I hope the state buys it. I have been there done that and more than likely will never pay that price to ever go back or do I care to. I feel the same with Devil's Den I have gone one time and it will more than likely be the last time there also.
(All give some, Some give ALL . Semper Fi) Safe Diving (JAMMER)
I hope like so many of you do that Blue Grotto(B.G.) falls into the hands of individual(s) who respect the dive site as a valuble tool in the dive training arsenal. I use B.G., Devils Den and other sites to try out new or possibly new equipment before going on to more challenging areas. Maybe such a popular site as B.G. can have past divers famous and not so famous request that it remain a dive site. Yes I know it's a bit naive but it's worth a try if not I'll have my B.G. shaken not stirred in a Collins glass.
I've been diving there, off and on, since 1988. The sinkhole and cavern are great for Openwater and Cavern training. It's also a nice Openwater and Cavern dive. You want to try to dive there during the week so you can avoid the weekend crowd and the inevitable "mud puppies".
The cave is small and shallow and only requires a single tank with dual valves. You can get plenty of bottom time on a single aluminum 80. I've made several dives in the cave via the shaft and the slough, but it's only accessible now if the water level in the sinkhole is high enough to cover the ground. The wooden supports holding the aluminum ladder in the shaft collapsed several years ago. The last time that I looked down it, one of the wooden supports was stuck in the shaft and blocking entry.
Ed has been trying to sell the property for years, so an announcement of it being up for sale is nothing new to me.
Everytime I have been there in the past year he has talked about getting a bottle company in there so I think the deep pocket corps are going to get this one if they want it. The ad might say a cave divers blah blah but its going to be the mighty dollar that drives this guy.
Maybe I should buy it. The cost you can get away with charging for air there would pay the loan off in a year or two.
Water has been being pumped out of the cave system for years now. The last time that I was there(which has been about a year), the pumping apparatus was still in place.
To add to that I beleive he mentioned that he got approval to pump more out each day. 125mgal/day sound right? Might have been 125K. Anyway I personaly dont agree with anybody pumping and shipping water anywhere. Most of it seems to go to snobs that dont want to drink from the fountain at work.
I don't see the problem here guys.
These are the same landowner rights at work which everyone in the community seems to think are perfectly valid and valuable in regulating our access to caves, whether by governments, individuals or companies.
I personally hope he gets top dollar for it from whoever is willing to pay that top dollar, no matter who or what that might be.
The true test of support of individual liberty is when you support someone else's right to do things that you disagree with or would not personally do, because you support the underlying rights and principles rather than your personal benefit or advantage.
I don't see a problem either with him having water pumped out of his own property. Considering the unexpected expenses(i.e. wall collapse repair) that he's had to go through, it's one way of helping him recoop his losses. Besides, it moves the water faster out of the sinkhole and into the cave slough and keeps the sinkhole clear for the divers.
These sites should have never been available for private purchase in the first place. I let everyone I know that drinks bottled spring water that I have probably utilized my P-valve on my drysuit in that very spring in support of the bottling companies.
After having swum behind you, All I can say is that is NastyOriginally Posted by OutlawCaver
Glad I don't drink bottled water
Keith
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