Italy, Sardinia May 2008

Team: Roland & Robin

Due to the currently rather unfavorable weather conditions in France, the planned Gourneyras project was postponed and instead a smaller Sardinia trip was organized without further ado with regard to the clarification of planned, future projects in late summer or autumn and the necessary logistics.

Our starting point was the Protec Sardinia base of Toddy and Patrick protecsardinia in Cala Gonone in the eastern part of the island. South of Cala Gonone there are about 50 km of coastline with massive karst deposits and numerous cave systems accessible by sea and inland, which are only partially explored.

After I (Robin) drove on 30.04 in the morning with the VW-T4 from Frankfurt to Munich to Roland, we load the scout luggage in the form of 2 RB 80 with D20 tanks, 6 Magnumscooters, 2 double 12, various Stages and the other small stuff in Rolands bus and drive afterwards together over the Brenner in the direction of Livorno, from where our night ferry to Olbia departs.

After a "restful" night on the ferry we finally reach Olbia around 6:30 and then drive to the Protec base in Cala Gonone, where we are warmly awaited by Toddy.

We decide to take it easy and visit the Grotta del Fico first thing in the morning of our arrival. We were each armed with D12 with EAN 32 as well as an 80 cf stage EAN 32. This is a rather restrictive cave in the initial part with a beautiful about 100 m long x 15 m wide cavern area which is strongly branched in the further course and there are 8 jumps, various restrictions and about 1200 m penetration to be done to the end of the line. The decorations with stalactite ledges and stalactite fans in the back part are simply amazing. Sometimes it has to be something for the eye. Since it was relatively narrow, we are good floated. Here we had crystal clear water, the view was only somewhat impaired by haloclines. While we had done the front part of the cave and 3 jumps in the morning and reached about 500 m penetration, we arrived again in the afternoon with D12 and 80 cf EAN 32 after 6 jumps at about 900 m penetration.

In the evening we still enjoyed a cultivated multi-course dinner in a typical Italian harbor restaurant and let the first day end with exquisite red wine and discussed with Toddy and Bruno the planning for the dive in the Utopia and in the Bel Torente. Since Roland was not yet in Sardinia and he did not know the Bel Torente yet and Toddy absolutely before our planned attack on the end of the line felt he had to show Roland the 5000 year old monk seal skeletons in a restrictive side passage (and it was really narrow)

On the way back to the base we paid a little visit to Cala Luna and also covered a few hundred meters of distance here and dived straight on at the 2 T. This time we ignored the numerous jumping possibilities to the right and left of the mainline and oriented ourselves to the mainline.

Since we had the first two days Toddy, as an absolute top full-cave instructor with us, we did not miss the opportunity to include some exercises and line tasks during the dives. Where do you have the opportunity (except in Mexico) to dive such a complex cave system with countless passages and to practice navigation!

For the next day we had planned a pushdive in the Bel Torente. The previous end of the line is at about 1200 m and Toddy guessed the continuation of the wide, even hall-like passage profile (15 x 30 m) after the 2 T at about 1200 m. Here we wanted to start and explore the further course of this passage and lay new line and push the cave in its further course.

en TG we carried out to in each case with the RB 80 and D20 Bailouttanks , 4 Magnumscooters, in each case a 80 cf 50/25 for the flatter beginning part as well as a 80 cf EAN 32 for the 25-30 m range. We agreed that if the further profile of the cave dropped significantly below the 30 m mark, we would plug the trimix (15/65) of the backpack into the switch block of the rebreather for a maximum of 10 minutes, otherwise we would have carried an additional trimix stage with us to cover this depth range. 

We scooted briskly with the plugged 50/25 to our jump left the day before and scooted a loop to bypass the restriction and jumped again to the mainline and scooted in the wide, hall-like passage profile through wonderfully decorated spaces over the 2 T and finally reached the end of the line just before a sump at about 6m depth, we left the backupscooters here on the line, cleaned the passage of old wire and line remnants and finally connected the exploration reel to the line end and started laying new line. 

The passage profile dropped deeper and became more and more spacious in dimensions, partly we could not illuminate the other wall or the ceiling and that with visibility around > 30-40 m!!!. Here it simply had to go on!!! At 20 m depth we plugged the EAN 32 into the switch block and followed the course of the passage in increasing depth. At 33 m and further descending depth profile Roland and I communicated briefly and plugged the Trimix 15/65 from the double 20 back pack into the switch block and finally reached a maximum depth of 46 m in minute105 of the dive.

After this short bend at 46 m, the profile of the cave rose steeply again, leading into a wide passage with a wall-to-wall distance of about 50-60 m. We laid the line on the right side of the wall and illuminated the entire area as best we could, keeping an eye out in the crevices in the wall for more side passages. In between we first plugged the EAN 32 again and then at increasingly shallower depth the 50/25 again into the rebreather. Finally we reached another sump and the passage was unfortunately over without a diveable continuation visible. That was hard to believe!

Up to this point we laid pretty much exactly 250 m of new line. We emerged in a huge hall beautifully decorated by stalactites and briefly discussed the further procedure. We could not believe that the big passage ends so "banal". We attached the end of the line to a rock outcropping in the water and turned around, which was at about 170 min in the TG.

On the way back we spread out in the passage, Roland on the left at the wall, I on the right and searched the passage systematically for continuations. About 50 m before reaching the sump, where the cave profile rises again to a level of 15 m, we found another spacious parallel passage that was leashed out about 100 m and connected to the newly laid line via a newly created T, does it continue here, is this the continuation ? One will see. The surfacing point was still leashed out and another T was placed at the mainline and we leisurely started the way back and scootered back.

At the 2 T (of now 4 T's ) we took a look into the so called "Boneroom" and had a short look at a well preserved also about 5000 years old skull of a monk seal and finally scooted out of the cave. It is then already pleasantly so without decoration slowly in the sea to dive out. We were about 4.5 hours on the rebreathers on the way.

Nice is here: Dive time = bottom time

Here we will certainly start again and take a closer look at 2 other possibilities of cave continuation.

For the next day we had planned an approx. 4,000 m TG in the Utopia with the rebreathers. This is a very large cave in the initial part (40 x 50 m!!) whose shaft-like entrance is at a depth of 15 m and then rises in dimensions in the form of a huge hall and has an average depth of about 40 m for the first kilometer, before the profile rises again and finally continues at greater - Trimix necessary - depth.

We prepared our rebreathers for the next day in the early evening at the Protec base and checked again all the necessary equipment and packed it very carefully for the next day, as all the equipment has to be stowed on the boat.

We discussed then extensively about the upcoming dive with regard to logistics, decor rig for the deco in the sea as well as the time schedule for the scheduled TG, a deco strategy and the many other things that you have to consider, such as what we do with the rig if the weather changes, etc. (Freefloating Deco) and are then after a good Italian dinner (Roland :pasta, Robin :steak) early to bed.

Toddy and Bruno (Toddy's co-worker) prepared the next morning in the harbor the deco rig for the 9 and 6 m deco in the sea, which was later tied by Bruno to a boulder in front of the cave entrance at a depth of 15 m. We left the harbor early. We left early in the harbor. From Cala Gonone it is about 45 min to the Utopia.

The 80 cf O2 stages and some hydration bags were tied off at the rig by Bruno, the remaining gases in 80 cft stages (35/35, 50/25, 15/65) we carried or placed the 21 m gas on the line inside the cave. We also each carried 3 Magnum Gavins (Aluheck) or 2 Magum Gavins and 1 Suex ADV 42 for the TG and planned to swap the scooters periodically during the dive and use about 30% of the nominal burntime per scooter for penetration, so that at the end of the dive about 30% of the burntime remains with each scooter reserve.

2 Scooterausfälle sind so am Punkt der Maximalpentration mit der von uns mitgeführten Scooterlogistik problemlos möglich. Nach dem warm atmen des Scrubbers und dem obligatorischen RB und Equipmentcheck scooterten wir im Meer an den Höhleneingang und tauchten schließlich in dieses Riesensystem ein. Wir scooterten mit dem 35/35 als „Travelgas“ für den erstem Kilometer und vereinbarten dann ggf. den zwischenzeitlichen Wechsel auf die mitgeführte Trimixstage. Die Leine verläuft in den ersten 600-700 m im wesentlichen auf etwa 38-45 m Tiefe, der kaum ausleuchtbare, sichtbare Boden befindet sic

h partly at 60-65 m! We had excellent conditions with good 40-50 m visibility in crystal clear water and constantly changing sections with haloclines, which makes the buoyancy of the scooters a bit tricky.

We scootered briskly the first kilometer about 5-10 m above the line at an average depth of 30 m and changed 3 times briefly to the trimix stage, as the profile drops into the 50 m region a few times and finally reached the shallower part of the first kilometer at the so-called Seehalle.

Suddenly Roland gives me an attentionsignal with his 18 W HID and quickly closes the right valve, as it blows off quite violently at the inflator.

It was hard to believe, the inlet knob of the stainless steel inflator had blown out of the inflator housing while inflating the wing. Since the thread of the inflator where the inlet knob screws in was ripped out.

I don't know how often and violently we ranted into the RB's Cooperhoses at the company with the blue H, but it was no use, Roland's Wing had failed irrevocably.

In the meantime Torsten has taken care of the matter quite uncomplicated and regulates the further with the manufacturing company.

After Roland had pulled the inflator hose from the inflator connection and had opened the right valve again we turned (super super disappointed). With the propulsion of the Scooter and plentifully Argon in the Trocki one could manage the buoyancy however. Stupid was only that by the taring in the Trocki the Argon was relatively fast empty.

We were then but also something grateful that the inflator has not 1-1.5 hours later at 80-90 m depth but when reinscootern goodbye!

Thus a promising TG with nevertheless something expenditure went much too fast to end.

To be continued! We will come again ;-). To note would be the perfect organization on site and support of Toddy and his whole team.

In this sense,

Your Cavebase

Gallery

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