Thecia hangs out with locals.
Team 1 heading up the Cavefish Line.
Highly decorated passage…
Terry speaks at Protec in Playa Del Carmen.
Matt waves hello to Allison back home!
Project Participants and Sponsors
Aquatech/Villas De Rosa
Sartek Industries
Dive Rite Inc.
YEAH BABY!!!
Wednesday, April 24, 2002-
As the dive teams were exploring for new passage, the land based team of (Thecia, Carri, and Mike) combed the countryside near the town of “Coba” and continued to photograph and videotape the local culture. Today we were able to visit with a local Artisania who specializes in Mayan Pottery and precious stones. Another wonderful experience was visiting the local children and their families during school sessions.
Team 1 was comprised of Andy, George and Renee. The team’s mission was to enter Cenote Camillo and then head downstream to Cenote Coati-Mundi via the Cavefish Line. This would be Renee and Andy’s first journey to this area. The Cavefish Line seemed to become more spectacular the further the team explored. Depth changes were prevalent as well as a few nice restrictions. As they approached the Cenote after about 40 minutes, the passageway opened up into an enormous room. Because of its vast size and the colored horizontal bands it reminded the team of areas of the Grand Canyon. After a few minutes of complete amazement the team marked the “T” and headed up to Cenote Coati-Mundi. George commented to Renee and Andy that upon a previous (and first ever) exit from the Cenote there was an array of wildlife there to greet them. A Coati-Mundi (hence the name) and several monkeys seemed quite surprised to see the unknown creatures emerging from the dark waters! During a 40 minute surface interval George acquired a GPS reading at the Cenote. Once they re-entered the water the team dropped the second stage bottle before beginning exploration. The team turned onto “The End Around Line” which ended in going passage. After reaching the end of the line the team meandered through some white, crunch sections with halocline below. Andy bird-dogged while Renee and George took turns handing off new reels and laying fresh line. The team turned the dive for gas management purposes and began the survey. Flow seemed to be stronger there than has been felt before in the system. Total dive time was about 250 minutes at a maximum depth of 69 feet. Oh, and the team layed and surveyed 892 feet of new line!!!
The second team was comprised of Terrence and Anna. Terrence and Anna went upstream to explore some potential passage. They explored side passages upstream of Camillo and were able to explore approximately 300 feet of new passage. Since these runs hooked back to the main passage they elected to not leave line in them. One of the most memorable portions was on exit. When they arrived back at the Cenote they were greeted by huge shafts of sunlight, which reminded the team of a cathedral. The maximum depth reached was 70 feet with a total dive time of 80 minutes.
Team 3 consisted of Dave and Joe with four bottles each and entering through Carri’s Loft. The mission was to search for new passage off of the Denial line. Upon encountering a “T” that was not described in the briefing we chose to go right (this particular line eventually walled out). The team turned and took the first passage to the right and started to lay line. Given the depth of the passage, a halocline was present right in the middle of the 4ft passage. After traversing a distance of 181 ft., the chosen line walled out. As the team started to collect the survey data on the way out the halocline settled enough such that the lead diver could see another potential passage that had conditions similar to what currently being experienced. After collecting the Tie in data the team swam back toward Carri’s loft and spent a few more minutes running on the mainline to gain more familiarity with the system. The team was in awe over just how amazing Carri’s Loft was; in both size and the formations that are present. The total dive time was 132 minutes with maximum depth of 71ft. The passage was named Little Halocline due to the ever-present halocline and the size of the passage.
That evening Terrence, Renee, Mike, Carri and Thecia went to Playa Del Carmen to Protec dive shop owned by Andreas Matthes. Terrence gave a wonderful presentation about the Cambrian Foundation to some of the local divers from the area. Terrence spoke of the many projects the Foundation has been involved with as well has how to get involved with the various projects.
Expedition Team:
Dave Duguid
Joe Fortuna
Andy Henderson
George McCulley
Anna Olecka
Renee Power
Mike St.Germain
Carri St.Germain
Thecia Taylor
Terrence Tysall
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