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NEST TRIP REPORT
Project Z Trip Report 17 Jul 99
Digital Video
The Northeast Sump Exploration Team, NEST, returned and continued its
exploratory work at Project Z on 17 Jul 99. NEST is a formally recognized
Project of the NSS and consists of a team of sump divers and dedicated
support personnel who are pursuing original exploration efforts at several
caves in the PA, Virginia and West Virginia areas. The team surveys and
further documents these sites through the use of still and video techniques
as well as engaging in biological surveys and water sampling at these
locations. NEST is also available to support the NCRC in situations
involving flooded passage and beyond sump rescues. Below is an account of
the Teams most recent explorations.
I lay face down in the entrance pool of the first sump and completed my
equipment check, the water was clear and cool and felt good after the 90
degree temperatures outside. As I began my preparations to enter the
overhead environment I included a self assessment of my mental state and
realized that I felt completely at ease in this cave. I immediately
recognized the danger that this posed and forced myself to concentrate even
more on my preparations. Complacency is one of the greatest challenges
that you can face when sump diving, the cave does not care how many
successful dives you have made. Each and every dive and your actions before
it and during it stand on there own. Although I find sump diving to be an
exhilarating and enjoyable experience I never let myself forget that it can
be a potentially hazardous and unforgiving one as well.
With the checks completed, still lying face down in the entrance pool, I
outstretched my right hand and Eric handed me the digital video and light
unit. This technique worked quite well in limiting the disturbance of the
silt that lined this basin. While this was going on Paul was recording the
action on two other digital videos cameras with illumination being provided
by a Dive Rite Neutralite with a 150 watt bulb that lay in the pool on my
side. This old model battery canister is perfect for dragging through dry
cave passages. I fired up the two 50 watt bulbs on the camera housing,
turned on the camcorder and slowly began to fin forward. The DVI camera
that I was using tends to hunt in focus on automatic and after finning into
the entrance tunnel I framed a limestone protrusion, let it settle down and
locked the focus to that distance. I moved forward to the vertical drop
off and panned the camera to either side to capture the small rooms at this
location. Not only would the images provide information for drawing the map
but they would also allow Paul who had located the cave for us an
opportunity to see the incredible passages that lay beyond.
As I dropped down the canyon and continued forward, the first Disler
Spike at the bottom of the drop came into view, its white color made it
stand out in stark contrast to its surroundings. These spikes consist of
1and � inch PVC about 18 inches long with a slot cut almost half way
through an inch from the end. In passages that lack good natural tie offs
and have deep sediment deposits they serve as line belays. They are carried
under inner tubes on the side of the sidemounts before being deployed, do
not rust, are strong , inexpensive and are light in weight allowing a large
supply to be carried. In effect they are almost the perfect tool for this
application.
As I finned forward taking great care not to disturb the fine clay silt
one of the light arms on the camera touched the ceiling discharging a small
puff of silt that billowed around me reminding me of how low the passage
was, in a dry cave it would have qualified as a belly crawl. I continued
forward through the series of passages and rooms that make up this part of
the cave capturing its pristine beauty and undisturbed sediment deposits on
tape.
The sump ends after passing through a small hole that leads to a vertical
dome pit. As I began to move upward, the airspace above me shimmered back
and acting like a mirror reflected the image of the first Disler Spike
from the second sump. I surfaced into this small room and swept the camera
in a circle to capture this chamber. A quick equipment check and I moved
on to the second sump, I turned the camera before entering and did a self
portrait, and then finned slowly forward. The sump seemed much shorter
than the first time I enter and laid line here but it seemed also most as
beautiful. As I neared the end I lingered to capture the numerous cracks
that appeared in a ceiling pendant and the surrounding walls, was this the
result of seismic damage or some other phenomena? I surfaced in the pool at
the end for a quick shot of the dry passage that lay beyond. The terrain
that lay ahead was too harsh for the camera and housing so this would have
to be the limit of today�s push. With the unit still running I turned for
the exit in what soon became near zero visibility.
This was the second dive of the day and after packing the gear we headed
back to Paul�s home to preview the footage which turned out to live up to
our expectations, the improvement in quality over Hi-8 was significant.
The next mourning on our way home we stopped off to look at a possible
future site that Paul had been working on. This location is rather unique
in that his friend while excavating a basement for his home broke into a
large under ground body of water. Much probing with long rods disclosed no
bottom. The house site was moved and hole temporarily filled in. It has
since been reopened with the aid of a back hoe and a large water tank with
the ends removed sunk in the hole as shoring. Although more excavation
needs to be accomplished before we can enter it, we hope to find a going
sump.
We would like to recognize our sponsors and all of the supporting cavers
who helped make our efforts possible. A special thanks to Arnold Jackson Of
American Underwater Lighting who supplied our exceptional primary lights,
meteor 4�s, and other critical gear and Jon Breazile of the Fifth Dimension
Dive Center who has provided us with other vital support. We would also
like to thank Terry Brady, of the Brass Anchor who has provided us with
generous audio visual support to include the camera and housing for this
effort. Additional sponsors include Lamar Hires of Dive Rite, Gene
Weisheit of East Coast Divers, Alex Sproul of Inner Mountain Outfitters,
Brad Bason, of Bason Rescue Equipment, Adrew Kipe of Maryland
Reproductions, and Robert Carmichael of Brownies, The Doing It Right
Equipment Company, and our most recent sponsor, DUI for our outstanding CF
200 series Dry Suits, Tim Walker, Hank and Jane Anderson, and the Sovik
and Mothes families without whose support none of our efforts would have
been possible. I would also like to thank Robert Laird who put Paul in
contact with me when he called looking for sump divers to look at this
incredible spring.
Diver Explorer
Joseph Kaffl
Support Team Members
Paul Montgomery
Eric Tesnau
JOSEPH
KAFFL
SUMPDIVER@MS*.CO*
NEST
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