Thecia Taylor AKA Renee’s Mom
Terrence Tysall on Deco after an upstream run
Mark enjoying some quiet time
Terrence preparing to explore The Bat Cenote
… and back from preliminary exploration
Albarzo, Jose’, Mario, Manuel, Miguel, Roberto
Project Participants and Sponsors
Aquatech/Villa De Rosa
Sartek Industries
Ocean Management Systems
Maxtec, Inc.
Dive Rite Inc.
Rick’s Dive’N Travel
Highland Millwork
Attacking New Leads … Day 4
April 17th, 2001
The Yucatan jungle received a bit of rain today as the amazing human sprinklers returned yet again for more adventures in Sistema Camilo. Welcome to our newest team member, Thecia Taylor, who spent her day reading on the beach. Thecia’s official title is "Morale and Medical Officer" for the team. Again, the group was divided into two teams…
Team 1, George and Renee, ventured back upstream after 7 months of anticipation. They were both rigged with 4 bottles to complete the necessary distance. After continuing on from the last survey station they were able to add and survey 150 feet of line before the passage closed off. George and Renee investigated some more leads on the way out. Tomorrow will tell the tale as they return for more exploratory work as the team feels that more cave will reward their efforts.
Team 2, Mark, Andy and Terrence, investigated leads in hopes of locating the origin of the main flow from the upstream passage. This proved to be an illusive mission on this dive. Five different side tunnels were explored during the 90 minute mission but each led the team back to previously explored passage. Although the team would have preferred to have laid and surveyed more line, the information gathered was critical to the expanded understanding of this beautiful cave system.
After the morning’s dive, we investigated a cenote that was discovered during last September’s expedition. The cenote exhibited promising features such as fish, cool clear water, and white limestone which led us to believe this could perhaps be an entrance to another unexplored cave system.
The team spent time searching for an entrance large enough to accommodate divers. A small opening was discovered and explored by Terrence who found it only wide enough for a no mount configuration. Preliminary exploration revealed that the 10 inch wide opening ends in a large silt slide. It is hoped that we can return and dig our way through to see what awaits us. Due to the fact that this new enigma is twice as far back in the jungle than Sistema Camilo the logistics are taxing to say the least. Be sure to visit tomorrow for more developments on this and other areas of exploration.
As always the lion’s share of the credit for this and any successful exploratory expedition goes to the intrepid team of surface support called "The Muchachos". The crew led by Miguel continue to demonstrate incredible strength and stamina day after day with the mission critical tasks of transporting the many gas cylinders to the isolated diving locations encountered during the expedition. Certainly a huge vote of thanks must go to these unsung heroes.
Dive Team:
George McCulley, Mark Corkery, Andy Peterson, Renee Power, Terrence Tysall
Send questions or comments to the Trilobite.