A ScubaBoard Staff Message...
Taking off the grate to explore the Blue Hole
- Thread starter DandyDon
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
Reason enough to take a dip tomorrow at the Blue Hole. Maybe take some pics of the entrance sans grate. It pretty cool when anything of note happens in Santa Rosa.
For SB readers who haven't been to the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, here is a video that I made when I was trying out my new video equipment. You can see the grate at about 5:15. We put a piece of moss into the grate so that you can see the water flowing up and out from the hole.
There is a quick glimpse through the grate looking down at the hole the team will try to enter. I'm wondering whether they'll have to enlarge it. I'm fairly skinny, and I'm not sure I could fit through it.
[video=youtube_share;jl5LlyeDjQM]http://youtu.be/jl5LlyeDjQM[/video]
There is a quick glimpse through the grate looking down at the hole the team will try to enter. I'm wondering whether they'll have to enlarge it. I'm fairly skinny, and I'm not sure I could fit through it.
[video=youtube_share;jl5LlyeDjQM]http://youtu.be/jl5LlyeDjQM[/video]
Last edited:
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
Here are a few pics from today at the Blue Hole. The grate is off and sitting in the parking lot and it looks like the team is still trying to make a safe entry. Once they pulled the grate, there is what looks to be additional steel rebar. Not sure if it was part of this grate or previous attempts to block the entrance. Anyway, the entrance is about 6' below the grate (90') and the hole looks like something no sane person would attempt (definitely too small to enter fully geared up). I have confidences it can be done (has been done) but the challenges are daunting. The hold might have tightened up with shifting rock/silt over the years.
One cool thing is if you get close, the eddies caused by you body suspends rocks in the water (last picture). Supposedly there are 3 known rooms in the system that have been explored in the old days, but not well documented. These guys were pretty busy mapping everything in the hole. I can wait to see their pictures instead of my lousy snaps. When I left they still had not made a full penetration but were getting close.
1: old pipe and grate (about 8' tall)
2: one apparent opening (right side)
3: another opening, with rebar sticking out
4: one of the divers descending
5: more rebar (the must of pull a bunch, this was on bottom 50' away)
6: another shot of opening in close, you can see the rocks tumbling about 2-3' down
7: similar but as close as I will come to a cave (i.e. peaking in, body out)
One cool thing is if you get close, the eddies caused by you body suspends rocks in the water (last picture). Supposedly there are 3 known rooms in the system that have been explored in the old days, but not well documented. These guys were pretty busy mapping everything in the hole. I can wait to see their pictures instead of my lousy snaps. When I left they still had not made a full penetration but were getting close.
1: old pipe and grate (about 8' tall)
2: one apparent opening (right side)
3: another opening, with rebar sticking out
4: one of the divers descending
5: more rebar (the must of pull a bunch, this was on bottom 50' away)
6: another shot of opening in close, you can see the rocks tumbling about 2-3' down
7: similar but as close as I will come to a cave (i.e. peaking in, body out)
Nice photos! Wish I could be there to take a peek, too. But had to work this weekend.
There has definitely been plenty of shifting and sliding even in the few short years I have been diving there. Even if I was cave certified, I'd be nervous to go in there. But maybe these guys will prove that idea wrong.
Did you get to talk to any of them?
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
I chatted with a some of them for a couple of minutes but they had a film crew topside so mostly I stayed out of the way. They seemed nice but they were focused on the job at hand.I did enjoyed checking out their gear from a distance (they had a ton's of it) and watched them map out the hole itself. It was a nice day (warm enough to enjoy, not hot enough to attract swimmers).
BigBubbaJ
Contributor
This is a grate discussion. I have grate video [video=youtube;Ha1ROifeftc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha1ROifeftc[/video] here.It would have been great without the grate
OP
- Messages
- 54,135
- Reaction score
- 8,278
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
I doubt that it was a rock poured in as claimed. Those rocks shift....!!
Boulder Foils Plan to Explore Underwater Cave | LiveScience
Boulder Foils Plan to Explore Underwater Cave | LiveScience
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
The army corp of engineers might have moved some rock in places to close it off. I would take the attempt as a net positive if they leave the grate off, it looks much nicer without that ugly pipe. Now if we could get get a critical mass of gold fish or something alive beside some crawdads......
OP
- Messages
- 54,135
- Reaction score
- 8,278
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
The old grate wasn't so bad but that elbow they've had for years changed the flow of water in the lower parts. Stays murkier for some reason. Yeah, I hope they leave it off too, but that would take a lot of approvals, and studies I guess.
The fact that they got into a tiny room will kill the idea.
The fact that they got into a tiny room will kill the idea.
Similar threads
