Blue Hole A Gimmick?

[DandyDon]

The name of the former french minesweeper that blasted the channel was Calypso.

Uh - was that JC's boat...? :54:

 

[Jester]

I'm going to Belize with a group from my LDS on March 7, and during a brief get-together, the general concensus was to simply skip any thoughts of going to the Blue Hole.

We all seemed to think we'd get more out of doing several more dives on the local reefs around Ambergris than taking the long trip out to a deep hole. (ha! sounds suspiciously like a long walk off a short pier!)

 

[Mako Mark]

I think it would be a shame to miss it Jester, It would kind of be like not going to the Pyramids when you are in Cairo cause you heard it is hot out in the desert. Just make sure that you heed the advice of the people who have been there, and choose a good operator and be cautious. It is a unique dive.

 

[terrydarc]

http://www.ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/greatbluehole.html claims the story of Jacques Cousteau dynamiting his way into the blue hole is an urban legend. Nice pic of the hole, though...

 

[DennisS]

"Contrary to rumors, although Cousteau did explore the depths of the Blue Hole with his minisubmersibles in the 60's, he did not lose his son Philippe here, he died elsewhere in a helicopter accident. Neither did Cousteau randomly use explosives to destroy the patch reefs while navigating the "Calypso" in the Blue Hole. He did selectively remove, by limited blasting, a very small area to enable the "Calypso" to reach the Blue Hole."

The site uses the term, "selectively remove by limited blasting". Interesting term in regards to moving a ship through a passage.

 

[gj62]

The site uses the term, "selectively remove by limited blasting". Interesting term in regards to moving a ship through a passage.

Tsk Tsk - do it all the time...

Wonder if we'll ever really know - I thought Phillipe died in a plane crash...

 

[Doc]

When I first mentioned this in this thread, I was being polite and not wishing to speak ill of the man who got the world diving. (If you discount Mike "quien es muy macho?" Nelson- or the Bisset "twins")

I had not yet seen the movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", but the 1972 geyser & plume made me think of the famous line, "Think you used enough dynamite there", Jacques?

The downside to the incident- the real crux of the biscuit- is that it was done for the sole purpose of placing the ship inside the circle for a PBS serries film shot from the hopticopter.

Phillippe, Portugal, 1979, float plane crash. God rest his soul.

Joe Thompson, Pilot of the DeepStar saucers, 2002, heart failure.

Albert Falco, looked pretty good in 1996, I assume this quiet hero is still breathing some kind of gas.

There were a few others. :sappy:

 

[gj62]

I had not yet seen the movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", but the 1972 geyser & plume made me think of the famous line, "Think you used enough dynamite there", Jacques?

Do tell - you were around for the event? Was the blasting actually in the immediate enclose of the hole - or futher out to allow Calypso access?