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"It was more than breathtaking, it was like having stumbled upon some alien cathedral on some other planet, which some otherworld race with their incomprehensible architecture and alien sculpture had ages past built, decorated, and dedicated to their unknowable God."
James Jones. His Capitol M Manhood. In Down Time: Great Writers on Diving, 2nd ed.
The diver was lucky in that a local US diver had loaned him a drysuit. Otherwise he would have been very hypothermic.
How many true rescues is that for Edd now?
Pretty amazing! Kudos, Edd!
Richard Blackburn
All comments are my own.
Richard Blackburn
All comments are my own.
Land of Enchantment -- not so great for cave diving, but mighty scenic!
Was there a collapse or some condition that precluded lost diver drill?
How come the other divers waited for Edd instead of going back in to the air pocket to look for their friend?
Originally Posted by mdax
The report said they looked for 5 hrs before giving up and calling 911
Richard Blackburn
All comments are my own.
We'll add this story as one of the historical vignettes in the Guidelines to Sump Rescue document. Here's what I've been able to pull together from what people have posted publicly.
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Britain Josh Bratchley was diving with four other British cave divers in the Mill Pond cave in Gainesboro, TN on 16 APR 2019 when his guideline broke. Bratchley was alone at the time. The cave has several major restrictions, sharp limestone, and the floor is covered in deep silt. There was a silt-out. When Bratchley could not find the other end of the broken guideline heading to the exit of the cave, he traveled to end of the cave where there was a large air pocket. Bratchley had brought a wetsuit on his trip to America but was wearing a drysuit he had borrowed from a local diver.
When Bratchley did not exit the cave at the agreed upon time of 1500, his four friends started looking for him. They spent many hours in the cave searching but due to the silt they could not find him. At 0100 they contacted emergency services. By 0500 emergency services had contacted several experienced cave divers in the region, including Edd Sorenson and Mike Young. Sorenson and Young flew to the local airport with their cave diving equipment and then were flown by a Tennessee State Highway Patrol helicopter to the dive site.
At approximately 1700 the incident commander gave a press update. He gave a summary of the dive incident without naming any of the participants. He did mention that they were known to be experienced cave divers. He then reported that rescuers were being flown in, would need about an hour to set up their equipment, and then diving would begin at around 1800 or 1830. He said the friends of the missing party believed he got separated about 400’ back in the cave and they believed he would go to the air bell, where there was enough air for someone to stay for twenty four hours or more. They showed a large printout of a line map of the cave. He said they were aware of the average cave passage size, max depth (40’), temperature (55F), and that swimming one way through the cave took around forty minutes. He said the missing party was wearing a drysuit. He noted that the water visibility for the cave had improved. He let the press know they would try to do another press update by 2200.
Edd Sorenson did the swim into the cave. Mike Young stayed on land by the entrance to the cave as a safety diver in case Sorenson did not return on time. The original estimate for the in and out dive trip was 2.5 hours. The incident team was able to show Sorenson a photo of the air bell from a prior exploration trip. During his dive Sorenson found where the guideline was broken and ran a new guideline from there. He was able to find his was to the air bell at the back of the cave. When he surfaced in the air bell, Bratchley was 12’ from him. Bratchley was calm and said to him, “Thank you, thank you, who are you?” Sorenson asked him a series of questions about his condition and his equipment. Bratchley had taken his gear off and put it on some mud where he had been able to get out of the water. Sorenson briefed him on how they would conduct the swim out, including how they would transition from his line back to the normal guideline. Sorenson and Bratchley then swam out of the cave together. Sorenson’s total time in the cave was approximately fifty minutes. Bratchley had been in the cave for twenty-seven hours. On the surface Bratchley was given a quick exam, refused medical treatment, and said his only request was a pizza.
so....the air pocket exists because of the type of rock in Tennessee? which is non porous? as opposed to the lime stone here in florida which seems not to be able to hold air for long?
give a man a fish and he eats for a day: teach a man to fish and he will drink beer for a lifetime............
www.lauderdalediving.com
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