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Joseph Crunk asked on rec.scuba why there hadn't been anything on TechDiver. I guess because Bill was possibly even more central here than on rec.scuba no-one has really had the heart to post, I don't know. So I thought I'd post this as a sort of summary of everything I've read so far. Hopefully there is no presonal opinion here - just a reporting of the information available. I haven't bothered attributing all the names of contributers but if anyone feels I have misconstrued anything let me know (as I'm sure you will). Any mistakes or additions would be most welcome. Bill Mayne (39) and Ariel Goldberg (29) died while cave diving in Clearcut Sink. A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, he had lived in Wahington, D.C., before moving to tallahassee in 1988. He was employed as a post-doctoral fellow in the Florida State University meteorology dept. He was a member of the Tallahassee Brewer's Club and Miccosukee Community affairs. He was a volunteer with the Miccosukee Fire Department and Big Bend Cares. He was a practicing Buddhist. He is survived by his wife, Kristen G. Mayne of Tallahassee; his mother, Thelma Gladys Mayne of Beeville, Texas; a brother, Charlie Everett Mayne of Austin, Texas; a niece and a nephew. Ariel Goldberg was a 29-year-old student at Florida State University. Bill's wife was quoted in the paper as saying he had 150 cave dives under his belt and was a careful planner. Friends are exploring the area after the memorial service to try to come up with clues as to what went wrong. The equipment will be checked. There was speculation that Bill may have been trying to help Ariel. Bill was diving twin 104's. Ariel had twin 80's and a stage bottle. [ There was a comment about the bottles being empty, but it wasn't clear if that included the stage bottle. I would also be interested in a gas analysis of any residual gas in the cylinders to find out if maybe it was contaminated or perhaps incorrectly mixed. I know that Bill used to make his own mixes - I don't know if he dived on them or only used them for decompression. ] Bill was found 550 feet from the Clearcut exit, Ariel was 50 feet from the exit point of Venture Sink. They were 400 feet apart. Bill was found on the floor at 95'. His depth gauge had a max depth of about 130'. Both were either on the line or within 5 feet of the line. Visibility was about 60 feet when they were found, although it could have been silted during the ordeal. I understand that clearcut sink is considered a relatively safe cave, with several exits, most within 50' of each other, no matter which tunnel one takes. There is one tunnel that I understand gets deep fast. If they were lost in that part of the cave system, it would be real obvious that they should turn around. I was told that Ariel's reel was clipped off in a way that would be difficult for him to have done it. Don't know what that implies, but found it strange. A quote from someone who dived with Ariel Goldberg: >An interesting personal follow-up on this, by the way, is that the speculation >is that something happened with Goldberg, and that Bill went to his rescue. It >will probably never be known for sure what happened, I suppose, but I have >previously dove with Goldberg as my "buddy" when we were both taking a Rescue >Diver course. He was a fine person, but, in my judgement, should never have >been certified as a diver. He could just never seem to get it together, and >I told the instructor that I didn't think he should be certified as a Rescue >Diver. The instructor told me later that he didn't in fact, certify him for >that course. Ariel didn't even seem to LIKE diving - it seemed to me more that >he was trying to prove something to someone; perhaps to himself. I think there is more we could know, for example; 1. What was the dive plan. 2. Did they have all their knives. 3. Were any of the torches off and did they still have power available. 4. Was anything written on either diver's slate. 5. What is Clearcut like inside. It took quite a while to locate Bill even though he was near the exit. Does this indicate that the cave is a "maze of twisty little passages". 6. Had either diver used their emergency reels. 7. Gas analysis of tank contents. Question posed by Greg Ryan: Would anyone who has dived Clearcut Sink, or is familiar with it or other caves in Wakulla County, be willing to post a description of the sort of conditions you find there? I'm interested in finding out what I can about siltation, flow, topography, size, etc. Alan -------------------------------------------- awright@gs*.bt*.co*.uk* (Alan Wright) BT, Software Engineering Centre, Glasgow, UK --------------------------------------------
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