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Via The Wall Street Journal: "This month, the Coast Guard detained four men who were allegedly trying to smuggle 3.5 tons of cocaine meant for the U.S. News accounts of the Nov. 16 bust, about 90 miles southwest of Costa Rica, described their unusual vessel as a 50-foot homemade fiberglass submarine.
"That caught the attention of a busy netherworld of hobbyists who build submarines in their garages.
"'The captured drug-sub appears to be amateurish in construction and not nearly as seaworthy as the subs we have seen, designed and built,' said Jon Wallace, a software engineer for Hewlett-Packard in Weare, N.H. In 1996 he cofounded the Personal Submersibles Organization, which now counts about 13,000 visitors per month to its Web site, psubs.org.
"'Semi-submersible at best,' sniffed another critic in a posting on the group's site.
The sub fans helpfully offered their advice for future smuggling attempts: "George Slaterpryce, 28, a software engineer in Ocala, Fla., suggested that 'a true smuggling submarine' would 'have to be something that cruises at 60 feet or so (just deep enough not to be easily noticed),' be constructed of lightweight materials and powered by a relatively silent motor and have enough air for days of submersion."
