

Over the years I have owned a few Rolex's and Tudor's, a Tudor been a less expensive range of watches made by Rolex but under the Tudor brand name. Currently I have this Submariner, a vintage Oysterdate Precision and also a Tudor from the 60's.

The Rolex Submariner was a watch I had admired for a number of years and I finally treated Personal Submarines For Sale to one a couple of years back and I have to say I love it with an absolute passion. The Submariner that I have was pre-owed when I bought it but it was manufactured in that same year that it was bought (2004) and was in excellent condition.

This Rolex model has a very long and interesting history, something that also attracts me to certain watches, however I don't intend to cover this here apart from to say that the Submariner was introduced in the early 50's and it's said that it was built based on the early Rolex Explorer.

There is a date version of this watch (ref 16610) but I prefer my watches without the date, just a personal preference! Other terminology you may see/hear on these two models are 'No Date Sub' (14060M) and 'Sub Date' (16610), for obvious reasons! To the untrained eye they would not be any noticeable difference between the two aside from the date and the 'frog eye' on the crystal. If you were making a decision on one or the other I could see no other question than 'do I want the date or not?'. They do have different Movements, the 14060M has a Rolex 3130 and the 16610 has a Rolex 3135, basically they are the same movements but with the 3135 accommodating for the date. Also, although similar looking, the bracelets are different models.

This model is a 'non-COSC' as is with the case with all Submariners prior to 2007. This means that it isn't, or wasn't, a certified chronometer until late 2007. For a watch to become COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres) certified the watch is put through various stringent tests in different conditions and only a very minimal amount of time should be lost (4 seconds) or gained (6 seconds) daily. Any Submariner produced post the certification has the following wording on the dial 'Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified', any watch produced prior to this will not have this wording present.

The watch is a stainless steel (40mm wide, 12mm deep) divers watch and has a 300m water resistance rating. The case has a rotating black bezel which acts as a timer for periods of time up to 60 minutes.

As mentioned above this Rolex is powered by the 31 Jewel Rolex 3130 automatic movement. This movement produces 28,800 vibrations per hour and has a power reserve of around 50 hours.