Taking off the grate to explore the Blue Hole

[boulderjohn]

There was a "rock shift" at Jackson Blue in Florida a year or so ago--as in a huge chunk of ceiling weighing many tons collapsed. Shift happens.

---------- Post added September 19th, 2013 at 02:55 PM ----------

ADM Exploration Foundation - Santa Rosa Blue Hole Research Proposal

 

[toddthecat]

If anyone goes soon could they post if the elbow is being replaced? I know a lot of people are hoping it won't be and I definitely fall into that crowd. Evidently it isn't needed anymore and not replacing it should improve flow, even if it's just a little bit. I'll be curious to see, based on what has been said, if flow really did increase after they worked down there. I won't be down for a few more weeks so any info would be great!

 

[boulderjohn]

In the cave divers forum, Walter Pickle said that they are still planning to do more, but he did not say what. When I expressed regret that this experience might be the end of the work, he replied that it is just the beginning.

 

[DandyDon]

If anyone goes soon could they post if the elbow is being replaced? I know a lot of people are hoping it won't be and I definitely fall into that crowd. Evidently it isn't needed anymore and not replacing it should improve flow, even if it's just a little bit. I'll be curious to see, based on what has been said, if flow really did increase after they worked down there. I won't be down for a few more weeks so any info would be great!

I didn't mind the grate, and it does sound like a diver could still get into a small room without it - but that elbow caused problems! I think that instead of pushing silt up, it just pushed it around the bottom. The water would still go up, but trash accumulates on the bottom more.

 

[toddthecat]

I didn't mind the grate either but you're right about the elbow. Not to mention it was a bit of an eyesore. Then you had the times where someone would try and go around behind it with total lack of buoyancy control and completely churn everything up.

@John - That's good news. Hopefully sooner than later but I imagine they'll have to work around other projects, funding, and the usual red tape. Could be a while :/

 

[boulderjohn]

The original statement said that there would never be any regular cave diving in the system, but I would hope that would be reconsidered. Anyone who knows Santa Rosa is well aware of the plethora of abandoned buildings. The town is currently little more than a collection of motels to house people stopping overnight from I-40. I would think the availability of a good diving site, similar to Ginnie Springs in Florida, could do a lot for the town. The Blue Hole by itself is just not doing the trick.

Heck, it might be enough to get Stella to supply nitrox and trimix, which would sure make life in Rock Lake a lot better.

 

[toddthecat]

It's a miracle Stella has what she has now. She was supposed to have a space in the new building but then they never opened it up for anything and her space was something akin to a closet. Oh, that reminds me (since I'm on the topic of the City)! I was about to enter the water with a buddy and 4 others in my group were already underwater. This was at night and we were the only ones there. The police showed up and asked if we had permits. We did. He then proceeds to tell us that we needed "nighttime permits". Pretty slick, huh?

The City doesn't do much to help themselves. They could make a LOT more revenue off of Blue Hole if they simply put in some effort. They don't even bother chasing off gangbangers anymore. I had to get police involved when a group of them were following around 10-12 year old girls using terms of endearment that should never be used with someone that age. Not sure what is taking up all the time of city officials but Blue Hole seems to be fairly low on the list of priorities...

 

[DandyDon]

Stella's shack is awful! She is such a sweetheart and I wish her the very best, but I don't know where she'd get new compressors and whatever else she'd need to do mixed gases - or the training. She had hell getting parts for her old compressor a few years ago. Her prices are too cheap, but then so many shops bring their own portable compressors.

The town's population as around 2,000 and I bet their expenses for cops and other employees is a major part of their budget. I live in a Texas farm town about the same size and we finally gave up on having cops - turned it over to the county, but I bet our county resources are bigger than theirs. Anyway, it must take them a lot to run what they do for the Blue Hole and the softball business, but they need the income of both.

The town has a long history, first made famous as a stop on the Ozark Trail* as seen in "Grapes of Wrath," and Route 66 made it even a bigger deal, but I-40 made it too easy to get from Amarillo to Albuquerque non-stop.

* Branches of the Ozark Trail (dirt roads, before pavement) went thru Clovis and Tucumcari, joining at Santa Rosa. Most of the markers were removed over the decades, and I can only find a few old pics of some, but a few still exist. Most of those were relocated, but one in Tulia TX not far from here is still in its original location - even tho the trails originally intersecting there have moved over a few times there to now state hiway #86 and I-27.



Eh, while I am at it, old pics of Clovis and Tucumcari OT markers...

 

[boulderjohn]

Stella's shack is awful! She is such a sweetheart and I wish her the very best, but I don't know where she'd get new compressors and whatever else she'd need to do mixed gases - or the training. She had hell getting parts for her old compressor a few years ago. Her prices are too cheap, but then so many shops bring their own portable compressors.

Stella already has more training than one would likely conclude from just seeing her pass the days filling tanks.

If she just wanted to do partial pressure fills, it would not take a whole lot of training. The equipment costs would vary depending upon how she wanted to do it. With nothing but the Blue Hole and occasional Rock Lake divers, there might not be enough traffic to justify that added overhead. It would be very different if there were an added influx of cave divers wanting to go to the depths indicated for that cave. Look at how many different places you can get nitrox and trimix fills in High Springs. All you need is enough traffic to justify the investment.

 

[BigBubbaJ]

I didn't get a chance yet to dive, but i'll video the state of the grate at some point this weekend. So far it's CLEAR!!!