Projects > Doux de Coly 03
Survey II
Latest update: March 18, 2004
Two long tube Gavin scooters (in front) and in the pool at the scooter parking place.
I showed up at the Doux de Coly 2003 project with the intention to learn more about the EKPP team, try some of Reinhard's tools and toys for our own needs and maybe do a good dive.
I was welcomed by Reinhard and Micha who, after smoking the cave, getting a new record (5880 m / 19291 ft) and spending 20 hours in the cold water, were kind enough to answer all my questions all morning, show me their cave diving exploration gear and even invite me and my students to stay for dinner and share the team's success with this project.
Hervé was looking for a buddy to lay some knotted new line while he were to collect the data for their new survey. The dive required around 120 minute bottom time at an average depth of 170 ft and up to 6500 ft of penetration in low 50s Fahrenheit. We decided to set up, dive and clean on the same dive so we used RB80's.
I had to borrow some gear from almost every EKPP member which allowed me to feel their gear and it performed flawlessly, again thanks guys. I dove Reinhard's design frame for the mono RB80 used by EKPP. It is well built, protects the RB80 instead of exposing and jeopardizing integrity; is so strong that it can carry bailout gas tanks without the RB80, which is not designed to carry any weight. The EKPP use dual 20 litre bottles for bailout (something like 320 ft3) and gas flow stoppers on the rb drive hoses and the back up regulator.
Undersuits and special underwear in the sun. Due to the high temperatures, they are wet from the sweating that happens before the diver gets in the water.
I also got scooters. They mostly use 42 Ah magnums and some 33 Ah long tubes. The batteries are locked in place with extra rods to avoid them moving while multiple towing, some of the deep scooters use all aluminium tails and there is a couple of awesome short tubes prototype all aluminium, with NiMH batteries that will burn as long or more than magnums! I almost stole one. They got the best camera set up I've seen but they need a camera that will stay on standby for hours.
Also Micha and Reinhard's lights are using NiMH batteries which are not having the same bad outcome as ours, since they don't discharge/charge them all together but in separate packs with really high quality and expensive chargers. Also the Goodman handle reflector manufacturers will listen to him more carefully. I spent the whole dive trying to get the same beam as Hervé and he ducking for my blinding backscatter.
While the main limitation in Europe's diving is insulation, the longer range EKPP divers use the heating tubes and shirts with Weezle or DUI C400, (batteries in a long tube, good for 10 hours). I had a broken neck seal in the Resurgence du Ressel one week before and was awake with concern if flooding the suit here, so I used the good old DUI C400 with over 4 hours dive time in the low 50s. It is the only real back up if your dry suit floods. I heard the habitat next year will have some changing room so that we can get changed before enjoying the kind of 3 course dinner that the EKPP push divers have after big dives; this year their main course was lamb and shrimp! By the way, the whole habitat setup/retrieval issue is quite a challenge on its own and keeps most of the team busy.
Doux de Coly is as most caves I dove in France: single massive tunnel, power cave; there are many lines with hanging snoopy loops though, but is as pretty fun like Mexico or Florida caves can be.
After scootering 1000 feet to the shaft, we dropped the oxygen, trimix 50/25, trimix 35/35 and Hervé's heating tube. We took off with a barrel roll on a single aluminium 80 cu ft drive bottle, double scooters and huge bailout tanks.
We took off with a barrel roll on a single aluminium 80 cu ft drive bottle, double scooters and huge bailout tanks.
Hervé had placed a distance marker at 400 metres and 800 metres during the previous dive. During our dive he added one at 1200 metres, just before we reached the end of the knotted line. I pulled out a reel and started placing the line as Hervé surveyed. But when we had reached nearly 1500 metres, for the second time ever in 250 hours of RB80 use, I called the dive. Well, at least I got to lay some line at the Doux de Coly with EKPP and went further in than any Mexican or French diver did in there.
On the way back no issues and while decoing we saw some teams going in for fun dives in the deep part and most of them were back at deco when Micha and Ralph showed up with bags full of deco goodies, like power drinks, carbo gels and all kind of stuff. They also took out stages and one scooter out. I guess that the best way to pay back the efforts of your support teams is to support for them too. Upon surfacing they stripped me clean.
This is how this great team goes and with the good leadership and possibilities in Europe, we are going to be hearing more of this often, guaranteed.