Mine La Motte
This is the first time I have posted a dive report, but I felt that my experiences last Saturday were worth sharing. I believe it’s as much about the men I dove with as it was the dives themselves. I’ve often been accused of writing a short story about each and every dive I make, and I think it’s because I lost my first wife to cancer several years ago. I find that when I reflect on good times from the past, I just can’t seem to recall them quite as well as I would like. And now that I’m making new and even more exciting memories, I don’t want to make the same mistake again. With that said, these are the most recent entries in my dive logbook:
Saturday, 1/7/12, Lifetime dive #492, Cave dive # 122, and Rebreather dive #22. My friend, Jim, emailed me and gave me an invite to dive at an old lead mine here in MO called Mine La Motte. It’s only a little over an hour drive from where I live, so I had considered diving there before but just haven’t made it there yet. I was quick to answer back with an eager acceptance. Ben and Steve were also planning on making a couple dives. It had been a while since I’d first met Ben and I don’t think I’ve technically made a dive with him. However, I did shoot some video of him when he was doing his Cave Apprentice class. I’d only met Steve one other time and that was at the NACD Cannonball clean-up day. He seems to me to be a very level headed diver just from hearing him talk. I believe that he and Ben dive together often. As for Jim, I’ve made several dives with him. We’ve made a couple of dives in Cannonball and then we took a trip together to the Mill Pond for a few days. One thing is for sure though, I have made enough dives with Jim to know for a fact that he is a competent diver and sticks to the guidelines of cave diving. In my opinion, that makes for a pretty good dive buddy. Jim is always happy to lend a hand if you need it. It’s not that I feel needy, but I’ve met other divers in the past who were supposed to be my team mate, though they seem to have a very individualistic mind set. At this level of diving, we should be self sufficient, but if we are diving as a team let’s be a team.
Friday night I spent the evening putting my gear together and making sure everything was in working order. All lights were charged or checked, all my gear was packed and everything checked out on my rebreather. I went through the checklist thoroughly and everything looked good. I’ve got 190 bar of 02 onboard and 2800 psi of diluent. I’m taking two 40’s full of 32% just because that’s what is in them, and it will work as my bailout gas. We’re not planning any DECO and it’s not deep from the sound of Jim’s advisory. My buddies will be carrying their own bailout or emergency gas, although they will all be open circuit. I guess that is what makes me a little nervous today. I’m newly trained in CCR Cave and this is only my 21st dive with the rebreather. I know I’ve checked everything at least twice and I’m confident in my skills, BUT…I’ve heard it said so many times now, “A rebreather will take you places nothing else will, but it will also get you killed faster than anything else”. That thought is engraved into my brain, and it keeps me concerned. As I’ve done from day one of cave diving days, I’m always thinking, “What is the worst thing that could go wrong and how will I deal with it”? Today will be the first time I’ve made a rebreather cave dive where I was the only one diving wearing a rebreather and also without a rebreather instructor diving with me. Another factor that makes me a little jittery is that this is going to be my first time to dive this location and it’s my first time in a mine where there is no flow. It will be just as hard to swim out as it is going in. I’m used to the flow helping to carry me out making the swim somewhat faster and easier. Now if that isn’t enough to deal with…this water is going to be in the 40’s and it’s January here. Although the temps are supposed to be unseasonably warm, the high is still only supposed to be in the upper 50’s. No doubt it’s going to be a drysuit dive with an undergarment. I brought my Polar Tech 300, which quickly proved to not be enough, and 5 mil neoprene gloves with the tips of the fingers cut out of the thumbs and first two fingers on each hand. This also proved to not be the best of choices.
I had a little trouble finding Mine La Motte as it’s sort of in the middle of nowhere and the address couldn’t be detected by my GPS. I called the number from the website and got directions. From that point I knew I had passed it and remembered seeing the burnt out school that the entrance is not so far from. I soon I found the entrance gate and drove through. I read on the internet where they allowed swimming during the summer and even had a zip line, so I was expecting something different than what I was going to see. Sherry, the caretaker of these grounds, met me just inside the gates. From there she led me in the direction of the dive spot with her golf cart. We drove across a field to a small muddy and icy road where she stopped and pointed and said that this is where I needed to go. She said, “Ben and Steve are down there in his truck and that I should find them near the water’s edge. I gave her my $20 entry fee, presented my certification card and proceeded to see if I could make my way without the aid of 4 wheel drive. It wasn’t too bad. I can now see Ben and Steve unloading equipment and getting ready for a dive. I jumped out of my vehicle and said hello and they welcomed me to a day of diving. They proceeded to tell me about the little hut where I could change into my drysuit and how Ben even brought along a heater for between dives to warm up a bit. This was going to be fun! I was starting to feel a bit more relaxed now. About the time I started to drag out some of my equipment from the 4 Runner Jim arrived. We talked briefly about the dive we were going to make. Ben and Steve are going to do a scooter run. Jim brought his scooter too, but I’m not equipped with one as of yet. Jim suggested we just go down and do a swim on the first dive. If I wanted to do a scooter dive later, Steve would probably let me borrow his. The plan was to go in and go down the main line where it would intersect with another line. There are several tunnels in the mine and several T’s. Jim said he would lead in and that we would probably end up intersecting with several different lines, but that we would always mark the way out by placing markers on the outbound side of the lines at the intersections. He asked if I was good with that and I replied that it sounded great to me. We took our stage/bailout bottles down to the shore where we were going to get in. This surely isn’t the place where they swim. It looks like a pretty gnarly place and it’s not really what I would call, “swimmer friendly”. From the edge of the water, you can see where you enter the mine. Actually, I think there might be a couple different holes that were bored into the hill, but one is really hard to get to because of the rocks, brush and such. Jim and I step into the water and start to put on our last few pieces of equipment. Jim has a stage he is taking along and I need to put on my bailout bottles and fins. Diving a rebreather is still a little bit of a chore for me since I’m not real comfortable as of yet. I’m still getting used to this manor of diving and I’m a little slow. My guess is that I’m looking like quite a newbie at this point, so I greatly appreciated the fact that Jim was very patient in waiting on me. He could have easily made me feel like I was holding up this show, but he didn’t. He was very helpful when I was in need of a hand getting my bailouts hooked up. My fingers were already starting to get numb from the cold water, so Jim helped out there. Finally we’re ready to go, and Jim points the way and indicates that we needed to surface swim to the entrance where the tunnel begins. We will drop down just as we enter the cavern and go to the left eventually winding down around and back to the right. Jim gave me the signal to dive and he led the way in since he had been here before. The water was a bit murky on the way down, but Jim took it slow. I didn’t have any trouble seeing him or the line at all, but I would guess that we might have had 10 ft to 15 ft of viz at the most for the first 30 ft or 40 ft. Once we got down a little deeper, it cleared up a little more than that. The water was definitely colder than I was used to, especially for an extended amount of time (more than 10 or 15 min). I didn’t check my computer, but I believe it might have been about 45 or 46 degrees. We went off 5 different intersecting lines, each time leaving a marker with a name on the outbound line. After about 19 min, Jim turned the dive, as he was starting towards a smaller tunnel and getting on the lower side of gas without getting into his thirds of back gas. I was good with that. The dive was uneventful and cold, but my goal was to get my head underwater, get more comfortable with my rebreather and have a good time, and come back out alive. Anything more than that was not important. Including the fact that I was freezing my butt off! We got out and I was moving slow. Walking up the hill out from the water, I started across a patch of ice and Jim asked if I needed a hand. I said I thought I was good, and I no more than finished that sentence before finding myself on the ground. Man that was slick in my worn out old DUI rock boots. Luckily my rebreather is not heavy, so I didn’t get crushed by the weight of a set of doubles. Ben and Steve had returned from their dive, so they both rushed to my aid without even so much as a small laugh. It had to be a bit humorous, but they expressed concerns that I was ok and rushed to help me up. Yup, I was fine. Thanks once again for the helping hand. After I got my rebreather off and unhooked, we all stepped into the small hut where Ben had his heater. Oh did that ever feel good on my hands. My toes were frozen too, but they would have to wait until later. We took time to snack and chat a bit while we warmed up and off gassed. Jim chose to sit outside and soak up the warm rays of sun while perched on a rock above the water pool. So after a bit of warming by the gas stove, we stepped outside and joined him to discuss the next dive. Jim really wanted to do a scooter dive, and Steve wanted to run his second battery, so I suggested that they go together and I would dive with Ben. I was really too cold to scooter and besides, the line in the tunnels is the smaller gauge white line and a little hard to see for me to scooter comfortably. I appreciated Steve’s offer to use his scooter, but when Ben mentioned that the long tunnel would be a few degrees warmer, that is where I wanted to go. The only drawback was that we would have to come up in an air filled area and take off our fins and walk about 25 ft across a small incline to another water filled tunnel. Ben said our max depth would probably be about 10 ft. Really??? No concerns with DECO I guess. We all get geared back up and head for the water. Ben was equally helpful as Jim was with the stage clips and fin holding and it was greatly appreciated! I still couldn’t feel anything, but this time it wasn’t because my fingers were numb. Ben had loaned me a nice pair of gloves without the fingers cut out so my fingers would stay warm. Like I said, these were some nice guys. Ready to go now, Ben gives a briefing on what to expect and the direction we will be going and now we’re ready to make the dive. I was looking forward to the dive, but was equally looking forward to the ride home with the heater running full blast on my toes. We no more than stuck our heads below the water inside the caverns entrance when we come to a very small jump of about 4 ft to the right. We quickly came to the place where Ben had indicated that we would get out. I pulled my fins off and followed him up the incline and across the small hill. Shinning my lights around, I could see where the air filled tunnel actually lead back out to the other entrance where it is more difficult to get too from the outside. In just a few steps we were entering the water once again. We put our fins back on and followed the line down the very straight and long tunnel. It was the diameter of what would just about be enough room to drive a piece of machinery down. I saw poles lying on their sides with what appeared to be electric lines or something hanging from them. I also saw pieces of machinery and tools that had been used when this was still an active mine. Now abandoned, and left here as evidence of it’s history.
Ben was leading the way, and we were swimming at a very slow rate as he was careful to shine his light all around, pointing out the line to me all along the way. I could see that he wanted to make sure I was comfortable with knowing where it was at all times. The water was warmer here and very clear as compared to the other route on the previous dive. We came to one intersection and Ben dropped a cookie on the outbound line. We continued up the tunnel and made it to another jump. At this point, the dive was at about 29 minutes in. I was really starting to get cold and was just about to signal my request to turn the dive just a short distance after making the jump, but Ben beat me too. I eagerly returned a confirmation signal to Ben that we were turning the dive and lead the way out. Looking at my computer, I saw that we were 30 minutes going in, which if I have my way, will be less going back out. I estimated at our swim rate that we might have been 1000 to 1200 ft in and started to evaluate the swim back. I was about to burn some calories and get warmed up. I kept my nose and my light right on the line so I wouldn’t accidentally get off track in my rush to get warmed up. I was hoping Ben wasn’t getting worried because of my actions, and lack of communication, but I needed to move. As long as I could see his light sweeping under me, I knew I hadn’t run off and left him. About half way back, my legs started cramping behind my knees and ham strings. It must be due to the cold water or maybe I was a little dehydrated. Either way, I was starting to think I was going to have to pull myself the rest of the way out. The only problem with that was…There is really nothing to pull from. The floor of the tunnel is pretty much flat and silt covered. It was ever so painful, but I kept pressing forward. The last minutes of the dive were filled with my thoughts of getting in that nice warm vehicle and out of this wet gear. That was all I could think about. We now arrived back to where we have to get out and walk in the air filled passage. I expressed to Ben how my legs were aching and he offered to do a tired diver tow. What a nice guy, but by now I was starting to feel a bit like an old man. “Thanks”! I said. I thought to myself, “No way am I getting towed out of this mine…No matter how much I would enjoy it right now”. Thanks anyway Ben! We got out of the water, said goodbye and then we all headed for home. My heater was turned on full blast for at least halfway home. I think it almost melted the dash it got so hot, but it felt great!
I learned a few things this trip. Isn’t that the idea though? This day proved to be full of good experiences and good times with great dive buddies. It doesn’t get any better. Next time….Dry gloves, heavier undergarment and booties.
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I know Ben and Steve took a class recently and have reviewed some basics like Rob N. briefed at the MidWest CDS Workshop. Brent and I are planning on taking a class at the Mill Pond in a couple of months.
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