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Toys Science

Personal Submarine for 845k 188

Posted by michael from the dot-com-stock-options-go-to-good-use dept.
joeldg writes "CNN is carrying a story on the gemini three-person submersible. 'Forget the yacht, mansion and private jet. This is Gemini, the family submarine described by inventor Robert Leeds as the world's first underwater sports car.' However, the submarine only goes about five knots, so speed is not its primary focus. It can handle three people for three days at depths of up to 50 meters. Not quite a James Bond sub-car, but cool nonetheless. The official site has lots of pictures."
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Personal Submarine for 845k More

Personal Submarine for 845k

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  • 20,000 leagues under the sea...and 845,000 in the red...
    • Technically that's 0.009 leagues, but who's counting?
      • That was 20,000 leagues of distance traveled. Not depth. Reread the book to confirm.

        Of course, the only real way to do that is with a nuclear submarine, but that is a different story.

  • This is the first thing that came to my mind. (Score:4, Funny)

    by cliffy2000 ( 185461 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:14AM (#7306962) Journal
    845k ought to be enough for anyone.

  • You could... (Score:4, Funny)

    by MisterFancypants ( 615129 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:19AM (#7306974)
    You could pick up some crazy ass mermaid chicks in this fly ride.

    • Re:You could... (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      i don't know...i've heard mermaids often have crabs.

  • There's /. for ya (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Exiler ( 589908 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:19AM (#7306976)
    Stupid, lazy editors.

    "The official site [subeo.com] had lots of pictures." [subeo.com]
    • Try the brochure [subeo.com], it has a few pictures. Bad ones, but pictures nonetheless.

  • beware the terrorists booohhooo! (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "We have had a lot of enquiries from high profile people in the Middle East -- although as yet none from any celebrities elsewhere," Leeds said.

    if the badbin has some spare change these would be brilliant for attacking the US warships parked off kuwait
  • The problem with this is, while sports cars, and even yahts are quite easy to operate, and not paticularly 'messy', this submarine is also WAY more expensive. I'll stick with my Lamborghini Diablo [fantasycars.com], thanks.
    • Mclaren F1, I mean if Mr. Bean has one what a status symbol, umm On second thoughts just give me the car and we'll ignore who else owns one.
      • Mclaren F1, I mean if Mr. Bean has one what a status symbol, umm On second thoughts just give me the car and we'll ignore who else owns one.
        Ahh, but it might be pretty difficult getting hold of one, as there are only 7 in the world, and I'm pretty sure noone's selling at the moment.
        • Only 7, are you sure? I seem to remember more than 7 racing in the GT championship. Any how, active aero was the big thing for me, the thing generates it's own downforce. Ala Brabham in the mid 70s before it was banned after one race. Come to think of it the same guy designed both cars. His excuse for the Brabham was it was just a large cooling fan...that happened to suck the car down on it's springs :-) Enough rambling I also want his other road car the Rocket [topgear.com] by the Light car Comp.

          • Ala Brabham in the mid 70s before it was banned after one race. Come to think of it the same guy designed both cars. His excuse for the Brabham was it was just a large cooling fan...that happened to suck the car down on it's springs.

            I'm pretty sure that that car wasn't banned, but that they just stopped racing it, because they knew that if they didn't that it would be banned. Either way, it won it's only race.

            As for there being only 7, there may only be 7 left, because I've seen quite a few mangled w

            • only 7's owners may be known(they were highly secretive about the owners and only few have come public and answered questions for press&etc, of course, there weren't that many of them built ever to begin with but much more than 7 that's for sure, though iirc there were only 5 of the 'lm' model).

              'mr bean' atkinson was one(iirc/afaik he crashed it, don't know if it totaled, probably) known owner.

      • Mr. Bean Owning one; that would be disturbing. Now Edmund Blackadder owning one is a foregone conclusion. There are three seats in a McLaren, but it's doubtful Percy or Baldric would get a lift.

  • The submarine, which in commercial production will take three people in cramped bucket seats to depths of 50 yards for up to three days at a time, is designed mainly as a plaything for the rich.

    So, the seats are cramped, but you can stay in them for 3 days.. Do they recline at all, or do I have to spend all 3 days sitting upright with my head sticking out into the ocean? And what does it smell like in there after 3 people have been down for 3 days? Is there a bathroom? Seems pretty impractical to me,

    • If it costs $845k and can spend three days completely isolated from the rest of the world, you can pretty much bet that there is enough room in it to have sex. I'm not entirely sure why there is room for three people, but if I had to guess I would say it probably involves two women and whoever owns the sub.

      There are no toys on the planet that cost more than half a million dollars that do not in some way, shape, form or fashion involve getting the buyer laid - it may take imagination, but people with that

  • And for the important Specs (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheDarkRogue ( 245521 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:24AM (#7307001)
    How much drugs can it hold? And can it be outfitted with Torpedos?
  • "We have had a lot of enquiries from high profile people in the Middle East"

    Iunno about you, but if I lived in the desert I'd want a flirkin' SAIL BARGE!
    • This is your last chance Exiler. BTW, you really should have had your IT people memory wipe those droids. Not that I didn't embed a worm to ghost their original programming back on.

  • Usefulness (Score:4, Insightful)

    by alpha713 ( 701963 ) <nirusb@nOsPaM.gmail.com> on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:31AM (#7307019)
    While I usually try and be positive in my replies, the only thing I can see about this toy for the rich, is that it is a waste of money. Besides the obvious risks in diving to deep and the like it serves no purpose save parting the rich and stupid from their not so hard earned money.

    Okay enough negativity. Perhaps this is just the first step in really exploiting the bottom of the ocean to its full potential, since the earth's surface is 70% water (I think) steps that allow development under the water will eventually help to reduce the overcrowding.That unfortunately is a long way off but once the rich and famous have their toys its only a matter of time until the rest of us get a crack at them. A good example of this is when cars first came out. Now I can get one for AU$500 (although it might be a hunk of junk).

    My point I guess is that even though I may see it as a waste of money now, hopefully in the future it will have real benefits.

    • The car was a plaything for the rich to start with. They were custom made, by hand, and practically came with a driver.

      For that matter, the cost of a cross USA trip on a stagecoach in the 1800's would have been equivalent to $4000 in today's money.

      This is how these things always start. The difference is that nobody lives under water today, so it is not just a matter of creating a vehicle, you have to give people a reason to go there.

    • Doesn't go deep enough. Want something that can go up to around 500m for any kind of real exploring fun.

      N.
      • No problem ... just replace that measley 135 AH lead-acid battery with something a little more energy-dense. Too bad it didn't come equipped with pedals for emergencies.

        No problem for the long haul, though ... if this thing takes off, a network of underwater "gas" stations will spring up where you can plug in for a charge and top off your oxygen tanks. And while your sub is being juiced up, you can toss off a couple of sliders at the White Castle pressure dome next door.
    • the only thing I can see about this toy for the rich,

      Actually, this is a toy for the poor. The rich shop here [ussubmarines.com]

  • This Is All Wrong (Score:5, Informative)

    by rsmith-mac ( 639075 ) * on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:34AM (#7307027)
    The story's submitter has the whole thing wrong; from their about [subeo.com] page:

    * Life support systems consist of oxygen flask and metering valve sufficient to keep 2 persons in the craft for 30 hours
    * The submersible is a two-man craft
    * It has a maximum speed of approximately 4 knots
  • Time to fly rings round the old school stink boat Deep Flight [deepflight.com]

    • The Deep Flight Aviator Kicks this Sub's Ass (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I assume you're joking. Comparing the Deep Flight Aviator to the Gemini is like comparing a Ferrari to a Volkswagen Beetle -- and I know, because I've worked with Graham Hawkes on the Deep Flight project for over 7 years. The DF Aviator could quite literally run rings around the Gemini.

      I got a chance to pilot the Aviator last March in the Bahamas, and ride in it for 2 hours while exploring a wreck for a BBC documentary. The Aviator can hit between 8-12 knots, and is rated to a depth of 1500 feet -- 10 time

  • Terrorism this, terrorism that... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by D. Book ( 534411 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @03:47AM (#7307052)
    From the article:

    "We did have interest from the Spanish police for underwater terrorism detection searching ships' hulls," said Leeds' colleague Frank Barker. He declined to give further details.

    Why is it that every news story days has to mention a potential terrorist threat? How long is this going to go on? I'm sick to death of hearing about it. I don't remember seeing repeated references to industrial accidents in news stories two years after the Bhopal atrocity.

    Does anyone know of a plugin for Mozilla that will let me filter out any paragraphs containing the "T-word"?

    • I could make you one, but in order to keep my Karma balanced i'd have to put in a pervasive "George Bush, American Emperor" skin.

    • True.. All in all the chance as a world citizen to die of starvation, cancer, heart-disease, AIDS, traffic, dengue-fever, malaria etc. etc. is much much higher than in a terrorist event... Too bad all those funds are not applied to where they would make the biggest difference. Terrorism would automatically decline...
    • I'm not sure if this is a troll or not, but I'll respond anyways with the text-book answer:

      There is a very good reason news outlets (CNN in particular, which has US Intelligence ops working as "interns" with the newsmakers) focus on things like Terrorism and not the Bhopal disaster.

      News agencies, in fact all corporate America, are interested in making money. This means supporting themselves and their affiliated companies (affiliated can mean anything, from a friend of the CEO, to the US Army in the case o
    • Use Proxomitron [proxomitron.info] with a simple web filter:

      replace:
      <P>*terroris*</P>
      with
      "" (nothing)

      Voila!
  • This could be useful for drug runners to transport drugs from latin american to the US.

    It has been reported that some large drug cartels have been trying to build their own submarines.
    • What you're saying implies something scary and menacing.
      Hey, they wouldn't be building subs if there didn't exist an incredible demand for illicit narcotics in this country.

    • Re:Drug runners (Score:2, Informative)

      by cheekyboy ( 598084 )
      You are a bit late, this IS how they get the drugs across and also in TOXIC WASTE BARGES, how many customs people you know will search a polutted radiated deadly toxic waste barge? NONE, yet there are usually tonnes of COCAINE inside it.

    • Dear drug runners: I can build a much cooler sub for you for HALF the price. As a bonus, I will paint it a colour that is not quite so glaringly obvious to the DEA.
    • mmm, I thought that drug boats survived by being small and extremely fast. Not by going 4 knots an hour. Wich is about walking speed. About since this is water and history is unclear how athletic jesus was.

      Anyway if drug runners wanted a sub they could get a real one. But subs have trouble. Unless you can convince the russians to sell you their latest tech then you are in a noisy vehicle that the US have had decades to learn to track. And track well since the price of not tracking a russian sub well is let

      • It doesn't matter how fast you go if they can't see you.

        Sonar picks up big things in the water, this would look just like any number of animals or natural detritus to sonar (if it even registered it) and since it's electric probably wouldn't show up with passive sonar either.

        Load up one pilot and fill the rest with contraband, that's a pretty good way to get drugs across the border without worrying about loosing the product.
  • "The official site has lots of pictures"

    Oh slashdot, haven't we learned anything?
  • http://www.diveweb.com/rovs/features/janfeb2001.02 .htm [diveweb.com]

    See above link for a history of personal underwatercraft...my personal favorite was the VASH from 1996--I remember drooling over that Hammacher Schlemmer catalog and dreaming of diving and flying in a machine like that.....

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • ha! 1. make cheapass submarine that can hold 3 rich americans. 2. sell to rich dumb americans for 845k 3. PROFIT!!!
  • Military uses could include carrying special operation forces ashore.
    I suppose the enemy might die laughing. For those who haven't read the article (who am I kidding, this is /.) the sub is painted child toy yellow, appropriately.
  • The onboard computer isn't running some variant of Windows... that would give a whole new meaning to Blue Screen Of Death.

  • This is hardly even the best of whats out there (Score:5, Informative)

    by bhairava ( 169218 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @04:50AM (#7307190)
    There's nothing new under the sun. There are plenty of other companies that make subs for private citizens. My dad was a subscriber to the Robb Report and for years some sort of sub vehicle has been offered by various entities in their pages. They are not merely rich folks toys. I'd be surprised if they sold more than a handful to individuals. Don't you geeks go on vacations? The main market for these craft has and will continue to be resorts around the world. They are already in use in many places. Check out http://www.ussubs.com/Luxury_folder/lux.phoenix.ht ml for the mother of all personal submersibles. "The Phoenix 1000 is a 65-meter (213') personal luxury submarine. " Beyond us mere millionaires, this baby can be had for a cool USD 78M! It is the f-ing bomb! Beyond cool!
    • I'm glad someone mentioned the Phoenix, it really is a beut, and so handy for those trips to the supermarket.

    • Hmm... just some words ("design proposal" no less) and bad drawings... are you sure the Phoenix sub isn't as real as some of the more flaky proposals for the X-Prize? Surely any undergrad engineering student or even graphic designer could come up with this and put up a website....? I saw drawing like this for Disney's 20,000 leagues beneath the sea but I'm pretty sure Nemo didn't exist either...

  • Give me their webserver instead! That thing's serving up pictures like there's no tomorrow.

    To bad for all the Karma Clowns mirroring the site. ;-)
  • Screw that, where's my flying car?

    • Re:Screw that. (Score:1, Interesting)

      by grosa ( 648390 )
      Moller International [moller.com] have been doing some serious test flights of their M400 skycar since early this year.

      The thing can hover untethered now, although they still require a tether for insurance. you can read here [moller.com] about how their reworking some of the design concepts while they wait for new engines to be built, and see some hover test pictures here [moller.com]
    • Well, it's right here actually: http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraft/private/aero car/info/info.htm
  • The brochure tells us that 3/4 of the earth's surface is under water, and invites us to explore the unexplored, but the machine operates at a depth of 50m. Hmmm, someone should get the PR dept. and the engineers on the same page ...

    cheers, potor

  • bah.. that's old news (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MoceanWorker ( 232487 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @05:40AM (#7307271) Homepage
    Aphex Twin [aphextwin.nu] (aka Richard D. James and many other pseudonyms), purchased a submarine a while ago..

    The article can be found here [space-age-bachelor.com]

    What's more is that the submarine was much cheaper.. he only got it for 50 grand!

    Quote.. "A Submarine. I don't know any models, but I just heard from the place where I can get ammunition for my machine gun -- they're selling off Russian submarines, and apparently they're really cheap. Someone said they were like 50 grand, but I don't know how accurate that is. I'd love it. I reckon I'll get one. It'll probably be a lot of hassle to do it, and you'll probably have to hire like a crew to work it for you. I don't know if you could properly operate it on your own -- maybe you could, I don't know. I don't know anything about submarines. I just know I'd like to have one. It would be wicked for parties, and stuff like that."

    Though the article says he was "considering" purchasing it.. he has purchased it..

    The article/interview was written sometime in 1999..
  • You might as well go the whole hog and spend 78 million and do it properly

    http://www.ussubs.com/Luxury_folder/lux.phoenix. ht ml

  • Imagine that you buy this thing (asuming that you are rich and stupid) and you go for a ride in the US teritorial waters. I bet the first Los Angeles class you encounter is going to think that you are the latest verion of Akula or maybe a Servodinsk, because you are certainly not in their sonar dtabase, and shove an mk40 up your ass.
  • 1. The sub parks vertically, which is easy.

    2. The Porsche comes in nicer colors.

    3. Both the Porsche and the sub have convertible options you only want to try in _really_ nice weather.

    4. The sub handles better in those deep dark puddles.

    5. The Porsche gets you dates. The sub gets you exotic fish for dinner.

    6. With the sub you can join the "mile deep" club.

    7. The sub looks much more impressive outside your home. But the Porsche is more practical for shopping trips.

    8. The Porsche is cheaper.

    9. No-one is going to burst into song when they see your Porsche.

    10. The Porsche won't let you start a successful smuggling venture.

  • This guy [stanleysubmarines.com] is running sub tours on Roatan, [roatanet.com] an island off the north coast of Honduras [travel-to-honduras.com] in the Caribbean. He will take you to 3,000 feet maximum in his new, alien looking sub. [stanleysubmarines.com]

  • ... FRIVILOUSLY RICH are here [qualityshopusa.com]. $78 million USD for 65 meter sub!

    Makes the sub mentioned in the article look like a rusted-out go cart!

    - Ben

  • Here, from germany:
    http://www.euronaut.com/

    They are marine engineers, as it seems, so they know what they're doing...
  • "a very sophisticated control system consisting of a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and many electrically operated solenoid valves, pneumatic actuators, stepper motors, encoders" to move a paper cactus in grad school.
  • We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine....
  • Shouldn't this be called Pisces?
  • Buy your own 48 person submarine on eBay!

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? Vi ewItem&item=2438017155&category=26434

    It's important not to shop for submarines impulsively. Shop around, and be sure to get the features you need.

  • ... if the control computer runs Windows.

  • Does it come with ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Skapare ( 16644 ) on Saturday October 25, 2003 @12:33PM (#7308302) Homepage

    ... a shark fin attachment?

  • no one needs more than 50 meters of depth -- iggymanz, 2003

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