Cave Diving

That doesn't look at all scary, can't see what all the fuss is about...

I saw a short video about it the other weekend at wookey hole, during which they showed loads of cave divers preparing to go into the caves and the commentary said 'he's dead, he's dead, he died last year, he's dead, he's dead...'

Bloody impressive stuff though. Apparently more people have been to the surface of the moon than have been to chamber 25 at wookey hole. Mind at 1.5 miles from the cave entrances and 300 ft deep, and requiring 2 1/2 hrs of off gassing on the way back up, and having to wriggle through corridors 50cm high in the process, it's unsurprising really.

It sounds like a challenge, like a gauntlet has been thrown down in front of you when they say that more people have been to the surface of the moon. On reflection, I think I'd rather build a space ship in my shed than have a pop at chamber 25 tho'.

I did a course with Martin Farr some years ago.

Excellent fun.

It also made me think very carefully about all my kit, did I really need it, could I find/work it in pitch blackness, was it going to snag on anything and much more.

I'd recommend it to any experienced diver just for the thinking and discipline it forces on you.

I love diving in overhead environments, I took Taz round some pretty awesome caves / reefs / swim throughs when we did the Blue O Two Deep South Safari, I loved it, I don't think she was so sure.

Some mates out in Sharm have been mapping a cave system over there for a while now, all deep stuff, with hours of deco involved.

My ambition is to do the Blue Hole at Dahab, but opportunity keeps alluding me, one day...

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I used to work with a guy who was a cave diver (also a morris dancer, which just goes to show he was a nutter), he used to come into work on a Monday morning all scraped up from where he'd got stuck and had to drag himself out. I know he had at leats one close call when it rained while he was underground, which stirred up the silt and visibility dropped to zero. He missed a turn on the way back to a bottle cache and had to retrace his steps while on his reserve bottle. He also participated in at least one corpse recovery trip.

He had some pretty speciallised gear as well, all steel tanks (ex fire service) because ally ones got damaged too easily, Oddball custom light rigs, specialised climbing harnesses, you name it.

He had trouble getting a mortgage because he couldn't get any life insurance.

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Trust me, I'm an engineer

I quite fancy the Florida/Mexican caves in gin clear water, but the thought of wriggling through narrow muddy passages in Wookey Hole doesn't do it for me. I think maybe the American cave divers are divers who like to dive in caves, but the British are potholers and cavers who dive, iyswim

The Blue Hole's not really a cave though, the arch is only about 25m long.

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A biker is someone who rides through choice. Not because it is the most comfortable way to transport a body but because it can be the most magical way to carry a soul - Dave Gurman

yeah, I know, but it is an overhead environment, albeit, 57m below the surface

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I haven't changed much, we were back in the same cave system this year, at one point I bolted past Kath faster than a baracuda on speed I freaked myself out so much!!

Got some good pics though

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Tazzie those pics are fantastic

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Resident Goldfrapp. Ladytron. Little Boots, Fever Ray and Client Nut

You certainly did

When you do get to Dahab, make sure you dive the Canyon as well. It's a crack in the reef at 18m down to 30m at the bottom of the crack. The canyon then falls away out to sea, emerging at 55m. It's a lot like the pics in Tazzie's post, but deeper and darker.

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A biker is someone who rides through choice. Not because it is the most comfortable way to transport a body but because it can be the most magical way to carry a soul - Dave Gurman

I can't really see the attraction in it tbh, but then I didn't like potholing either and I suppose I see the ocean just as a big larder, whenever I'm diving all I'm doing is looking for fish so I know where to come back to with a spear or line.

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Wolf in wolfs clothing.

I so want to be your buddy one day

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I bet you probably consider me in the same light I consider many of the recreational divers cluttering up the ocean. They're a bit like ramblers in the sea, they turn up with all their fancy gear, frown at me cos I'm not super-dooper qualified, then moan when I spear my supper.
The funny thing is they probably cause more damage dragging their bloated bodies across the reef than I would if I speared and free dived for a million years.

The ocean is a huge part of my life.
What really boils my piss is the holiday divers with spear guns (I use a hawaiian sling), they shoot anything that moves just for fun and take breeding lobsters or young. I've seen them shoot angel fish just for fun.

As a hunter in the ocean I know I have more repect for the creatures in there than most divers I've ever met, who just turn up, dive then disappear back to the cities.

Ramblers in the hills or ramblers in the sea, they're all the same, they all think they have a god given right to only do things their way and piss off the people who live their lives in that environment whilst trampling all over whatever they want.

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Wolf in wolfs clothing.

This guy is someone I know, I spent days and days hunting lion fish.
http://www.lionfishhunter.com/Lionfish%20Hunter.html

I must have killed close on a hundred.

They were rumoured to have been released by people in Nassau who thought they look nice and bred like wildfire, I dunno about the truth in that but I know they're everywhere, when I lived in the Bahamas I used to get into the ocean at the back of the house and clear them all off the reef before the kids used to get in to play.

I had one or two sea ramblers moan at me killing the pretty lionfish there too.

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Wolf in wolfs clothing.