Questions for Rick Stanton re; Aquanaut

[Steve Clark]

Didn't Rick and Jason only explore after sump 7?

Good survey though! It was really useful when I was planning the dive through sump 2.

B

Yes, S7 through to the link with Padirac S5 at Sump 10(aka 12) in 2002 & 2003. The connection made on a 13.5hr trip by Rick. An astonishing solo effort, 3km+ of caving & multiple sumps, all beyond the 1.6km long / 75m deep sump 1&2. Reported in a modest paragraph in a CDG newsletter.

We do plan on continuing the survey through the shallower sumps over the coming years, but it will require an upgrade on our general caving & carrying skills, which we are working on. The team doing similar at Cabouy have started to find all sorts of dry passage leading off in the areas between sumps so who knows? Passage beyond sump 2 in St Georges is rarely, if ever visited. Although someone has left a bag full of empty beer cans....

 

[Tribal Chestnut]

My house is a pig-sty and in a little disrepair, including some loose guttering. With this in mind; if I were to join the NS, could my QD status be fast-tracked?

 

[Benfool]

If most of your walls are bare plaster, then we'll consider it!

B

 

[mrodoc]

One questioner asked about home made diving gear.  The rescue set up used commercial band masks that cover the full face. The problem was finding enough of the right size in a short time. i can remember wearing a similar set up when the system was first developed in the 80's.  My comment at the time after being towed around the swimming pool at Bristol University in a stretcher wearing one was that I would have to be unconscious before I would be rescued that way. The sense of loss of control of the situation was alarming. A later trial in Wookey ended in near disaster and as far as I know the next time the system was used was on the rescue in Thailand.

 

[Tribal Chestnut]

If most of your walls are bare plaster, then we'll consider it!

B

I?m afraid not.

Peeling lining paper, painted magnolia?.however I hope all is not lost. My oven is broken, my freezer doesn?t work and one of the kitchen worktops is serving as an engine rebuilding bench.

What about having two (broken) dirt bikes in my conservatory?

 

[Duncan Price]

One questioner asked about home made diving gear.  The rescue set up used commercial band masks that cover the full face. The problem was finding enough of the right size in a short time. i can remember wearing a similar set up when the system was first developed in the 80's.  My comment at the time after being towed around the swimming pool at Bristol University in a stretcher wearing one was that I would have to be unconscious before I would be rescued that way. The sense of loss of control of the situation was alarming. A later trial in Wookey ended in near disaster and as far as I know the next time the system was used was on the rescue in Thailand.

Several practices have been done towing victims in stretchers both with standard regulators and also full face masks - the CDG has access to more modern kit which have removable pods for 2nd stage and also gas switching blocks so that multiple cylinders can be employed.

A lot of this experience was built up before the Thailand gig e.g. the video link of a practice in 2015, subsequently there was a full blown excercise in Wookey Hole in 2019 when a "casualty" (yours truly) was dived out from Wookey 22 to Wookey 19 on a stretcher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEocFpVMzg4

 

[Steve Clark]

The team exploring beyond the long sump in Cabouy, Lot have been doing some training exercises with a DPV-towed self-contained underwater stretcher. They keep this on site as part of the project as pre-emptive rescue kit for activities in the camp and exploration beyond Sump 2. Climbing & SRT, but also deeper dives in Sump 3 with a deco risk. Different environment, with large passage & generally clearer conditions, but also ~1km submerged section to pass in one go. I'm not sure if they've tried full-face mask, but they have the advantage that anyone stuck beyond the sump at least has the diving experience to have got themselves there in the first place.

https://fb.watch/9lTOo824-A/

Map for reference : https://www.thehiddenriverproject.org/downloads/Reseau_de_lOuysse.pdf