Trip Report – 6/21/03
Submitted by Chuck Noe
Saturday, June 21, was the official first day of summer, and in the barren landscape of Del Rio it was obvious. A strong 100+ degree wind blew over us most of the day, and not a single cloud competed with the sun.
This was to be the first trip to Goodenough Springs since last October, and the first trip since formalizing our efforts in May. Interest and enthusiasm are at an all-time high following our Goodenough presentation at Seaspace 2003. Due to a last-minute pitfall, though, we were only able to involve three divers on this first-of-the-year reconnaissance trip.
For this trip Rick Aurich and myself were joined by new volunteer (and experienced cave/trimix diver) Mark Johnson. We set out from Houston on Friday afternoon with plans to lodge in Del Rio that night and get an early start the next morning. According to plan we were up at 6:00 and on-site before 8:30 a.m., a record-early-start for this crowd. The idea was to make two dives and then drive back to Houston before midnight.
The most important objective we had for the trip was to confirm that our mooring lines/system had survived the winter. We also planned to inspect all the hardware installed in the cave since our efforts began in 2000. I knew for a fact that the “terminal carabiner” in the Fire Hydrant Tunnel was in dire need of replacement. It was one of the few remaining aluminum items remaining in the cave, and aluminum has proven to be a poor material choice for this corrosive environment. Another main objective was to capture some still photographs of the cave, a task that had been quite elusive to us in the past. Rick’s recent investment in a quality digital U/W camera system (complete with powerful external strobes) made this objective seem more attainable than ever. Finally, just prior to our trip, we decided to attempt the replacement of our primary “pull-line” with a newer “knotted” line. As you can tell, we had plenty to do.
Upon arrival at the surface buoy, we found a boatload of fishermen tied up to our anchorage. After a brief, yet polite conversation, the fishermen relinquished their mooring and we tied up securely. Rick and I were both using backmounted doubles while Mark was set up with sidemounts for the day’s dives. All of us were on Trimix to eliminate the hazards of narcosis while working in the strong flow at 160 ffw. Deco bottles included 50% nitrox for 70’-30’ stops and oxygen for our 20’ decompression.
After deploying the mandatory dive flag, three fishing boats approached us with the usual stupid question of the hour, “are you guys DIVING here?” If it weren’t for the dive flag, wetsuits, and nineteen scuba tanks strewn about the Swamp Yacht, I would have thought that to be a legitimate question. But we bit our tongues and answered in the affirmative. And rather than make an issue of the fact that they should stay away from the area, I offered that they were welcome to fish around us if they liked.
For this dive, I entered the water carrying assorted hardware and a 26” bolt cutter. Mark brought in the replacement line/spool while Rick managed the considerable load of camera equipment. Deco cylinders were staged along the descent and we popped into the clear water of the cave at about 105 ffw. So far all the lines appeared intact and I was happy about that.
We proceeded to “the well” (a depression near the Fire Hydrant tee) where Rick deployed his camera setup before heading into the torrent of the Fire Hydrant tunnel. I followed him into the restriction while Mark stopped a few yards short and held position. I dropped my tools on the floor and searched for a method of stabilizing Rick so that he could manipulate the camera and strobes. I managed to wedge myself into an upright position between the ceiling and floor and grabbed Rick’s manifold with my left hand. We seemed to be fairly stable after some adjustment, so I grasped his right extended strobe and “aimed” it into the restriction. He did the same with the left strobe, then in short order began firing off shots. I was amazed that we actually seemed to be taking pictures, but was worried that the shots would be blurred by the vibration of the camera in the strong flow (I found out later that Rick was smart enough to set a fast shutter speed for these shots). After several shots, Rick gave me the signal to release him and away he flew.
I fell back and picked up the bolt-cutters while Mark advanced to my rear with the new line. After some difficulty I managed to get a backup carabiner into the terminal piton’s second attachment hole and I asked for the end of Mark’s line. He passed it to me and I struggled for a couple more minutes before finally getting that line into place. Now it was time for the bolt cutters to do their job on the original aluminum carabiner. Without too much difficulty I snapped through the end of the ‘biner and pulled the old line free, being careful not to hang myself in the process. But still, half the carabiner remained in the piton and couldn’t be removed due to the proximity of the rock face. So again I pushed the bolt-cutters into this depression and snapped through the aluminum, closer to the piton. More metal fell away but the end-loop remained. Amazingly, while attempting to free this remaining part of the carabiner, it actually snapped in two and fell to the floor. We had obviously replaced it just in time, and now with stainless steel (a more durable replacement).
We unreeled the new “knotted” line along the length of the tunnel and attached it to the right wall of the main tunnel as before then took a quick look at the tangled mess where the previous line was attached. A glance at my timer showed nearly 40 minutes of bottom time (at 154 ffw) and we decided to complete the clean-up on the next dive. Before leaving, though, I picked up one of the PVC pipes left from last season and attached it to my harness for removal. We all exited the cave into the dark, colder (75-degree) lake water and began our uneventful decompression.
We climbed aboard the Swamp Yacht for some lunch, relaxation, and off-gassing. A short time later we were approached by another fishing boat, only this time the fishermen turned out to be divers. We offered them a tie-up off our stern and they agreed. In conversation, we discovered that it was in fact this group who had installed the all-chain mooring last year (we had erroneously given Steve White credit for this). The principal of this effort was one David Diffie of Odessa and his “mascot” Mary (I didn’t get her last name). There was another young man with them who didn’t dive and they were all just as nice as they could be. As it turned out, David ran a successful dive shop in Odessa until just recently and seemed to be very knowledgeable. David and Mary did a minor penetration dive while we completed our surface interval.
For our second dive Mark and I planned to complete our clean-up and arrangement of the lines while Rick was shooting more pictures. I had also brought two more stakes and a shop hammer in case I had the time and energy to begin the installation of a second landscape timber on the floor. I followed Mark to the restriction for his first good look. After finishing our line work I made a half-hearted attempt to drive in one stake but quickly gave up. It was time to play for the remainder of the dive. While Mark and Rick explored the cave’s opening I followed the high line into the upper restriction and poked my head into the flowstone room. Being on backmounts it was tight, so I decided to simply scan the room with my light while staying put. The visibility was superb and the line appeared intact. I then turned to exit and picked up the final PVC pipe on my way out. After a bit of jury-rigging and one last penetration to gather the forgotten hammer, we made our way out. Again we had an uneventful decompression and exited the water.
At the surface, the winds had continued to build and we faced a long wet ride back to the dock. I was thankful for the heat at this point, but was suffering from the advancement of the red-skin syndrome. We set sail for Houston and arrived back at our departure point by 10:30 p.m. The trip had been a rousing success with the completion of every major task we planned.
Thanks again to both Rick and Mark for their fine work on this trip. I hope to see both Rick’s pictures and trip report published online very soon. I would also like to encourage Mark to post a trip report as well.
We will hopefully be posting upcoming trip dates for July and August in the next few days as planning progresses. Please check back and schedule your participation as soon as possible.
Chuck