Frank Martz

[Jay]

Something brought the Frank Martz incident to mind today. He was truly a pioneer in cave diving, especially in equipment development.

Has anyone ever gone down the same hole he disappeared in? It would seem that with today's advent of breather's, trimix, etc, that someone could go find him.

[JoeB]

I thought in the book "Caverns Measureless To Man" Sheck stated he had dove there & found the line reminents(?)...

[skip]

pages 105-108, andros island, blue hole #4, accident or suicide? Frank had been "acting strange for days." Had headaches, been to doctor...maybe discovered he had encephalitis? Wearing doubles and no backup inflation....

Sheck writes: Just past benjamin's grotto "...my light picked out a slender strand of white nylon plummeting down out of sight: the exploratory line left by Frank on his fatal dive." (p. 108).

-skip

[skip]

oh, by the way, Sheck goes on to say he did go to bottom, but no Frank in there (unless buried in the deep silt).

-skip

[Jay]

Yeah, but that was 20+ years ago. It would be interesting to do a detailed search.

[Angie Reim]

Yeah, but that was 20+ years ago. It would be interesting to do a detailed search.

Interesting. Maybe.

My thoughts are that at those depths +300', let him R.I.P.

No point in risking another life for a body/bone recovery. It's my understanding that it's hard enough just to move your own body at those depths without passing out for one reason or another. Am I missing something with regards to new dive technology? Single-diver submarine stuff

[Cave Ranger]

I didn't know Frank Martz as this was before my time.
But, the impression I got from reading about him is that "IF" he chose to die the way he did then my guess would be that he would not want to be recovered.
I personally can't think of a better final resting place than a deep Blue hole cave in the ocean.
Maybe this is why no "known" major recovery effort was ever attempted.
?????????

[aainslie]

I always think this "recovery" idea is such a bad idea. The poor guy who died in Boesmansgat doing a body recovery is a good example. Why risk death chasing down some dead organic material? I don't get it.

[skip]

It's the relatives. They want to know, want to see for themselves and get the closure needed to put it behind them. Sheck says (in the book, he and frank were before my time as well), that Frank Martz had no family, and suggests Frank decided to go out this way, rather than suffer the disease....

Now my wife (and stepkids and genetic kid) all agree that should I die while cave diving, I will be put in a suit, in an open coffin for all to see, then buried with my tie as tight on my neck as my wife can cinch it. Being opposed to wearing a suit, and owning only one (funerals and weddings), that's about as much "closure" as they need!

But I'm not going to die. Just when they think it's all over, some technology at the last minute will arrive, experimental maybe, and poof, I'll jump up just fine! Maybe at 150 years, I'll just give it up, but if anyone reading this ever has a say on "pullling the plug," Don't! Pump my blood, make me breath, and put me in a home somewhere cause someday somehow, can-you-say-stem-cells, they'll bring me back dancing and laughing!

-skip

[Angie Reim]

I understand. Funerals are for the family. If they need it, they need it.

I've made clear to mine that should I drown in an environment of greater than 100', let me rest in peace --- unless the cave diving folks want me out. Kind of creepy to hang out dead in a popular site. It's okee dokee by me though.

Otherwise let the 'Body Farm' have me with the caveat that I be rearticulated so that some grade school class can use my skeleton for biology class, etc.

I used to be in the funeral business so I'm okee dokee with it. 8)

Just my 2 cents from someone whose been around the block a few times.