Some Safety Suggestions For Alachua Sink

[CaptainSpeleo]

I finally had the opportunity to dive Alachua Sink on November 9th for the first time. There were 4 of us, and I was the last person to descend. The basin was filled with very dark tannic water, which reduced visibility to 2' - 3'. The line started near the surface and was tied to the bottom of the stairway entry. It angled down from the stairway for a few feet, went vertical for a few feet, then angled down from the overhang opening into a large murky void. As I descended, I found it difficult to maintain good bouyancy control and keep from crashing to the bottom because I could barely see in front of me and had nothing to focus on. Judging by the amount of silt in front of me, the other divers were having the same problem. It was not until I got several feet past the log where 4 deco tanks had been clipped was I able to break out into clear water and catch up to the other 3 divers.

I made a mention note of the size of this line and the amount of strain being placed on it by descents, ascents, and clipping deco tanks to it. What if this line broke under these diving conditions if a team of divers was at depth? What would be their option for safely making it back to the surface? My first thought was that this line needs to be much thicker and stronger to insure that this doesn't happen. My second thought was that divers don't need to be clipping stage tanks to this line until they're far enough into the cave system to where the line has gone horizontal and there is a more solid and less silty area to leave them. That's what I did on this particular dive.

[Cindy]

Hi, the CDS has donated gold line to the guides and I am going to be putting it into the cave soon. I plan to move it over onto a few rocks that are in the cavern and make deco a little more enjoyable. Cindy Butler

[CaptainSpeleo]

Thanks, Cindy.

It would be nice to see what that cavern really looks like, if the water in the basin ever clears up. That way, once the visibility gets crappy, you can have a pretty idea of where you're at and what's down there.

Does anyone have a profile view of what the cavern looks like? The birdseye view on the map doesn't really show much.

Also, the line that runs to the deco log at about 18', I would suggest continuing it up the log almost to the surface.

[oms121]

Cindy,

When you replace the line, given the consistent poor visibility in the basin, would knotting the line every 10 ft down from the surface help people descend and more importantly ascend at a specified rate?

Mark

[CaptainSpeleo]

Mark:

Knotting a line that's not running vertically isn't going to help any in maintaining a proper descent/ascent rate. Making sure that the line is strong enough to withstand breaking(and making darn sure to keep your hand on it and don't lose sight of it) is what's really important.

Frank

[bmwcaves]

The basin was filled with very dark tannic water, which reduced visibility to 2' - 3'.

2 feet...hey , thats great vis !

Just to tease you though, the below picture is the basin on an exceptionally good day ! Before the new steps of course.
You can see the cavern wall to the left of Al. Visibility was about 40 ft in the sink on this day.

[MikeH]

Hi, the CDS has donated gold line to the guides and I am going to be putting it into the cave soon. I plan to move it over onto a few rocks that are in the cavern and make deco a little more enjoyable. Cindy Butler

If ya want some help, let me know when you're planning to do it. If I'm not working(or in Mexico), I'll be glad to help.

Mike

[Webmaster]

Cindy,

When you replace the line, given the consistent poor visibility in the basin, would knotting the line every 10 ft down from the surface help people descend and more importantly ascend at a specified rate?

Mark

You could put one knot at 10' depth, 2 at 20' etc... Then have a staff gauge of some sort at the surface to be able to judge how much above or below each knot the actual depth would be that day.

[Cindy]

We placed Gold line yesterday in the cavern. Be aware we are still working on it. It needs arrows etc. yet and is not where it used to be. We moved it over in the cavern onto some rock and trees to help get divers out of the silt during deco. The vis in the cavern is bad right now. I will add all the bells and whistles when I go in next week. No knots but a loop or two and line arrows. Cindy Butler

[CaptainSpeleo]

Thanks for the update, Cindy.