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--part1_22.dd435c7.2745c799_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi Guys, Well, the fall is here so I'm back in Akumal teaching cave and trimix. And along with my cave diving buddy Steve, continuing our exploration of our new little cave in north eastern Belize. As you may recall, as opposed to attempting to penetrate as deeply and quickly as possible or laying the maximum amount of line immediately, our objective is to drag out the exploration so as to have the maximum amount of fun in doing it. And we appear to be succeeding. Last week we made a couple of dives into the cave and continued our great neck exploration speed by laying a grand total of around 300 new feet of line, thus bringing the total line in the cave up to around 4,000 ft. There are some interesting observations and events which occurred during the dives. 1. Hurricane Keith did not appear to have removed any of our existing line that was laid last winter and spring. Unfortunately, it did take out the 6 kW wind generator at the place used as our base camp. 2. Portions of the cave line, while continuous, were embedded in up to six inches of silt while other portions were highly decorated with seaweed and other "stuff", making the counting of our every ten foot knots, virtually impossible. Oh well, we'll just have to spend some more fun weekends rerunning the line. What a shame (said with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek). 3. My Sartek HID light head is absolutely fantastic but unfortunately, the wet mate connector used to attach it to the battery canister is, in my opinion, a piece of junk. The connector has caused the light to go out at least once, and sometimes several times, on every single one of the last couple of dozen cave dives I have made (two dives in our little cave and the rest in the caves near Accusal). And each time after activating a backup light, it's shut the switch off, unplug and then replug the sides of the connector, mash it together as hard as I can, turn the switch on again and then wait the few moments for the arc to grow in brightness. 4. I love my "Super SabreLites" as backup lights. I have had a pair for five years now and check them every dive and change the batteries every month or so whether they need it or not. And they still give a sharp clean beam and they are reliable when I need them. 5. Scootering in a cave is a hell of a lot of fun. 6. We have clearly demonstrated that in a section of a cave with a three to four foot floor to ceiling height and where the floor consists of one to two feet of loose silt, a Mako is a rather effective tool for reducing the visibility from reasonable to zero in an extremely short period of time. Over the next few months, I'll keep you informed on the (snail's pace) exploration of our new little cave in Belize. Take care and dive safe, Scott --part1_22.dd435c7.2745c799_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit <HTML><FONT SIZE=2>Hi Guys, <BR> <BR>Well, the fall is here so I'm back in Akumal teaching cave and trimix. And <BR>along with my cave diving buddy Steve, continuing our exploration of our new <BR>little cave in north eastern Belize. <BR> <BR>As you may recall, as opposed to attempting to penetrate as deeply and <BR>quickly as possible or laying the maximum amount of line immediately, our <BR>objective is to drag out the exploration so as to have the maximum amount of <BR>fun in doing it. And we appear to be succeeding. <BR> <BR>Last week we made a couple of dives into the cave and continued our great <BR>neck exploration speed by laying a grand total of around 300 new feet of <BR>line, thus bringing the total line in the cave up to around 4,000 ft. <BR> <BR>There are some interesting observations and events which occurred during the <BR>dives. <BR> <BR>1. Hurricane Keith did not appear to have removed any of our existing line <BR>that was laid last winter and spring. Unfortunately, it did take out the 6 <BR>kW wind generator at the place used as our base camp. <BR> <BR>2. Portions of the cave line, while continuous, were embedded in up to six <BR>inches of silt while other portions were highly decorated with seaweed and <BR>other "stuff", making the counting of our every ten foot knots, virtually <BR>impossible. Oh well, we'll just have to spend some more fun weekends <BR>rerunning the line. What a shame (said with my tongue planted firmly in my <BR>cheek). <BR> <BR>3. My Sartek HID light head is absolutely fantastic but unfortunately, the <BR>wet mate connector used to attach it to the battery canister is, in my <BR>opinion, a piece of junk. The connector has caused the light to go out at <BR>least once, and sometimes several times, on every single one of the last <BR>couple of dozen cave dives I have made (two dives in our little cave and the <BR>rest in the caves near Accusal). And each time after activating a backup <BR>light, it's shut the switch off, unplug and then replug the sides of the <BR>connector, mash it together as hard as I can, turn the switch on again and <BR>then wait the few moments for the arc to grow in brightness. <BR> <BR>4. I love my "Super SabreLites" as backup lights. I have had a pair for five <BR>years now and check them every dive and change the batteries every month or <BR>so whether they need it or not. And they still give a sharp clean beam and <BR>they are reliable when I need them. <BR> <BR>5. Scootering in a cave is a hell of a lot of fun. <BR> <BR>6. We have clearly demonstrated that in a section of a cave with a three to <BR>four foot floor to ceiling height and where the floor consists of one to two <BR>feet of loose silt, a Mako is a rather effective tool for reducing the <BR>visibility from reasonable to zero in an extremely short period of time. <BR> <BR>Over the next few months, I'll keep you informed on the (snail's pace) <BR>exploration of our new little cave in Belize. <BR> <BR>Take care and dive safe, Scott</FONT></HTML> --part1_22.dd435c7.2745c799_boundary--
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