Projects > Pozo Azul 2008 (May)

Push Dive

Latest update: June 13, 2008/p>

Markus

It was the first time for the EKPP to do a push dive in Spain. All members had to drive a lot further than to France. However, all 16 participants were highly motivated to get this job done in just three days. We had done one check dive in February which gave us an impression of the first sump and the dry part. The travelling was uneventful; the only uncertainty was the conditions in the cave since the weather conditions were changing on the way there. It was still raining when we entered the area of the Pozo Azul.

The following day the team decided the conditions were good enough to try a longer dive. After two days of hauling gear and installing the cable car and habitat in the second sump, everything was ready for the next morning. The alarm clock rang in the middle of the night. It it was time to get up and drive to the cave to start our preparation. Six people helped Reinhard and me to walk over the dry part without any damage and helped us into the rebreather rigs. We descended the slope to 21 m and picked up our stuff which was waiting there. The gear was placed perfectly by the team the day before in two individual clusters: one for Reinhard and one for me. After that we hit the trigger of our scooter for the first time, to follow the line into the cave. After half an hour we dropped our 36 m gas and the cave started to get deeper. Pozo Azul is a huge cave and it was not necessary to stop. The line within the first 2000 m is more or less placed under the ceiling which makes it not so easy to follow because you have to look up all the time. The line beyond 2 km is placed by the British cave diver Mallison. You can read about his exploration under http://www.espeleosub.blogspot.com/. We followed it and reached the end of the line where the last 10-15 m was damaged. The reel was still attached to the wall and, because we do not want to touch any equipment from other people, we decided to start laying line from the last attachment point. This time Reinhard searched for the continuation and I started laying line. The tunnel continued more or less in the same dimensions. We got to a point where it was not clear where the cave continued but after a few minutes we found a passage and continued.

The reel got empty and due to our equipment logistics we decided we had pushed enough into the cave for this time. 490 m of new line laid in the first push dive was a good result and we started our journey back. The way back was delightful. We looked around and switched scooters from time to time. At 240 min. we picked up our 36 m gas and continued until we reached our 21 m gas. It took only a few minutes before the first support team checked on us and took all unnecessary equipment out. In minute 380 we got out of the rebreather and moved into the habitat. The support divers helped us to get this job done and we could enjoy our habitat in the Pozo Azul. The team served us some grilled steaks and sausages, hot tea and some other food. After staying in the habitat for 140 minutes, we decided to get out and started the last meters to the surface. Two support divers helped us to get out and escorted us to the surface where we relaxed a little bit.

A great weekend with the best team, thanks for that again everyone! We will be back soon at this wonderful cave and the beautiful area around the cave.

Markus