Repairing Caves

[Jont]

Hand prints, fin prints, etc are everywhere in caves especially Peacock, Ginnie and other really popular sites.

Why not take a 12" or 18" drywall knife and smooth it out similar to shackle on drywall (similar to the 5th and final cote over sheetrock)? Caves with flow will return to normal very quickly but even caves that have very little flow with return to normal thanks to mother nature in a few weeks?

A repaired hand print looks better then the actual print...no?

[Tegg]

Does the repair effort cause more damage?

[FW]

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...ght=cow+repair

[Jont]

Does the repair effort cause more damage?

Well like everything else if its done properly of course not but specifically do you mean my damage?

Disturbing an 24" radius to repair a 8" hand print makes sense if it smooths out the clay and restores its original shape? No?

and if its not perfect its still better then a hand print? No?

[Jont]

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...ght=cow+repair

Thanks dude, just goes to show that there are a lot of dam smart and fine cave divers out there.......

[MichaelAngelo]

Well like everything else if its done properly of course not but specifically do you mean my damage?

Disturbing an 24" radius to repair a 8" hand print makes sense if it smooths out the clay and restores its original shape? No?

and if its not perfect its still better then a hand print? No?

Trouble is if its not a sanctioned effort and is done in a wonton manner you can have more damage then when you start. Featuring joint compount down is a skill. If done right you don't need to sandpaper the wall down. Hardware stores sell alot of sandpaper for people that think they know what their doing. Now add the increased difficulty of doing it underwater in a cave. It sounds easier then it is. When we did the Cow Springs Restoration the first thing we had to figure out was how to rig me in place so I could work and not cause more damage. Without the rigging I would have had to hover in place for two hours at a time. It took me six hours. If the clay bank was on my studio work bench one hour tops but it wasn't. As another example take take the little old lady in Spain a few months ago who took it upon herself to restore her church's priceless Christ painting because she knew how the pros do it. She destroyed the artwork and now faces criminal charges. First off, we need to address the problem of why the damage exists in the first place, a better option is to develope the skills so you don't have the destruction in the first place. One of the problems we had the first few months after the Cow Springs restoration was divers swimming over the claybank to look at the repair and leaving fin marks. Common sense not being very common. I think restoration efforts to restore the damage we have done as a community is a great idea but it has to be a planned effort santioned by either one of the agencies (NFSA?), property owner, or state park.

[rjack]

You'd need a giant broom to take the gouges out of the floor in the back of Twin. Or maybe some sort of blower? Or a really good biblical flood. My money's on the flood.

[Kelly Jessop]

Does the repair effort cause more damage?

Yes. The best time to make superficial repairs is just before an impending flood because the organic material will fill in irregularities. Many times good intentions go awry,and can cause more damage.

[Kelly Jessop]

. As another example take take the little old lady in Spain a few months ago who took it upon herself to restore her church's priceless Christ painting because she knew how the pros do it. She destroyed the artwork and now faces criminal charges.

She made that fresco of Jesus look like Mr Bill

community is a great idea but it has to be a planned effort santioned by either one of the agencies (NFSA?), property owner, or state park.

Man I sure would get the landowners okay in writing,or for public owned caves a permit,because repair with good intentions can be considered vandalism,which is prosecutable under Florida law.

[MichaelAngelo]

She made that fresco of Jesus look like Mr Bill

I thought Cornelus (Rodney McDowel) from the original Planet of the Apes

Man I sure would get the landowners okay in writing,or for public owned caves a permit,because repair with good intentions can be considered vandalism,which is prosecutable under Florida law.

Like the Little old lady