Cave diver death at Ginnie Springs

[bamafan]

There were so many bad choices made here. I did not know either diver. I was told the surviving diver was really a nice person and I am sure she is eaten up with guilt. Any number of things done differently would have resulted in a different outcome. This is really a shame.

 

[knotical]

I am not a cave diver, but perhaps someone with more knowledge could explain why the scooter was left behind? It seems to be the big question. Was it not working? If it was working, I can't imagine why it would be left behind. Did he somehow lose it during the bad visibility?

 

[Warren_L]

I am not a cave diver, but perhaps someone with more knowledge could explain why the scooter was left behind? It seems to be the big question. Was it not working? If it was working, I can't imagine why it would be left behind. Did he somehow lose it during the bad visibility?

This can't really be answered without more details, so absent that, anything would be just speculation. If the scooter was unusable (the reason why is really not particularly relevant - broken prop, dead battery, flood, etc) then it would likely be left behind if remaining breathing gas is a concern. Alternatively, if he got stuck and silted out, he may have had to release the scooter and could possibly have lost it (or damaged it as well in the process). All this is purely conjecture at this point.

 

[PfcAJ]

I am not a cave diver, but perhaps someone with more knowledge could explain why the scooter was left behind? It seems to be the big question. Was it not working? If it was working, I can't imagine why it would be left behind. Did he somehow lose it during the bad visibility?

Anonymous sources say the scooter was operational.

Familiar with the topography of the cave back there, I would imagine it got ditched because the diver was trying to find his was out and the scooter in one hand was too much, or it was contributing to him getting stuck.

Hypothesizing, but I think his plan at that point was to be towed out by his buddy

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I am not a cave diver either but I always thought Cave Divers used lines to follow in and out of the cave. How do you run a line if you are on a scooter? Or is it assumed that lines are currently there and you use the scooter to just follow the line?

 

[LiteHedded]

I am not a cave diver either but I always thought Cave Divers used lines to follow in and out of the cave. How do you run a line if you are on a scooter? Or is it assumed that lines are currently there and you use the scooter to just follow the line?

the lines are already there in that section

 

[ucfdiver]

I am not a cave diver either but I always thought Cave Divers used lines to follow in and out of the cave. How do you run a line if you are on a scooter? Or is it assumed that lines are currently there and you use the scooter to just follow the line?

Usually the explorer lays the line, and it's left in there, you don't remove it each dive.

During active exploration, you can run a line on a scooter, but it's not easy, and certainly not as clean as the lines you'd find in a cave dove as often as Ginnie. For stuff that's dove that often, the exploration line is usually replaced by a line committee and put in much better than it was during exploration.

 

[Omisson]

I am not a cave diver either but I always thought Cave Divers used lines to follow in and out of the cave. How do you run a line if you are on a scooter? Or is it assumed that lines are currently there and you use the scooter to just follow the line?

You would stow the scooter clipped off behind you as you searched for the line. Ideally once you found it and followed it out of the restriction, flow would carry out the silt and as you entered wider passages, visibility would return, and you could resume scootering out.

However protocol dictates having enough gas reserves to make it out even if the scooter failed at the furthest point - or you should be staging additional gas and/or scooters at appropriate points in the event of long and complex penetration dive has an issue.

 

[nimoh]

I am not a cave diver either but I always thought Cave Divers used lines to follow in and out of the cave. How do you run a line if you are on a scooter? Or is it assumed that lines are currently there and you use the scooter to just follow the line?

Normally, when caves are first surveyed, exploration line is laid and left behind, becoming the "main line". So, cave divers exploring caves that have previously been explored will lay a line from open water to the start of the main line and then just follow the main line.

 

[bamafan]

I don't know the area as I probably have less than a dozen dives in Ginnie. A few years ago I scootered back to the Hinkle and turned. There was a jump up to the left on shelf up high. I swam back through this area. Is this the area they went into? It was definitely not scooterable from what I remember. You could have pushed a scooter through but I don't know why that would be done there. It is really sad