-----Original Message-----
From: Casey McKinlay [mailto:mckinlay@ta*.rr*.co*]
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 10:36 PM
To: Egroups
Cc: true@gu*.co*
Subject: [wkpp] Wakulla - January 11-12


Wakulla Springs - January 11-12, 2003

Great to get the team back together this weekend after another long break.
The weather since August has been on the rainy side and not exactly what we
were hoping for heading into the winter diving season.  The conditions were
the worst I've seen in almost 8 years with basin visibility less than 15ft
and tremendous outflow.  The spring actually has a boil on the surface and
the water level is the lowest it's been in months making it that more
difficult to get things done efficiently.  Unfortunately, we're not always
given the option to pass on requests from the State of Florida and at times
have to step up and do whatever it takes to get things done.  Samples need
to be obtained, flow meters need to be switched out and conditions have to
be monitored when it's clear and when it's blown out.  Given the experience
and resourcefulness within the WKPP it's frequently a non-issue and we get
results.  Conditions in the neighboring systems were also less than optimal
with Indian Springs siphoning water into the cave system and Leon Sinks
totally blown out downstream of Big Dismal Sink.  The objectives for the
weekend were a flow meter swap for NWFWMD, water samples for the DEP and
assessment of potential leads or water intrusion at the end of B-Tunnel as
requested by the State of Florida.  Sunday teams assessed flow and
conditions in Sally Ward Spring which was extremely high flow but clear in
the cave system.

Saturday
Setup began prior to 8am with the support team transporting the necessary
gear down to the water for the 2 OC teams and 2 RB teams.  Cool temperatures
put us a bit behind schedule but everyone managed to pickup the pace once Ed
Pellar took control of the surface operations for the day.  A celebrity
appearance from the dynamic Chip's Hole duo of Rick Sankey and Brent
Scarabin distracted the support team for short time but once the autograph
session was over everyone got back on schedule.  The 2003 Polar Bear award
once again goes to Curtis who chose a t-shirt and shorts to ferry bottles
and scooters out to the support team in sub 62' weather.  A strong showing
from Jerry Moore, Rob Maiker and Michael Blitch and big thanks for
resurrecting the 130ft and 40ft troughs in the poor visibility in addition
to bottle placement.  The flow meter team of Baxter, MacElhannon and Elmore
got the meter switched out without incident and spent a good portion of the
day pulling support after finishing up their assignment. Richardson, Gordon
and Cox brought closure to the morning setup and did a great job as well.

OC Team 1 (Garland, Hunsucker, Landon) traveled out A-Tunnel to obtain water
samples just past the A-D junction and from the first room in D-Tunnel but
conditions were worse than expected and the team decided to call the dive
and return to the basin.

RB Team 1 (Koritz, Rose, Singer) traveled to the AJ in B-Tunnel to deliver
safeties, drive and scooters for RB Team 2. On the exist the team obtained
water samples from both B-Tunnel and C-Tunnel.  The team managed to get all
the required samples and deliver the goods despite a howling flow in
B-Tunnel.

RB Team 2 (Jablonski and McKinlay) traveled out B-Tunnel to assess leads,
water intrusion and water flow towards the end of the surveyed passageway.
While prior visits to this section of the cave system produced little in the
way of new passageway due to the nature of the cave system and groundwater
tunnels in particular the request to take another look came straight from
the park director given the issues with treated water spray fields to the
north of the park and the potential impact on water quality.  Given the
importance to the park we made the necessary arrangements despite the no
mercy profile of diving B-Tunnel.  Travel time to the AJ was 42 minutes, 40
minutes in the back of the cave and 50 minutes to exit after the turn for a
total bottom time of 132 minutes at 285ft. Bottom gas usage on the Halcyon
RB80 unit was 120ft3 of 8/85 trimix with the standard WKPP decompression
mixes.  The team deployed 6 Gavin scooters (3-42amp Magnums and 3-33amp
Standards) tuned and prepped by George Irvine for the dive along with custom
Halcyon 13-hour NiMH 18wt HID primary lighting and backups.  The B-Tunnel
profile also requires strict adherence to the required decompression and
most importantly the necessary deep stops.  The team spent a great deal of
time looking over the small section of cave discovered by the USDCT during
the Wak 2 project but did not uncover anything in terms of going passageway
or noticeable flow.  Aside from some nice rooms the tunnel did not offer
much in the way of going cave nor did the other areas we looked at during
the exit.  It would appear the WKPP dive in June of 1995 got the bulk on one
shot.  We do not anticipate another return and will instead focus resources
in the P-Tunnel area of the system.

OC Team 2 Sally Ward (Sweetin and Lennon) traveled into the cave system to
obtain the requested water samples without incident.  Greg Guzman on
support.

Thanks to several of the relatively new guys that busted ass this past
weekend:  Greg Guzman, Kevin Leonhardt, Jim Miller, Matt Levin and Charles
Ayash.
Thanks to Todd Leonard and Greg Guzman for the late night, low viz
decompression support for Jarrod and I.
Thanks to the late night team of Moore, Maiker, Miller, Baxter, Sitchin, and
LeVake for getting everything wrapped up and all the RB divers packed up.
Lastly, the busted ass award goes to both Ed Pellar and Chris Elmore for
assisting and delivering above and beyond the call of duty.

I know I inevitably miss a name here or there so don't take it personally
and on behalf of George, Jarrod and the gas divers we truly appreciate the
effort.

Casey McKinlay
Project Coordinator



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