France March 2008
Participants: Robin, Roland, Marc, Arne, Oli, Tibor, Tim, Tobi
Unfortunately, due to the extremely bad conditions we could not carry out the poject, respectively the "main dive" :-(
As already reported in the August 2007 tour, we had again got a permit for the cave in the Ardeche on the Easter weekend. For the same reason as in August, we do not want to go into more detail at this point. In the said cave the flow was heavy and the visibility at max. 1-2m. So the project had to be postponed.
To get into the water during the long weekend we changed to the LOT. As accommodation we chose again the Domaine de Gayfié with our friends Lilo and Paul. As already written several times, the accommodation is highly recommended. In terms of equipment and price performance just perfect!
Unfortunately, we also had to realize in the lot that the conditions were anything but good. The weather did not play along here either, temperatures around 5 - 10 degrees, strong flow in the caves, high water levels of the rivers and visibility in most caves at 2-5m.
Since we had a trimix in the RB frames of good 130m depth for our actually planned TG, we tried our luck in the St. Sauveur. Robin and Roland checked the cave with D12 and a stage 21/35. Quickly it was clear: Here no TG with the rebreathers is feasible. The visibility was extremely good at 20-25m, but the flow at the entrance restriction was so strong that even with pull and glide with the small D12 no penetration was possible. The pebbles shot out of the nozzle... No Chance
Two other team members simultaneously checked the Ressel. The visibility in the cave was about 15m, but the flow in the cave and the current in the river (Celé) was already quite enormous. Nevertheless, we decided to do a joint TG in the Ressel the next day, after the flow in the river had decreased a bit overnight.
Marc and Arne dived that day with the RB's to about 1400m. Robin did a practice dive with Tim in the deep part to about 600m. Roland went with Oli into the cave to practice several exercises and skills and reached the first "T" at about 170m. Tibor and Tobi planned a TG in the deep part of the Ressel with 2 Scooters, 3 Dekostages and 3 Bottomstages each. But they broke off the TG because of the heavy flow in the cave.
In the evening we took a short look at the Landenouse to check the water level. This was, due to the many rains, extremely high, which made the entrance super easy. The water in the cistern was overflowing!
Due to the high water level, the setup was pretty quick and easy the next morning. Dived in the cave, but was also here quickly clear, a walk will not. The visibility was about 3-6m, but there was no flow in the cave.
We used the TG to practice some rebreather and cave skills. Roland and Robin Scooterten with your dive to the end of the cave at just under 90m depth and 1200m penetration and were after a short deco in the pool after 180 min back out of the water, you had to go permanently again and again from the trigger, because there were always areas with visibility around max. 2-3 m.Arne and Marc turned around at about 800m due to a dimming automaton of the Drivestages.
Due to the now really bad conditions we called Jens Hilbert, because we knew that he was at the same time at the Tannerie and asked about the conditions in the Tannerie/Goul Du Pont. According to Jens, there was zero flow and good 20m visibility in the Tannerie and Goul du Pont. We briefly considered whether we should change to the Ardeche, but after a short discussion we discarded it. We planned our last day at Trou Madame with a small pack, i.e. a Stage EAN 32 for penetration and the D12 as safety gas. Here we took it very easy and rafted up to about 550m into the cave.
Again due to the high water level, the entrance to the cave was relatively easy, at least when all the equipment was once at the cave :-)
Even if the "goal" of the tour was not reached by far, it was still a very fun and successful weekend where again a lot of theory, practical tips and exercises were completed.
In this sense,
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