News - Submarine 3/24/05 -
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Published on: 3/24/2005
Last Visited: 9/5/2006
Winick, science education director at Discovery Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, will bring the 2,300 pound, yellow submarine which he built himself, to The Benjamin School March 28th through April 1st.He comes to The Benjamin School through a connection with fourth grade teacher Susan Tiedemann who taught Winick's son a few years ago in Connecticut.
Since most people don't have their own submarine, one might ask, why does Winick?It all began when as a 13-year-old in Brooklyn, N.Y. he read a newspaper story about a Coney Island man who was building a submarine.The visit inspired Winick to build his own submarine, though he received little encouragement from his peers and the adults around him.His first attempt, at 16, to build a wooden sub, resulted in a "death trap" which he did not even test on the water.
In college Winick studied marine biology, submarines and engineering and as he gained more knowledge about science his plans grew more sophisticated.As he entered adulthood, working, getting married and starting a family, he was unable to shake his childhood dream and continued to revise his plans about once a year.
His first wife's death to breast cancer made Winick realize that among the few things in his life of true importance were his family and his dream to build a submarine.If it was that important, he recalls thinking, he needed to get going."It became my Everest," Winick said.
He took out his blueprints in the winter of 1997 and began searching for companies to supply the materials he needed.He found the parts and put them together to create his machine, and in August 1998, Winick's submarine -- painted yellow for visibility, not in an ode to The Beatles -- was towed to shallow waters off Fairfield, Connecticut where he shut the hatch and went below the surface.
The trial run was successful and shortly afterward, the submarine went on display at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, where Winick realized that children were fascinated by the machine and he enjoyed talking about it.
He began a side business, DeepSea Schoolhouse, going to middle schools, sub in tow, to talk to students about concepts inherent in submarine design, such as buoyancy and density.
In addition to his teaching, Winick dives in his submarine several times a year, usually from May to September.Dozens of feet beneath the surface, inside a machine of his own making, Winick experiences a world few of us will ever know.But more importantly, he gets to experience it because he didn't give up on his dream.
* * * Alan Winick will be available for interviews and the Yellow Submarine will be available for photographs.
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