Rick Palm
12-31-2004, 09:59 AM
Friday, December 3, 2004 -- A dive in Diepolder # 3 is always a treat; it is a fantastic place. Dive team was Terry, myself and guide Larry Green. My back gas was a 17/42 mix with additional bottles of EAN 36% and pure O2 for decompression. The basin was surprisingly clear. We did our best not to stir things up to keep the entrance shaft clear. We dropped our O2 bottles off at around 25 feet on a tie-off on a tree branch, and then our nitrox cans off on the rock shelf poised over the void at about 120’. We continued to drop, and then took the right hand line into the cave proper. We passed the apex of the line and swam to the deep back end of the cave, where I had a maximum depth of 282’. We turned around and swam up the other line, stopping to look at the embedded mastodon bone on the way. I stopped again at the junction of the lines at the bottom of the entrance shaft (about 180’) and waited for Larry and Terry who were doing some side exploring. Looking up the entrance shaft, it was clear and surprisingly filled with surface light. It was awesome. I could see our nitrox bottles in profile against the light sixty feet above. Decompression was uneventful, and completed according to plan. Bottom time was 20 minutes, with 4 minutes in ascent, and 53 minutes of staged decompression. After a few minutes of surface deco and debriefing, we drove away with smiles on our faces. It had been a great dive.
Notes:
(1) At 282’, my PO2 was 1.62, a little higher than I would have liked. I should have watched my depth a bit more closely.
(2) Since I had been a bit deeper than planned, I had signs/symptoms of more narcosis than expected. At 282’ and a FN2 of .41, the END is 130’, hence the additional nitrogen narcosis. (I wonder, however, about the extent of CNS depression caused by high partial pressures of Helium, and will have to do some reading on that).
(3) Occasionally, after a long cave dive I will end up with some minor visual disturbance on the drive home, suggesting hypoglycemia. This happened to me again after this dive, about four hours post-dive. I correct the minor condition with glucose in the form of candy and/or Coca-Cola. Has anyone else had this symptom?
(4) While the entrance shaft was amazingly clear, the cave itself was just slightly milkier than I had seen it in the past, but not enough to mitigate the enjoyment of the sights in that fabulous place.
(5) Dive companions also add to the enjoyment of any dive, and you couldn’t ask for better partners than Larry and Terry. Terry had done the dive ten times, and Larry, of course, has been there countless times, yet both overtly shared my enthusiasm and awe for this dive. They were great.
Notes:
(1) At 282’, my PO2 was 1.62, a little higher than I would have liked. I should have watched my depth a bit more closely.
(2) Since I had been a bit deeper than planned, I had signs/symptoms of more narcosis than expected. At 282’ and a FN2 of .41, the END is 130’, hence the additional nitrogen narcosis. (I wonder, however, about the extent of CNS depression caused by high partial pressures of Helium, and will have to do some reading on that).
(3) Occasionally, after a long cave dive I will end up with some minor visual disturbance on the drive home, suggesting hypoglycemia. This happened to me again after this dive, about four hours post-dive. I correct the minor condition with glucose in the form of candy and/or Coca-Cola. Has anyone else had this symptom?
(4) While the entrance shaft was amazingly clear, the cave itself was just slightly milkier than I had seen it in the past, but not enough to mitigate the enjoyment of the sights in that fabulous place.
(5) Dive companions also add to the enjoyment of any dive, and you couldn’t ask for better partners than Larry and Terry. Terry had done the dive ten times, and Larry, of course, has been there countless times, yet both overtly shared my enthusiasm and awe for this dive. They were great.