The Yellow Submarine Has Arrived!

Hi everyone!
I’m happy to say my first submarine was successfully delivered to my home in San Diego yesterday afternoon. Since everyone involved will be helping with this project on different levels, I’m creating this blog so everyone will be able to see the progress that is being made and have a chance to give input without being present. In addition I’d like to keep my friends, family, and anyone else interested in this project “in the loop”. First, I will give everyone a little background on the Submarine:

The Submarine was built in 1993 by Curtiss Craft Company. The craft is a 17 foot, fully registered, 2 person watercraft and is the only submarine currently registered in Washington State! The power plant consists of two 12 volt Deep-Cycle-Sealed Batteries that give the Electric Propulsion System a consistent flow of up to 24 volts of power. The flow of power is controlled by a throttle controlling the speed the propeller rotates. The throttle is located in the front seat, where all the controls are located. The control surfaces (the things that control the direction of the sub) are very similar to that of an airplane. There are “wings” on the front that rotate in order to control pitch (the angle of the nose of the sub up and down in the water) which are controlled by a control stick near the instrument panel of the pilot’s seat. There is a similar control surface manipulated by foot pedals that control the yaw of the craft (the angle of the nose from left to right) similar to a rudder on a boat. Probably the most important part of a sub (and you don’t find this in an airplane) is the ballast system. The ballast system in this sub is a simple version of what I’ve seen in most subs that I’ve come across. It uses the presence (or absence) of water in certain areas of the submarine to control the buoyancy of the watercraft. In particular, this submarine uses two spaces (or ballast tanks) located fore-and-aft. They can be filled with air from a scuba tank located under the pilot’s seat by the push of a button located on the instrument panel. The ballast tanks can be blown by levers that are also located on the instrument panel.

I originally found the sub while perusing the for sale section of Craigslist Honolulu. I found a post that was advertising a two person wet sub in Seattle Washington and I thought the price was a typo. Just to be sure, I contacted the owner and now it's here! Thanks to Ryan and Peter for helping me get this hulk off the truck and into my garage! It was quite a site seeing the sub turn the corner onto my street! No doubt the neighbors were caught off guard… There should be a Youtube video up shortly!


Over the next few days we will be working on discovering what work needs to be done to get the sub back into sea worthy condition. It seems it may be a lot closer than we initially thought!