THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 23, 1996 TAG: 9603220070
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
ON STORIED Ocracoke Island, where superstitions abound, Calvin Wilkerson believes a hex has been placed on his homemade submarine.
Calvin, 50, has constructed a 13-foot-long sub that is registered to compete next month in the World Submarine Invitational at La Jolla, Calif.
But, Calvin says, he cannot get a sponsor or even find a swimming pool where he can test the sub.
It is the sub's name and power source that have jinxed his support, he said.
The submarine is called the Condomed Nautilus. It is powered by water that shoots through 42 condoms.
``I could use cut up inner tubes for bikes and get the same effect for propulsion,'' he said, ``but I wanted to send a message.''
The message, he said, is that thousands of lives can be saved if people engaging in sex use condoms.
``I have had friends who died from AIDS,'' he said. ``People's lives depend on discussing condoms and using them.''
Of his sub, he said: ``I thought this was as good a way as any to bring condoms into table conversation. People might laugh when they talk about it, but hopefully the conversation would turn more serious.''
The 3-foot-wide submarine is made of Kevlar tubes and roughly resembles a long barrel. Here's how it works:
The skipper lies face down - submerged - breathing with scuba gear, using feet to push pedals linked to rollers. The rollers squeeze the condoms, squirting water to the rear, pushing the sub forward.
Calvin, the married father of two grown sons, is a tinkerer who has invented, among other things, a canteen that can be drunk from while wearing a gas mask and a boat that can be used as an oil containment boom. He started construction of the sub in October.
``I began building it after I was accepted for the contest,'' he said. The World Submarine Invitational is sponsored by the Guinness Book of World Records and Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California.
Calvin says his submarine, built in his back yard, has a good chance to break the existing speed record for a human-powered sub without propeller. The current record is 2.9 knots, set by a sub built by Scripps Institution.
But Calvin cannot even test the submarine in conditions remotely resembling the huge, still-water model basin where competition is held.
``There are two indoor swimming pools within three hours of here at motels,'' he said. ``Both were originally encouraging, but when they learned more about the sub, both turned me down.''
He said he offered to do the sub testing in the middle of the night when the pools would not be used by motel guests - and to rent several rooms as well - but the motels still refused, he said.
``I'm pretty sure it will work,'' he said.``I used a scale model in a bathtub that performed well.''
He must test the 280-pound submarine in a pool by Tuesday to enter the contest, he said. His vessel is scheduled to compete in California on April 3.
The inventor has spent $8,000 on the sub so far.
Calvin said condom manufacturers have declined to sponsor him, but one offered him a supply of free condoms.
``Almost everyone I know has approved of the project and offers encouragement,'' he said. ``I'm really surprised that people who sell condoms haven't been willing to do something in the way of sponsorship. If I win the contest, it will be a major news story.''
Calvin says one person who doesn't approve of the project is his wife, Andrea.
``She's been talking about having me committed,'' he said.
Actually Calvin is committed. In a different way, of course. ILLUSTRATION: ROBIE RAY
Calvin Wilkerson's condom-powered submarine can be broken down for
shipment, above. After being assembled by Wilkerson, below, the
13-foot-long craft can hold one person.
by CNB