Projects > Doux de Coly 04 (June)
New guy testimony: Mara
Latest update: June 28, 2004
Mara very focussed before the dive.
Finally my first time at Doux de Coly. Entering Coly for the first time is like entering wonderland. Everything I imagined from the video footage I had seen before was simply not showing how beautiful the cave is in reality. The first section is shallow and there are quite some turns where you can hit the trigger and get to the shaft simply enjoying the ride, looking at the different rock layers on the walls and at sandy waves on the floor. After some support dives up to the shaft and back, Paolo and me planned to do a short dive in the deep part as it was my first time over there and I was very curious to see the cave.
The plan was to go down the shaft, drop the 21 meters gas and continue the dive to meet decompressing teams. Our task was to check them at deco and to borrow on of their backup scooters before proceeding with a 20 minute bottom time dive. Unfortunately they were delayed so we didn't meet them. We checked for them at the beginning of the deep section, where the tunnel has a sandy bottom and seems like being created specifically for scooter dives. Being in the deep section already, we decided to call the dive before it even begins due to lack of backup scooters and came back to the shaft. The next support team could see the lights of the guys coming back from their dive in the deep section and starting their decompression.
Alessandro setting up a stage bottle under the watchfule eye of Ralph.
During the ascent and on the way out I started thinking about how proper planning is essential both for safety and results. This was just a fun dive to see the cave and make some practice so we just turned and came home but I learnt a lesson for sure: backup scooters are essential to manage safely these kind of dives and it is not acceptable to rely on any kind of safety equipment from teams already in the water.