Lost in a cave

[kidsdream]

I just completed by first overhead courses last week (Cavern & Into to Cave) and it is certainly helpful read about these kinds of "events".

About running the line from open water. Even at Ginnie I saw a big difference from the 3 days we dove the Ear. On the first two days you could see tons of light well past the sign and the start of the gold line. On the last day, the water in the river and thus the opening became quite dark and even in the basin/cavern below the deco log it was darker with it being totally black within 20' of the start of the gold line. Of course at Ginnie you would be pushed out the entrance if you were lost at that point, but in a low flow environment it certainly would be a different story.

I am especially interested from the point of view that the Mexican caves/cenotes from a dive profile are most likely more interesting to me in the long term (low flow, more interesting/colorful formations due to th caves being once dry). My instructor (Johnny Richards commented that the Mexican caves did no follow the same line protocols (T's in right off the main line and the lack of "gold" line for the main line in many cases).

 

[RJP]

What did we do wrong?

* We did not run a continuous guideline to the surface.

Lessons Learned

* When in doubt, follow the rules.

I wonder what the "poster" means when he says "when in doubt, follow the rules"?? A Full Cave diver knows there is no doubt about when you follow the rules.

 

[TSandM]

I spent the last week with a couple of Florida cave divers, doing their first trip to Mexico. By the end of the trip, they totally understood why navigation is THE big issue there. There are many T's, white line on many mainlines, and the spookiest thing are the reach gaps. I've seen two where the jump line is tied off within about four INCHES of the mainline. In addition, because there are frequently many openings to the surface from any given tunnel, the direction of the line arrows often changes during a dive. There is little to no flow to give you an orientation to the exit, and rooms are often enormous -- it's not unusual to be barely able to pick up the far wall with your light. With the amount of decoration that's often present, you could literally get lost and wander around for a long time within a single room, not realizing you hadn't ever left it!

Fred commented to me, when we were discussing this, that what they often see in Florida divers is some degree of carelessness about the line -- swimming way off it, and cutting corners. I can easily see where caves like Ginnie and JB could lure you into relaxing some procedures, but you can't afford it down there.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I spent the last week with a couple of Florida cave divers, doing their first trip to Mexico. By the end of the trip, they totally understood why navigation is THE big issue there. There are many T's, white line on many mainlines, and the spookiest thing are the reach gaps. I've seen two where the jump line is tied off within about four INCHES of the mainline. In addition, because there are frequently many openings to the surface from any given tunnel, the direction of the line arrows often changes during a dive. There is little to no flow to give you an orientation to the exit, and rooms are often enormous -- it's not unusual to be barely able to pick up the far wall with your light. With the amount of decoration that's often present, you could literally get lost and wander around for a long time within a single room, not realizing you hadn't ever left it!

Fred commented to me, when we were discussing this, that what they often see in Florida divers is some degree of carelessness about the line -- swimming way off it, and cutting corners. I can easily see where caves like Ginnie and JB could lure you into relaxing some procedures, but you can't afford it down there.

My vote is for lines to open water and NO visual jumps.

I've never dived in Mexico but I did my first 30 or 40 post cert cave daves in a flooded mine. It's cold water, bad vis in places, a maze of T intersections and short jumps and has many very large rooms where you would not want to be lost off the line. We mark intersections and put in jump reels.

 

[piikki]

Lessons Learned

* When in doubt, follow the rules.

This one caught my eye first too... ???

I disagree. There is a reason we are taught to run line to open water.

Agree with this too. No excuses. Why on earth would you concentrate on (potentially) protecting OW divers (from stupidity) by putting yourself at risk? OW divers should know not to come to overhead environment, and you should know to run continuous guideline to overhead. You have to be able to think beyond this kind of BS if it is presented to you.

I am glad the story was posted. It illustrates very important points. It actually made me think about some details too, eg being the last one in. It should not be so - but it is more awkward to be referencing backwards if you have someone behind you.

 

[tstormdiver]

Very good information here of both the pros & cons. I did my cavern course back in Sept. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will be going through my cave courses in Feb. down in FL.

 

[BabyDuck]

yep, easier to reference back if you're last in line, if for no other reason than the buddy behind's light isn't blinding you.

thank you, anonymous poster, for the story. i'm so glad it was a wake-up instead of an incident.

 

[MikeFerrara]

yep, easier to reference back if you're last in line, if for no other reason than the buddy behind's light isn't blinding you.

thank you, anonymous poster, for the story. i'm so glad it was a wake-up instead of an incident.

"Referencing the cave" is a good topic. IMO, there's no substitute for knowing where you are and where you're going. I prefer it when "the line" or "my line" is just an absolute confirmation of what I already know.

There have been plenty of times, whether because of lousy viz or going too far in an unfamiliar cave, when the line was my only guide. Those have NOT been my favorite moments in cave diving.

 

[Roguewarrior2]

Article that was in Skin Diver magazine quite a few years ago:

2000-08 Never Take Cave Diving Lightly

 

[TSandM]

"Referencing the cave" is a good topic. IMO, there's no substitute for knowing where you are and where you're going. I prefer it when "the line" or "my line" is just an absolute confirmation of what I already know.

One of the things Danny frequently said to us during our class was to look behind us and see what the cave looked like from that point of view, because it's often so different from what you see going in. And I have to say that, on this last trip, something which relaxed me enormously was that I could say, "Yes, the line's going to go over here, and then turn right and climb past that big stalagmite . . . " Following the line is like mapquesting an unfamiliar destination; reading a familiar cave is like driving home from a frequently visited location.