Peacock to Olsen via Pothole Line 11/12/08

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11-12-2008 07:02 PM
Rick Palm

Peacock to Olsen via Pothole Line 11/12/08

The fixed main line starts just inside the mouth of the cavern, so I jettisoned my primary reel, and we swam up the Pothole line to Olsen Sink (1400 feet) in 29 minutes, spending 51.3 cu. ft. of EAN 32%. After enjoying the scenery of topside Olsen, reminiscing about the old days walking down the treacherous path in double 104's and slippery wet suit booties, we swam back the same way.

Conditions: A bit cold at 71 degrees F, especially on the return. Visibility was decent; estimated at 60 feet, with fine particulate matter in suspension noted in several areas, with negligible flow throughout the dive. The open water and cavern was clear and beautiful. We met only one other team en route. Very enjoyable, relaxing dive, with two fine friends. Nice to see conditions improving, although they are not quite back to normal yet.
11-12-2008 11:16 PM
RN

Missed you by a day. I was there on Tuesday doing a couple of dives. The cold part was the surface water of the basin - 68 degrees! When I come down to dive the central caves I expect the temperature to go up!!
11-13-2008 04:14 AM
Rick Palm

Yeah, after doing the giant stride into the water, it took my breath away. I wished I had had my old dry suit! It felt like JB.
11-13-2008 05:32 AM
Kelly Jessop

Amazing when you talk to cave divers back in the 70s,this dive was considered highly technical.
11-13-2008 05:53 AM
Jim Wyatt

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

Amazing when you talk to cave divers back in the 70s,this dive was considered highly technical.

I remember doing several weeks of workup dives in order to swim from Challenge to Peacock, circa 1973. We thought the dive was technical & difficult.
11-13-2008 03:00 PM
caver

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Wyatt

I remember doing several weeks of workup dives in order to swim from Challenge to Peacock, circa 1973. We thought the dive was technical & difficult.

THAT was a good thing. The line of thinking has changed so much. All one has to do, is a body count and be old enough to have witnessed how mentality has changed over the years. Sometimes I believe people think the advancement in equipment makes up for the "rest" of what could go wrong, so they end up and start doing dives they should not. Waynes World just a couple of days ago??
11-13-2008 03:37 PM
skip

ahhh, the good ole days

I remember the first time i made it to olsen along the pothole line. nice. a rush of success and excitement made me the king of the world as we floated on inflated BC's wondering how anyone could slip and slide up or down into that hole back in the day. The instructor just smiled and let us bask in our success.

Years before, sneaking in (I can say that now that I'm certified, right?), an old buddy and I (not certified) called the dive just short of olsen due to my drysuit flooding (an old neoprene 5mm dry suit - in the days before latex seals). the swim back was a pita. and the climb up the aluminum ladder almost impossible with the weight of the water inside.

last time i was there (certified this time), i left a cookie - "Skip" on the line as my new buddy and I were practicing for the OG-Peacock via peanut tunnel traverse...the grand traverse. we never did manage to do that, as he stopped traveling to florida and mostly so did I.

Been a few years since I've been in Peacock, but look forward to it this weekend again. Thanks for the memories.

-skip
11-14-2008 02:45 AM
RN

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Wyatt

I remember doing several weeks of workup dives in order to swim from Challenge to Peacock, circa 1973. We thought the dive was technical & difficult.

And they were all in 3 feet of snow up hill... ;)
11-14-2008 06:19 AM
fireetr

Quote:

Originally Posted by RN

And they were all in 3 feet of snow up hill... ;)

...both ways...
11-14-2008 01:31 PM
Marc Bryan

with no fins....
11-14-2008 03:27 PM
guru caver

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Wyatt

I remember doing several weeks of workup dives in order to swim from Challenge to Peacock, circa 1973. We thought the dive was technical & difficult.

When you have bleach jugs instead of tanks, it is difficult and very technical!! :smt081

(That's right, I've been through the cave diving museum)
11-28-2008 10:12 PM
Wizard

The last time I was there, a guy told me the first time he made that dive he felt like he had climbed
Everest.
11-29-2008 08:02 AM
skip

equipment or ...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by caver

THAT was a good thing. The line of thinking has changed so much. All one has to do, is a body count and be old enough to have witnessed how mentality has changed over the years. Sometimes I believe people think the advancement in equipment makes up for the "rest" of what could go wrong, so they end up and start doing dives they should not. Waynes World just a couple of days ago??

I wonder if advances in gear really have anything to do with recent "body count." I've read the accident analysis for the new millenium, but the powerpoint is not much on data and long on speculation from anecdote.

No one it seems has tracked the impact of older divers on younger divers. When a handful of people are cave diving, every dive is a major task, requiring major planning and effort. But when hundreds or thousands are doing it, talking about it to everyone else, when gold line provides the path, then it seems the bar has been raised at least psychologically. We live in the days that Peacock has descended from Everest to training wheels. And when viewed like that, complacency reigns. Cave diving is easy, everyone's doing it....

-skip