Quote Originally Posted by Rich View Post
I mean we've proved we can dive them safely and I was under the impression that Emerald was going to lead to bigger and better (and deeper!) caves eventually being opened.....
It can be,but it takes a lot of hard work. Anybody who has been involved with opening a system can tell you that there is a lot of phone calls,emails,meetings etc to open a site. It requires patience,and understanding when things don't go entirely the way you want. We are used to the easy way...ready made gas mixes, drive up access to caves with picnic tables etc,that we forget that cave diving is a privledge,and each site we dive was at the expense of somebody else's hard work,and time. There is one important rule when trying to open a site-don't tell anybody. Once you tell people they think it will be open in days or weeks,not months to years. They will get upset it isn't open yet,and call the landowner which screws up everything you've done (this is the voice of experience talking). Actually there was a discussion a couple years ago on The Deco Stop about opening a system,and a majority of the people complaining it wasn't opened yet. I challanged some of the members to open a site which I think can be opened with a little work and time. Three people stepped forward,said they'd do it,and the process stopped there. I guess those drive up sites with picnic tables are just too cozy to pass up,besides meeting with landowners means missing diving opportunities.