Peter Robbins and His Beautiful Submarine

Peter Robbins had wanted his own submarine since his teenage years.

Q: How old were you when you first dreamt of having your own submarine?

Peter Robbins: I was about 15 years old. I'd flunked out of a whole bunch of schools, and my father had sent me to Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts. It was an honor naval school. During my time there, I got a summer job at Woods Hole [Oceanographic Institution], and I just got fascinated with the ocean. When I graduated from Tabor, I wanted to go into a program where you started in the navy as an enlisted man and then went to Annapolis to become a submarine officer. But I didn't get a chance to do that. Life didn't give it to me that way. So I said, "Someday when I retire, if I have enough funding, I'll get a submarine going." That's what started the whole idea.

Source.

The PBS NOVA special documented the story of the Alicia, Robbins' beautiful submersible. There is currently a short preview video here, but within the next month, PBS should put the full documentary up for viewing at this website.

Currently, the Alicia is at work off the Plymouth, England, coast, conducting tours for the National Marine Aquarium. For a spectacular online short film documenting some of the building of Alicia, and an English Channel dive looking for a submarine wreck, go to this context.tv website and click on the promo trailer link or screen. Interviews are in English, narration is in German, and the photography is excellent.

Peter Robbins' story is inspiring. Watching the fulfillment of Robbins' quirky dreams should give others encouragement that perhaps their own unconventional dreams are not completely out of reach.