arrived to a missed T: what to do next

[Underwater Tourist]

I just re-read your reply and noticed the "4 months out of Cave 1" part.

Yikes. That must have been an experience.

when we were only 4 months out of Cave 1.
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[berndo]

I've attached a photo where I circled the T I'm talking about. I don't remember it being the one that goes straight up/down. I think that's further in. I can't say for certain as it's been about 6-7 years since I've been back in Ressel.

That's the one that goes almost straight up. Since you have to look up and to the left it's easy to miss when you're not just looking for it at the right time. Having the white line so close the the light coloured wall isn't exactly an eyecatcher either. Luckily, it that spot, most people that have done the main line before will catch it relatively fast and realise where there are.
Good experience to make though.

... my wife not studying the maps as much as she should have since she was busy enjoying France, and just simply missing it because we were looking all over the cave in awe. We learned alot from it and it's kept us very conservative still and made us huge fans of very slow progressive penetration.

For many places in Europe the maps don't reall help that much anyways. Some maps only kinda look like the cave. Couple of years ago I had to fix a bunch of line in the Ressel between the first and second T because it got ripped out after heavy rainfall... so sometimes it just gets relined by random people whoever get there first after the cave got blow out.

 

[Guille G]

There are like a billion of hidden Ts in MX probably. I only made 3 trips, and can already come up with at least 2. Just take a guide and ask him/her to mix in some routes with hidden Ts and lead the dive.

Oh yes. And lines get changes as well, in the case I’m talking about we (me and a guide) got thrown off course because a T had been changed to a hidden jump. When we got back we compared notes, and figured that the jump was where we expected a T, went back and completed the traverse another day. Again - notes often save the day!

My guide and buddy said he was probably more worried than me, since if we did in fact discover a missed T he would have had to change jobs

 

[Germie]

I've attached a photo where I circled the T I'm talking about. I don't remember it being the one that goes straight up/down. I think that's further in. I can't say for certain as it's been about 6-7 years since I've been back in Ressel.
Anyway, this was our first trip to France about 11-12 years ago when we were only 4 months out of Cave 1. We had never dove any caves other than Florida (and at that point only fairly low penetration in the tourist caves), and had never dove in any water below 68 degrees. We had done one dive in Ressel two days earlier and hadn't made it to that second t as we weren't adapting to the cold well. We were attempting to be conservative and learn the cave before going too far in, but still had the missed t issue. I chalk it up to inexperience, nervousness of being in a new cave in a new country, a little mental lagging from not being used to the cold (I was only wearing a 3mil hood according to my notes), my wife not studying the maps as much as she should have since she was busy enjoying France, and just simply missing it because we were looking all over the cave in awe. We learned alot from it and it's kept us very conservative still and made us huge fans of very slow progressive penetration.
I was told by Harald from plongee de souterraine that around that time there was some really big battling back and forth with the different groups over the lines so the lines were constantly changing and moving. We did two more dives in Ressel after that missed t. I left a cookie at a t as a reference one afternoon. The next am it wasn't there and the snoopy loop that was near the t was changed to a line wrap. We saw 3 different line changes in the week we were in the area. I've been told its settled down some now. Our second trip we had no issue and the lines had actually improved some.
I attached the note my wife wrote to me. Even underwater her hadnwriting is good. The scribbly writing isn't like her at all and is a strong reminder to not let that sh-t happen again.
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This second T is forgotten on the way out quite often. So your assumption that you will forget it on the way in only is not true.
I use this T to train awareness, so I hope sometimes that students don't see the T. I wil not put them in danger, but missing it, can be a good point to train.
The best way to forget it, is to come from the deeper tunnel, the right one. On the way out it looks like the line goes straigth. So you will not be the first who did not see it and not be the last.

The discussion about changing lines was about the first T in the ressel. There was someone who had the idea that the first T could better be a jump because of that gue C1 divers can do only 1 T, and then they can go to the second T within their C1 limits.
That was a strange time. Divers putted the T in, 1 hour later the T was cutted out again, the next dive the T was in again, etc. The first T was already a T for more than 10 years, so why change that? Then after a few months, it was a T again. And it still is a T now.
When I was there for teaching, I had to tell in the briefing: There can be a T at 180, 12-14 minutes swim, there can be nothing. There can be nothing on the way in, and a T on the way out. There can be a T the way in and the T can be cut away on the way out. Haha. So really this was that time.

But now it is a T again.

Also quite a lot of people miss the T in the Felicitas mine. You come down to a shaft of bad viz and then it opens up, you will swimm under the line and see the line to the left. The T is above you. Complete teams sometimes miss this T.

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

PDT on notes. (Reference/heading/pressure/depth time) I
Missed a T in halocline swam past on a slight right. Was hidden behind a nub. Frackers. Looked wrong. PDT was a relief. It takes no time on a dive to take notes with disipline. Takes the poopies outta your pants.

 

[rjack321]

So both you and your buddy missed this T? @Underwater Tourist

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

So both you and your buddy missed this T?

My buddy did not. She corrected me but was a crappy moment and glad i had my references to refocus.

 

[Manatee Diver]

My buddy did not. She corrected me but was a crappy moment and glad i had my references to refocus.

Did she not signal and wait for your reply?

I was taught to signal to the people behind you so they don't miss it. And then you also have to wait for them to cookie it before proceeding so there should be some notice that the people behind you missed it.

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

Yes signalling from behind. Hey Dumb ass!

 

[Six Feet Under]

As a newer cave diver this is what I did to learn Ginnie. I have a digital copy of the map and I will print the section of interest and laminate. If I was diving to a new area it would be in my wetnotes to reference. I rarely used it, but it was nice to have.

I bought waterproof photo paper from Amazon upon the recommendation of a buddy, going to print a section of Ginnie (the first 300-400 feet or so, with the Catacombs on it) and the next time I go there to cave dive, I want to explore the Catacomb section more than I have in the past. I may start doing this with all dive sites, to be honest - even down to easy stuff like Blue Heron Bridge (would make a great reference for navigation on night dives or in the horrible viz I had last year after Hurricane Ian).