It was a good trip indeed. The other newbie has since been in touch and confirmed that they are likely to be looking to get more active with the club in the new year, so we'll see what develops there.
Good shots Ruth. It kind of makes me want to join in with a camera, but I don't know if I can hack the faffing about! I'm glad others can though as photos bring so much so perhaps I'll give it a go at some point. I hadn't noticed you taking a shot of me on the 20', it nicely picks out the split in the arse of the Pav Suit, but not the perforated buttocks...
Having left Ruth and Jon at the Double Pots it didn't take long for Dunc, Steve, Jonny and myself to arrive at Sump 1. Water levels were pretty low, but then I guess we've missed most of the recent heavy rain that the country was subject to over the past week or so.
It turned out that Johnny had only been through Sump 1 once before, and then it was from Swildons 2 to 1 as a part of the short round when water levels were low enough for it to be a duck. I thought he was keen when he suggested that he'd better go first and we proceeded to crouch looking expectantly at one another for a while, until it became clear that my cloth ears had misheard and he was suggesting the opposite.
So I went first, followed by Johnny. If I'd been quicker thinking I'd have picked up a rock to tap his helmet with as he came through, but it turned out to be unnecessary as he made a fair attempt at staying underwater all they way to Wookey of his own accord.
We were joined in short order by Steve and Duncan and an enjoyable few minutes of caving followed, following the stream down to through the ducks and creeps to Sump 2. It's been a long time since I've been to Sump 2 (maybe 10 years?) and I can't remember the bed of the pools beings so loose - I guess that's probably just a trick of the mind.
A couple of minutes were spent discussing free-diving the sumps and all agreed that that should be an adventure for another day, so we turned tail and headed for the surface. I lead off, keen to be out earlyish and avoid the displeasure of SWMBO, plus it was odds on for a pint at the Hunters. Unfortunately I did for myself in short order. Not only am I not what I consider cave fit, I'm also quite asthmatic at the moment and neglected to carry a reliever on this occasion - silly boy! This slowed my progress sufficiently to ensure that by the time we'd caught up with Ruth and Jon in the entrance series time was getting on.
It rained on the way back to the barn, but that kept temperatures mild and changing out of the wind was lovely. Another first for Johnny was caving in a wetsuit under his oversuit instead of a fleecy which unsurprisingly for most got a big thumbs up overcoming the initial skepticism.
By the time I decamped to the van it was late enough that if I'd stopped for a pint I'd have been in the doghouse, so unfortunately I had to yet again forego a pint and a bowl of chilli at the Hunters and hit the road
. Still it was an enjoyable evening, and as ever I'm keen to get back underground next week.
