ABOUT US
My brother Doug and I have been designing, testing and periodically operating submarines of our own making since 1983. My name is Russell Canfield. Our first two submarine companies went under, no pun intended, for several reasons, but never our passion for exploration, and raw discovery. Our ambient-pressured fugusub design evolved with hands-on experience from building nine subs between our first two companies. In Fugusub, LLC we have built three more subs, which perform superbly.
Submarines are far more exciting to operate than to build. We have no desire to become functioning manufacturers, though diverse interest in our subs continues to grow, which we document. Perhaps in the future we will consider a manufacturing effort, but not at the moment.
Freshwater exploration has proven to be our favorite medium. Whether piloting around a specific destination or roving for miles, things are found, great and small, old and new, often unexpectedly. The shocking beauty and diversity of America's inland waters and seas is nothing less than magnificent and often unknown. Hidden and lost histories are everywhere, with a smorgasbord of wildlife that can be as exotic as anything coming out of the Amazon or Africa's Rift Lakes. We wish to elevate awareness for the plight and very existence of lesser known species and habitats. Some are in real trouble. We believe that people generally don't care about places or things they haven't seen. Creating new awareness can change that. Showing people will be our mission.
We watch with great concern as many fresh waters are assaulted with invasive species of plants and animals. Some plants are more problematic than animals. New and shifting equilibriums are under way. We have seen both positive and negative effects from invasive species over long periods of time. We would like to illuminate solutions that we know of.
Aquaculture is a great interest of ours. A life long interest in aquariums and terrariums has given us unique experiences in captive breeding. Doug has bred many cichlid species through time and I continue to breed several species of turtles and tortoises, including the above Costa Rican Wood Turtle. Both of us are still fascinated with all kinds of wildlife. I volunteered for three years of weekly work at Mote Marine Laboratories' MAP (Mote Aquaculture Park) sturgeon program. This yielded some state-of-the-art info, insights and opportunities to implement new ideas.
Water use and abuse issues need to be addressed in many areas. Habitat restoration is surging forward with great success. We plan to look at some work being done throughout North America to save multiple endangered native species.
The refitting and reconfiguration of our two-person dry submarine will have its challenges, as significant changes will be made (Note: see "Dry Sub" page). This will take time and money.
A visit to Lake Huron's "Sacred Rock" landmark north of Roger's City fuels Doug's personal interest in finding the lost and sometimes submerged Native American "stone idols" and "altars" noted in the journals of Michigan's early explorers, missionaries
and settlers.
Doug examines a wild native female Blanding's Turtle that wandered into his yard in Northern Michigan.
This toy sub and a long lost similar yellow one definitely influenced me at two and a half years old.
Photo courtesy of Isaac Gomez
In September 2013, we joined the History Channel's "America Unearthed" television series host Scott Wolter and Committee Films (Minneapolis, MN) for "The Underwater Pyramids" episode.
Fugusubs were used to search for Rock Lake's (Lake Mills, WI) legendary submerged pyramids reportedly found by sport divers in the early 1940's. This was an extraordinary experience for both of us. This episode first aired January 2014 on the H2 Channel and re-broadcasts continue to generate interest worldwide!
Fortunately, underwater cameras can see several feet further than the human eye can under such terrible visibility conditions. This yielded some useable film. Scott's efforts to pilot one of our subs with very little training in the silty, weedy, near-zero visibility conditions were commendable.
Not suprisingly, sub dives on multiple locations failed to authenticate the existence of man-made structures on the lake floor. Perhaps another time with greater visibility will yield better results.
October 26, 2017 marks 21 years that I've had Fiona, my urban emu. She was 10 months old when I got her, and she hasn't grown a bit. She can run 28 mph on grass, 15-18 mph on pavement. Smarter in many ways than dogs or cats, this true theropod is a surviving dinosaur. Her kindness, loyalty, intelligence, superb intuition and kooky sense of humor have made my life richer (Shelby dog too!).