Serbia 2012 - "Forellenhof" (part 1/3)
Participants: Andreas „Andi“ Voigt, Marc Große, Tobias „Tobi“ Ziegler, Wilke Reints, Oliver „Oli“ Kurtz, Danny Beiert, Darko Petkovic, Manuel „Manu Fio“ Fiore, Florian „Flo“ Hang, Steffen Kiesecker, Sven Bender
After many months of preparation, the project participants met in Hungary on the evening of 29.09.2012 to cross the border to Serbia together. After many more hours of driving we reached our common destination , the aqua farm "Forellenhof" full of expectations. Primary goal for the next 3 days was to explore an unknown cave course from 123m depth.
In the sign of this project, a lot of work had to be invested: Placing habitat, creating gas depots, moving scooters and heating tanks into the cave, etc.
The setup dives were carried out in the range from 21m to 63m. Especially the deeper setup dive was a real challenge. Marc and Andreas each had to attach an additional heating tank, two 140m stages, a scooter and an 18/55 degas in the very narrow vertical shaft. The two used the already installed line for attachment, and in some cases the tank packs were additionally secured with leashes; an unintentional descent had to be prevented under all circumstances.
Andreas, who conducted this dive OC, looked really impressive - bottles, heating tanks and scooters were hanging everywhere. With such a hung diver, it is no longer possible to carry all side tanks on the left, so we in the team added an additional D-ring at the bottom of the right double tank especially for this case. Here, tanks can be comfortably hooked in without endangering the release of the long pants too much.
Nevertheless, the fin strokes of the two divers fizzled out almost without effect. Andreas and Marc somehow looked like two "aircraft carriers".
On the descent, the two passed the habitat already set in the morning along the line, which now led directly into a short but narrow shaft. Marc pushed ahead, while Andreas detached the loop with the equipment package to be deposited from the waist belt, swung it forward and passed it on to Marc through the shaft. Then it was headfirst through the shaft for him as well. After retrieving the equipment package handed over and briefly orienting themselves, both dove along the prepared and marked line in the direction of the actual shaft, which is separated from the shaft just traversed by a jagged passage with clear height differences.
While gliding along, our eyes fell again and again on the very dark rock that showed clear white spots in places, obviously these white spots were a damaged oxidation layer. After approx. 5min. Dive time Marc and Andreas reached the transition to the actual shaft. At this point the shaft has max. 2x1m and an elliptical cross section, which was almost too narrow with the amount of equipment they carried. The two were forced to descend feet first. First Marc, then Andreas. Immediately after this "narrow spot", the 21m gas change became necessary. Everything worked like clockwork, the visibility had even improved a little, so that almost comfortable 5m visibility was available. After changing gas and checking each other, both dived into the deep part of the cave - soon 63m depth should appear on the display of the computers...
Marc and Andreas were deeply impressed how the cave widened step by step in the lower part and then changed again to a narrow passage - everything vertical - hardly any horizontal formations and always pitch black rock that literally absorbs every light immediately.
Finally, at 63m, the two depots were set up for Tobias and Wilke, and shortly before leaving these bizarre rock formations, the deposited side bottles were checked one last time. Now the ascent was imminent, carefully both followed the line to stir up as little as possible suspended particles. Thank God there was a barely noticeable current in the cave, so that swirled up floating particles were slowly but steadily transported to the exit - so at least overnight the cave cleared up again.
Without the stages, scooters and additional heating tanks, the two could finally enjoy the cave and its formations. Visibility was still at 5m, but this was perceived as relatively good due to the narrow passage, which was also max. 5m in diameter. At the deco stops from 27m we had to improvise again and again: the cave simply didn't always offer enough space for both divers to keep the exact depths. Both tried to position themselves as good as possible in the corridor profile to decompress at least approximately in the given depth range.
But even the most beautiful dive is over sometime and after almost 2 hours Marc and Andreas reached the source pot with shining eyes.
At the end of the day all preparations were finished, the habitat was placed at 7.4m, the gas depots at 21m, 36m and 63m were successfully set up and checked - nothing more stood in the way of the push dive.
Push Day (an experience report from Wilke)
Tobias and I got up quite early on our push day. From 6:00 a.m. there was no more sleeping to think about anyway. The thoughts circled permanently around the dive and its planning. Will everything go smoothly? Are the support divers exactly at the right place? How will the cave look like from 120m water depth? Will we find a passage? Will we find a continuation? Can we fully utilize our bottom time of 60min at 120m average depth, with a maximum depth of 140m?
Tobias and I decided that we wanted to get in the mood for the dive in peace and quiet, a little apart from the others we sat down at a table on the terrace and comfortably drank our water - by now already the second 1.5l mineral water bottle. The remaining team members were already fully in the work program. Some were preparing their equipment, while others were already changing, at another place bottles were still being filled. Everything was done under the accompanying engine noise of our compressor.
For us it was too much hustle and bustle and we realized that the terrace is a very good place to change. So thermal underwear donned, and watched the team's goings-on from afar.
At some point the sign came "get ready to dive". This was the moment we had been waiting for months. Suddenly it became serious: Put on the heating vest and the dry suit; you automatically pay attention to every detail: Does the suit fit? Does the heating vest fit? Does the drainage work ;-) ? You can do what you want, but when a 140m dive with 60min bottom time is imminent, your pulse rises - whether you like it or not but body and mind are very tense.
At the dive site, our two double 20 rebreather frames were ready prepared on the pensioner's table. We performed our rebreather checks under the observation of the team members. Does the switch block work? Do the O-rings seal the rebreather correctly? Are the counterlungs in perfect condition? Is the OC mouthpiece in working order? No mistakes should be allowed to creep in here, nothing should be left to chance from now on. In the area into which we will dive in the next moment, any mistake, any problem will quickly result in catastrophic consequences.
The rebreather weighs almost 100kg and when you slip into it you groan like a heavily overloaded pack mule; the drysuit restricts you anyway and just sliding down from the pensioner's table into the water brings your pulse up to 140 beats per minute. Exertion and excitement almost steal your breath and in our faces you can clearly see the stress we are exposed to. No grin, no funny saying - the tension is also written on the faces of the others - if something goes wrong now, all the preparatory work may be in vain. Everything is double- and triple-checked and every move is made under the scrutinizing gaze of the team members - you can literally feel a thought pounding in everyone's mind: "I hope everything works out as planned.
This moment is the most exciting of all. You're standing in the water with an insanely heavy dive pack on your back, you can barely move above water, and you're about to dive so deep into a cave that many would call such a dive suicidal. The risk is indeed not to be underestimated, but preparation, professionalism, team spirit, buddy awareness and a lot of experience finally give the necessary security to be able to dive down.
It's funny: above water you almost shake with excitement, but as soon as your head is under water everything calms down within a few seconds. It is as if you have arrived. Although you haven't dived a meter yet, you know that you're in the right place. There's no hustle and bustle, no noise, just the quiet, barely perceptible hiss of the rebreather. Just silence. This atmosphere and impressions are unique and can only be experienced while diving. The calmness, the lightness of movement, the weightlessness in the water are in total contradiction to the experience above water. All excitement, stress falls away from you instantly and you are ready to start the dive without stress and "bad feeling".
The descent goes according to plan, the habitat is located in the entrance area and is superficially inspected by us within an estimated 2min. The visibility had calmed down overnight and we immediately recognize that heating tanks, oxygen and breakgas are correctly mounted at the habitat. So we slowly glide towards the cave entrance. The first tube has little inviting and reminds with its black walls and poor visibility more of a mine than an underwater cave. Only now does the actual vertical shaft begin - at this point we are already at 21m and the first gas change is imminent. We check the backup deco gases deposited for an emergency OC deco and change our 50/25 for an 18/55 gas to follow the course of the cave to the last gas depot at 63m.
I dive ahead, always keeping an eye on Tobias' lamp cone - Tobias follows me at a distance of about 2m. We continuously follow the black, vertically descending shaft. In places it becomes narrower, so that our tanks hit the rock walls again and again and we have to reduce our sinking speed.
On the other hand, it is again wide enough to dive comfortably side by side. We sink and sink. With about 10m per minute we are permanently busy with the pressure compensation and can pay little attention to the bizarre rock formations.
Our last gas station before the unknown is at 63m water depth. Now the 140m gas, an 8/80 is taken up, the 18/55 is stowed in the leash and the scooter is hooked up. Visibility in this area is a comfortable 7 to 8m with very little sediment and little perculation - so actually a standard situation. Nevertheless, we check each other very carefully, because none of us wants to accidentally breathe an 18/55 in 140m water depth. The 18/55 in the leash we have with us for safety, because we don't know how the passage will be. With the 140m gas we can only surface to just under 60m . You can imagine how stupid it would be if after the known 123m depth we would have to follow a cave course to less than 60m and could not - therefore the 18/55 to finally cover a depth range from 140m to 21m.
From the 63m stop the mental load increases. Each of us knows that from now on we are leaving "civilization" and we are entering areas that could not be more hostile to life. The descent is also relatively fast here. The visibility is still 5m, we pass the 70m, the cave gets bigger, we pass 80m, the passage gets narrower and we descend further towards 90m water depth. Again and again our bottles rub against the rock walls with annoying grinding noises. We descend faster and faster and suddenly - completely unexpectedly - the visibility breaks down abruptly. Without warning we find ourselves in a milky "broth" with a visibility of max. 2m. Involuntarily I pinch my eyes together to be able to look a little more into the distance. Unfortunately, this doesn't help at all, the visibility remains bad and the orientation in the cave becomes extremely demanding - now don't lose sight of the line!
We dive involuntarily and much too fast into this milky bell of finest sediment. Our 21W HID burners are almost too weak and the surroundings darken abruptly. Tobias' light cone is now barely visible, although he is just 3m away from me. We slow down the descent, meanwhile the depth gauge shows 100m and the visibility is not getting better. With a distance of 50cm to the wall we carefully descend towards >the bottom of the cave - always the line right in front of our eyes. 110m and still no bottom to be seen, 120m and still no bottom visible - and suddenly at 121m the bottom dimly appears below us. At first you think that your eyes are playing a trick on you, but with increasing certainty you gradually recognize the bottom. We both have trouble balancing our wings so that we don't hit the fine sediment. If that had happened, we would have lost sight of each other immediately and we probably would have had to abort.
So now we have actually arrived at the bottom of this cave, a 123m column of water stands above our heads including tens of tons of black rock. The only way up is a narrow dark passage - somehow it has something.
The visibility is 1m and orientation is difficult. First take a breath and check your own position. Equipment o.k.? Dive buddy o.k.? A short check via lamp communication confirms that we have arrived at our temporary destination safe and sound. The tension since diving into the milky bell gradually gives way to a new feeling of "I wonder what's going on here?" That's what exploration is all about. We are in a place that humans have never seen before.This spot on our world has existed for millions of years, and Tobias and I are the first people in the entire world to be able to explore this area - an incredibly sublime feeling! Promptly the next thoughts pop into your head: "Where is the end of the line? How do the walls run? Where's the most likely place to go?" Now you want to know! After the short mental cinema we concentrate again on our work, Tobias and I lay down our second 140m stage, as decided, less equipment increases the freedom of movement and makes us a little slimmer - in this environment a welcome feature.
We attach our reel and begin to lay a new line. We intuitively follow the course of the wall and indeed: a passage opens up in front of us. It is slightly ascending and we follow it slowly but carefully. Everywhere lies fine, light brown sediment. The slightest touch immediately triggers a siltout. The use of our scooters is definitely not possible here. Of course you never know what to expect and you keep hoping that the visibility will improve and that the use of the scooters might still be possible. But at this place unfortunately nothing improved, we explore and lay the line exemplary and concentrate on our work.
After about 100m the passage becomes narrower and narrower, while the depth decreases continuously. Due to the narrowness our fins hit the wall more and more often and instantly trigger small sediment avalanches. We know that we have to go back the same way and are already mentally preparing to leave this part of the cave by touch contact with the line. The passage ends - nothing to do! Another advance is reckless, it is no use to press into the end of a cave with a double 20 incl. rebreather, a scooter, a heating tank and two stages. We decide to turn back. After a few meters back I attach the line to a big stone and we start the way back.
The way back is anything but nice cave diving: close to the line we have to dive out carefully. Due to the poor visibility and the resulting proximity to the line, we both have to be careful not to get caught in the line.
After 36min between 123 and 90m we reach our starting point again at 123m depth. We pick up our discarded stage and start the ascent. A long ascent is imminent and from now on it should take almost 9 hours until we can stick our heads out of the water again... a long time to mentally review the dive several times in "slow motion".
In the 60m area we are welcomed for the first time by the deep support: Oliver, Danny and Darko take the no longer needed gases from us, inquire about the course and the now upcoming deco time. After the three find out that everything is o.k. with us, they show up according to their own deco plan. Tobias and I now have to perform our own, much longer deco stops.
Only on the 21m stop the Shallow Support Team greets us - of course according to plan, to take off again not needed equipment. The plan that Tobias and I clean up the cave completely and leave no equipment behind works - finally this saves a lot of time. But in the narrow part of the cave the additional equipment was mighty annoying. It is just extremely uncomfortable to place yourself stable when there is so much equipment dangling around you. The dive buddy is above or below you and the topic "buddy awareness" works only by lamp cone - temporary eye contact - as I personally like to have it with the deco is impossible here.
The 12m stop still presents us with a challenge. In this area the cave is extremely narrow, so that a diver with a D20 and further tanks actually has no place at all. The more interesting it is for the Shallow Team to see how we wedge ourselves into the rock - even a fish can't get through here. But after about 50min. also this stop is over and the way to the habitat can be started.
We follow the course of the cave and arrived at the "habitat hall" already a few minutes after the 12m stop. Tobias climbs the habitat first, then it's my turn - here, too, a lot of sediment is stirred up by the constant work, so that cameraman Sven has every effort to capture usable footage at all.
The entry into the habitat is comparable to an elegant dance - Oliver and Danny take care of us with a remarkable professionalism: after all, the two of them have been in the water for over 4 hours at this point! Oliver later reports that the space around the habitat was very tight and he had to improvise massively, but Tobias and I didn't notice that at all, we both slipped out of our rebreathers in no time and dived safely into the habitat.
Of course we are hungry and another team prepares the "food box". We passed the time in the habitat with the GoPro camera, food and oxygen/breakgas breathing (12min O2/8min break with 18/45) . Every hour a support team dives down to us to check on our health - but everything is going according to plan and complications are a long way off.
The time in the habitat passes relatively fast, unfortunately rain started already in the afternoon above water, so that there is no significant difference between habitat and surface, at least in terms of humidity.
The final ascent therefore becomes a last test of patience also for the team members remaining on land, after another 35min. O2 at depths of 6,5,4,3 and two meters Tobias is the first to stick his head through the water surface, shortly after I follow, accompanied by "guardian angel" Darko.All members are standing on the shore with big grins, a small applause welcomes us - a full success lies behind the team. Besides the Wetnotes news, which everybody already knew, we were now bombarded with questions, how did it go on? How deep were you? What does it look like there? In a hilarious mood we gave a detailed account of what we had experienced. A cool dive ;-)
While the push divers were still being decoed, the support teams dissolved the bottle depots of the empty and safety bottles. Immediately after the push divers had dived out, the habitat could be brought to the surface and the boarding line removed that same evening.
Our first project goal was thus successfully achieved, so that all participants - some still in their diving suits - could treat themselves to a deco beer under floodlight. Darko put it nicely when everyone thanked him for this part of the trip: "It was worth it!"
Unfortunately, Manuel and Florian had to break off here and return to Germany.
Thus, the 03.10.2012 was dedicated entirely to the loading of the equipment, the last cleanup and the transfer to Nis. The destination could be reached in time despite hot-running clutch on the Sharan of Darko, Steffen and Sven with intermediate stops. The intermediate stops served for filming as well as for visiting the Serbian national shrine Crkva sv. Trojice. Still on the highway to Nis we met a Serbian police escort, which brought us with blue light to our appointment with the mayor of Nis and the local press. What an experience! We gladly handed over the prepared gifts to him and our Serbian partner. A highlight of the meeting was definitely the signing of the prepared contract with the Nis region, which obliges Cavebase to make a stop in Nis on all Serbia projects and to share the project results with the responsible people there.
The evening was dedicated to the city of Nis, which all participants enjoyed after the simple peasant, but still sufficient and good supply of the previous days.
The next day then saw us on a seemingly endless drive to the Pirot region. Here we had to explore a spring inlet. Due to the local conditions we reached our dive site very late. Nevertheless Darko and Danny got into the cave diving virgin spring and laid the first meters of line!
Happy about the approaching second success, the second team entered the water with full gear (D-20 gyro and numerous side tanks). The first damper was already in the cave pool, when immediately a diving lamp went out and had to be replaced. Three restrictions later it was finally over at 21 m depth, when Andreas got stuck on the third attempt without getting any further. It was time to stop the dive, to reflect, to think about the equipment, the further procedure and to discuss it. The divers calmly gave each other the signal to ascend and started the way back through the overcome restrictions. Again, the equipment had to be dismantled and reassembled, so that soon 40 minutes had passed before the source pot was reached. Thus it was too late for today for a new attempt.
In the evening we discussed the events of the day and the plan for the remaining days, there was still a meeting with the Serbian Minister for the Environment. And we still had the opportunity to dive at another unexplored cave - not entirely uncritical, because it is known that the entrance area is in extremely turbid water - here can be dived exclusively by touch contact with the line in the pool. To make matters worse, the cave especially in the entrance area is also so narrow that a diver with a larger device immediately gets stuck. With zero visibility, not a nice thought.
This cave lived up to its reputation, as we waded ankle-deep through the lumpy, wet and slippery mud as we prepared. We could almost hear the giggles of the bats, some of which were hanging just a meter or two away, watching our goings-on. We gritted our teeth and still got the two divers, Darko and Danny, into the water. Both had been preparing to go in and out of the cave in a series of zero-visibility dives.
Already at the pool we were surprised when the hazy visibility seemed to be limited to the spring top rim and the lights could still be seen for a relatively long time after the descent. The bigger was our surprise when 40 minutes later Darko and Danny broke through the water surface again. Suuuuuper visibility and best conditions in the cave course were the reward for our perseverance.
Happily we all reached the parking lot again, where now apparently as ordered the minister arrived. Still in full diving gear Darko and Danny told the minister and the Serbian television about their dive. The fact that the Cavebase was allowed to give a name to the still nameless cave shows how much goodwill we met. It was soon clear that this right had to go to Darko, who had made this project possible through his intensive, self-sacrificing efforts. It was a moving moment when Darko decided to name the cave after his son. So we can proudly report that Cavebase not only dived the "Adrian" cave for the first time, but was also allowed to give it a name.
If you could summarize this week in one sentence, it would be as follows:
"The Cavebase has continued or relined three caves in just one week - diving up to 123m deep and twice new cave systems were discovered and partly relined".
This has never happened before and is only possible because everyone in the team is working with full commitment and without reservations towards one goal: "Cave diving at the highest level".
With this in mind,
Your Cavebase
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