steve2281
December 30th, 2006, 09:36 AM
Not much to report from Mine LaMotte, but since Skip is limited to cyderdiving and requested a report, I'll write a little.
Although the mine is well-known for not being affected by local rains, this did not hold true and we discovered the worse vis I have seen to date. 10-15' was about it. This was especially disappointing since two members of our group of four were making their first dives at the mine. One on those divers included our own Deep Diver Bob, who drove down to meet us.
I asked Bob to make a "trust me drive" (not dive), before we ever got parked. We traversed a couple hundred feet of mud-hole through a field to avoid humping gear to the water's edge. I said, "trust me, if my mini-van can make it through there, you can make it too." Indeed, we made it. I didn't have water coming in the doors, but it was almost that bad.
Heavy rains had the water levels back up. Entry to the mine was possible through the main entrance or the Bat Cave. While the vis made it a challenge, we managed to keep a four man team together for two dives.
Dive one: we entered the main entrance and swam back to the old elevator. The big rooms in this area is where the best vis is usually found. 57' max, 58 minutes.
Dive two: we entered the main entrance and made the 500' swim to the Bat Cave. We surfaced in the air over water tunnel. Adding to the disappointment for the day, we didn't even see any bats. We talked for a couple minutes before dropping on the Hall Rd line and making a 700' swim down this tunnel. Vis was slightly better over here, but maybe 20' is all I could claim. Pace was extremely slow as we dived for 67 minutes. 30' max.
Good day and good diving. Could have been outstanding is the vis had cooperated. Hope the first-timers will give it another chance.
Although the mine is well-known for not being affected by local rains, this did not hold true and we discovered the worse vis I have seen to date. 10-15' was about it. This was especially disappointing since two members of our group of four were making their first dives at the mine. One on those divers included our own Deep Diver Bob, who drove down to meet us.
I asked Bob to make a "trust me drive" (not dive), before we ever got parked. We traversed a couple hundred feet of mud-hole through a field to avoid humping gear to the water's edge. I said, "trust me, if my mini-van can make it through there, you can make it too." Indeed, we made it. I didn't have water coming in the doors, but it was almost that bad.
Heavy rains had the water levels back up. Entry to the mine was possible through the main entrance or the Bat Cave. While the vis made it a challenge, we managed to keep a four man team together for two dives.
Dive one: we entered the main entrance and swam back to the old elevator. The big rooms in this area is where the best vis is usually found. 57' max, 58 minutes.
Dive two: we entered the main entrance and made the 500' swim to the Bat Cave. We surfaced in the air over water tunnel. Adding to the disappointment for the day, we didn't even see any bats. We talked for a couple minutes before dropping on the Hall Rd line and making a 700' swim down this tunnel. Vis was slightly better over here, but maybe 20' is all I could claim. Pace was extremely slow as we dived for 67 minutes. 30' max.
Good day and good diving. Could have been outstanding is the vis had cooperated. Hope the first-timers will give it another chance.