From ‘Trilobite’ to ‘Great White’

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As I drove into Pasadena California at the invitation of a retired Radiologist my imagination soared with images of a reportedly ‘beautiful and intact sub’ for sale. He told me he was going to donate it to a good cause... and I needed a sub for UVP desperately.

As I pulled up to the house the pristine nature of the 1970‘s upper-class neighborhood and lawn gave me hope for what was stored in the back yard. The good doctor met me at the door and he gave me a somewhat mechanical tour of his house and then of his massive shell collection. Trying to be courteous and not seem desperate I gave close attention and  found the collection very impressive... but I was only interested  in the sub. The doctor then walked me out back into a garage to ‘show me the sub’.  He directed me to have a seat next to a desk. I complied. Excited I looked around the room and... no sub. He then turned down the lights and turned on his slide projector.  He proceeded to show me a dated display on what he did with the sub. The perfect little sub on the silver-screen was pristine red-orange in color and was used to search for...drug money.

DRUG MONEY?! Yes, Drug money.  It seems that a couple of decades ago a private aircraft being used to shuttle drugs and money crashed off Point Loma and his brother (a pilot privy to such knowledge) learned of its basic location. Too deep for SCUBA, the doctor bought this sub for $8,000 new and went on his quest to find the plane.

He went on to dive the sub a few times then successfully sank it where it stayed on the bottom of the sea for a month before he and his brother recovered it.  After some years he found the drug plane (and the rotten-soggy drugs) but the money was gone...

Finally, the slide show was over and he asked me if I was ready to see the sub now. I smiled and nodded.  We walked back outside and went over to a pile of rotted tarps where a rusted old trailer hitch was poking out. A tree had left sap and evergreen leaves piled four to six inches all around the mangled and decaying tarps. My heart began to sink. “Surely this highly educated man did not leave it out in the weather for two decades!” I thought.

As the doctor reached out to this pile of impending disappointment, he smiled at me and announced, “Here she is!” He jerked the tarp and it makes a noticeable tearing sound as it moved to the side exposing what was underneath. The first portion of the sub that I saw was the bow fairing with deep scratches and exposed fiberglass. The sub was faded to a dull orange due to ultraviolet exposure.  The acrylic dome was so decayed from UV exposure that is was completely craze fractured. Upon closer inspection I see so many failures due to the sub rotting from the weather that virtually all that was left was the hull... maybe.

I mustered up the energy to politely carry on my conversation with the good doctor. He informed me that he and his wife were going to donate the sub to a non-profit club in Los Angeles and would consider sending it my way if I wanted it. The thought of the sub donated worked for me because, if nothing else, I could use it as an educational display and perhaps a fundraising tool. With a smile and a handshake, I accepted the sub with a thank you, then told the doctor good-bye and departed. As I drove away, I was hopeful that, perhaps, the sub could be restored, but I feared the costs would be high. “I can’t do it alone... I need help,” I thought.

My first call was to my friend, Tom Mix. Friends since 1999, I met Tom while at the College of Oceaneering in Wilmington, CA. We were both instructors and loved the sea and exploration. We spent a good deal of time telling each other our stories. I learned that, although a highly experienced commercial diver, Tom was also an accomplished treasure hunter with a history of finding rare and amazing artifacts. His sense of adventure rivaled mine. In 2007, I told Tom of my mission to build the Undersea Voyager Project and that he would always be invited. In his traditional giant-hearted Tao, Tom supported me and gave me valuable advice.
Now, as I explained to him on the phone, in 2008 we have something new to explore: how to refit a trashed-out submersible back to the highest level of safety and performance. Tom suggested many excellent ideas including my bringing the sub to Louisiana and working on it in his garage – which is a veritable wonderland of perfect tools, mills and lathes. But first, we have to take possession of the sub.

I called the good doctor to ask him if he and his wife had decided to donate the sub to us yet. He explained that he just had the sub appraised and that it was worth $10,000 dollars... so he would sell the sub to me for $10,000. The news was so unexpected that I felt like he just hit me hard in the nose. “But you bought it for only $8,000!” I challenged. He stood by his number and was very chummy, but undeterred, in his sales effort. As I hung up the phone I was fuming and felt taken advantage of – but what could I do?

Then, three amazing things happened that week.

1. First, my friend Tom said he would pay for the sub; a generous offer that, to this day, shocks and warms my heart.
2. Second, the UVP had its first financial donation.
3. Third, Greg Cottrell, a submersible engineer, that had assisted in the rebuilding of several K-250 submersibles told me he would rebuild it.

Sitting on a rock in the mountains I decided I needed a sub for UVP and the rotted TRILOBITE may work since I have (quite probably) the best team in the USA to pull this off. Three months later,  the rust-bucket TRILOBITE was sitting in my front yard. It took a month to strip off all the components in preparation to shipping it to Greg (In Maryland - 3,000 miles away)

Then on February 5th 2008 I got some news that broke my heart. My friend  of 17 years and mentor Ralph White died. When I hung up the phone I walked outside and leaned against the sub and wept.

Memories of Ralph flooded my mind and I felt huge a huge empty place in my heart. Ralph was how I got started in submersibles. He encouraged me to meet a man that would become one of my best friends over the last 16 years, Will Kohnen, the designer-builder of the SeaMagine Hydrospace Submersibles. I desperately wanted Ralph to see this project come to life.

As I leaned against the sub, it occurred to me that this rust bucket needed a new life AND a new name. Its new name was going to honor my friend and fellow explorer, Ralph White. Just then a memory took center stage in my mind’s eye. Some years ago, I heard Ralph referred to as the “Great White.”
So, at that moment, the sub shed its old identity and became the GREAT WHITE.

Ralph’s fiancée, Dr. Rosaly Lopez, agreed to let me take some of Ralph’s ashes in the sub and, therefore, Ralph would be a part of the UVP mission. Everything came together and I sent the sub off.

On July 2nd 2008 Greg Cottrell received the Great White in Beltsville, Md. and work began.  Greg displayed an amazing level of understanding of submersible engineering and of PVHO guidelines for the manufacture of domes, ports and thru-hulls.  He not only had the understanding... he also had the high level skills in which to fabricate the parts! So much so that he designed, fabricated and dove his own 3 person submersible “PROTEUS”. Greg had several aces up his sleeve including that he had a major role in helping to restore several Kittredge subs including K-250s and knew Capt. George Kittredge!  I knew the GREAT WHITE was in the best hands available.

I began developing the Undersea Voyager Project further and Greg began working his magic with the assistance of Master Welder Daniel Lance.

The Refit Begins... The Magic of Greg

Greg used his experience, imagination and engineering on the GREAT WHITE to help fit it to the new mission he went to work. Since the UVP mission required the floor open so the pilot could operate the sub from a prone position, Greg had to change much of the original design  which was for a sitting pilot.

1. Remove/ replace all rotating shaft thru-hulls with stainless units.
2. Insert additional electrical/ pneumatic ports.
3. Create framework for new fairings and ballast system.
4. Soda-blast hull to bare steel, re-coat with marine epoxy/ polyurethane topcoat.
5. Install composite ballast tanks and fiberglass fairings.
6. Install new viewports and dome hatch.
7. Convert inside to two-man configuration.
8. Install all new stainless valves and high pressure pneumatic system.
9. Install basic propulsion system.

On December 15th 2008 I had scheduled to launch the Undersea Voyager Project at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach (3,000 miles from where Greg was refitting the GREAT WHITE).

After five months in the care of Greg Cottrell, a I drove out to Beltville Maryland to pick up the GREAT WHITE. The transformation was amazing! Now she sported a gorgeous steel blue color like a blue shark and a white interior to help see inside during low light dives. The dorsal of the sub had a long and sleek fiberglass fairing with mounting areas for scientific payload, either side of the sub had a white buoyancy tank to increase stability while floating on the surface. She had new side ports, a giant and thick 16” bow port and an improved-thicker dome port.

What Greg didn't have time (and I didn't have funding for) was three new thrusters & controller(s), a dome port ring, internal wiring harness, and batteries. Greg had found some used motors on ebay but they needed work.

I took possession of the GREAT WHITE and considered it a work of art. With apprehension as high as my expectations I set out cross country with sub in tow.  The looks on people’s faces as the tiny sub travelled the nations freeways were forever etched in my memory. Everyone loved it! Each fuel station was an opportunity for curious folks to inquire what it was and when they learned it was a research submersible and what we were doing, they all wished us well. The trip convinced me the nation wanted this program. In fact... they need it.  

Right on time, on December 15th 2008 the UVP had its launching ceremony. None of this would have happened if Ralph had not encouraged me, or if Tom Mix didn’t support me and bought the sub for the UVP, or if Greg Cottrell hadn’t offered to grace the GREAT WHITE with his magic, or if Daniel Lance hadn’t donated his legendary welding mastery.

In short, many wonderful people have stepped up to this challenge and the Undersea Voyager Project is as much theirs as it is mine. We all believe in a dream and know it is bigger than anyone person. I am honored to stand next to these fine folks.

So what is left to get the Great White launched?  A short list to begin a long Voyage...

One of the UVP supporters from the beginning was John Sanderson. Currently working at Deep Sea Power & Light,  John is a retired US Navy Commander that spent his career on submarines. It is in his blood! We first met about three years ago when UVP was just an idea. Another friend of mine (for nearly 20 years) Kevin Hardy (retired from Scripps), also works at DSP&L introduced me to John. With an affinity towards electronics he is an electrical engineer and prototype inventor-builder at DSP&L.  
When I began talking to John about the UVP his eyes lit up and asked if he could help.  Lots of folks ask to help the UVP but have  no skills needed at the time, but John was different. He stood up and carefully explained what he could do with lighting, propulsion control and power management. He has spent many hours working on the sub but he is often stopped cold because I haven't had the money to buy him supplies.

What is left?

The list is simple but by no means is it trivial or inexpensive. The GREAT WHITE needs three thrusters and a central controller system, a new steel dome ring machined to match up to Greg’s beautiful dome, an external battery pod (and batteries) and a CO2 scrubber.  It is as if we have a perfect Shelby Cobra show car with no engine or electrical system to run it.

We need to raise $40,000 to finish the GREAT WHITE.  once achieved the little sub will become a fully operational research submersible.