If I only had an extra $38 million...

[cameraman]

I'd buy this.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia1.jpg

That would be the MV Alucia. At the moment she is leased by Woods Hole (http://www.hydro-international.com/news/id4635-WHOI_Conducts_Latest_Search_for_Air_France_Flight. html) and they are searching for the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 which vanished over the south Atlantic in June 2009. They announced (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12953432) that the found at least part of the aircraft today.

It is grim work but boy the crew is definitely comfortable. The MV Alucia was recently refurbished and it is currently on the market for a mere $38,000,000. That tidy sum includes two 3,280 ft rated Deep Rover submersibles.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia2.jpg

The dive control suite is state of the art.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia8.jpg

As are the operational systems.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia7.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia3.jpg

But the real kicker is the quality of the furnishings for the crew/passengers.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia4.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia5.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii35/Cynops/Alucia6.jpg

All of crew/passenger space is of that quality. The crew spaces are not so ornate but still quite nice.

And for you folks that like scuba it has a 52-inch twin lock deck decompression chamber and four rigid inflatables.

The sales page is here. (http://www.fraseryachts.com/Sale/sale_gallery.aspx?YachtID=Y14_MR_SD)

It'd be nice to be ultra rich...

[opinionated ow]

Clive Cussler's NUMA is real :eek:

[Gnam]

Would you model your yatching life after:

A) Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic and conduct ocean research with Cate Blanchett.

B) or, Matthew McConaughey in Sahara and go treasure hunting with Penelope Cruz.

C) or, Matthew McConaughey in Fool's Gold and go treasure hunting with Kate Hudson.

[KLang]

Would you model your yatching life after:

A) Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic and conduct ocean research with Cate Blanchett.

B) or, Matthew McConaughey in Sahara and go treasure hunting with Penelope Cruz.

C) or, Matthew McConaughey in Fool's Gold and go treasure hunting with Kate Hudson.

I'd like to sample all three.


Wife and I took a cruise out of Barbados last month. This bad boy was parked nearby.

http://www.superyachttimes.com/images/3/1959/main_568x418.jpg

The Katara. There was a helicopter on board when we returned.

[NismoZ]

Can't recall what I was doing in June of '09...was there any hint of terrorism someone is trying to prove? Was that the one they think was brought down by lightning in a bad storm? Just wondering why the effort for this particular flight.

[cameraman]

It just plain vanished. From the pieces found floating they think it did not break up in flight. There was no contact beyond a series of automated systems messages that as a package don't make a whole lot of sense beyond some thing or things was really wrong with the plane's command & control systems. They simply have no earthly clue what happened. There were storms in the area but again they have no specific information beyond just that. It is highly disconcerting for an airliner, an Airbus A330-200, to just fall from the sky in this day and age. The powers that be really want to figure out what the hell happened.

[Andrew Longman]

Was that the one they think was brought down by lightning in a bad storm? Sort of, but it is hard to say for sure.

The prevailing theory, based on the automated text messages sent by the plane's computer and on similar problems on a few other A330/340 flights, it appears the pitot tube froze-over, denying the flight controls input on airspeed.

Its more complicated than I can explain but that shuts off the autopilots and confuses the computerized fly by wire control systems.

The theory too is that the pitot froze suddenly due to a physical phenomenon where super cold water actually doesn't freeze unless it come in contact with something solid, like dust... or a pitot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_447

As for the ship... I might try King Crabbing in Alaska if I could do it on that. Not.

2ei-qss0sPQ

[G.]

Would you model your yatching life after:

A) Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic and conduct ocean research with Cate Blanchett.

B) or, Matthew McConaughey in Sahara and go treasure hunting with Penelope Cruz.

C) or, Matthew McConaughey in Fool's Gold and go treasure hunting with Kate Hudson.

1) Leonardo DiCaprio in the Titanic to travel to a new world with Kate Winslet.

2) or, Tom Hanks in Joe Vs. The Volcano to cure his Brain Cloud with Meg Ryan.

3) or, in Das Boot, with a bunch of sweaty German guys (not that there's anything wrong with that...)


:D

[NismoZ]

I'll take "Sahara Fools Gold" with Cruz AND Hudson!:gomer: