Trip to the Herault / Lot June 2011

Team: Roland Kring, Tobi Ziegler, Peter Gärtner, Manu Schoch, Oli Kurtz, Tim Löffler, Tibor Czuppon, Darko Petkovic, Marc Grosse, Andreas Voigt

Our trip led us once again to France. Like last year we combined scouting in the Herault with fun diving, this time in the Lot. Oli and Tim had already left one day earlier and made a little detour over the Ardeche to jump into the Goul de la Tannerie and do a little dive. The conditions were great. Central Europe could look back on about 2 weeks of pure sunshine at this time. We could assume optimal conditions regarding visibility and flow. But with our departure the weather god decided for inconsistency and rain. We tried our luck anyway, drove to the Gourneyrou and installed a cable car down to the cave entrance. As a test run, so to speak.

Due to the projects at the Gourneyras we were already somewhat experienced in terms of ropeway installation. But we found out that every new environment is a new challenge. The route to the entrance is quite long, the first part is flat, only the second part is steep enough. For this reason it is not possible to use a continuous cableway, but a middle station is needed, where the materials (transport barrel, scooter, frames) have to be transferred. Of course, this also means that more people are needed for such a project.

Day 1

The day of arrival put most of us to a hard test as the A5 was closed due to an overturned and burnt out sugar truck. This meant that 6 men plus the cable car arrived in the dark and therefore we could not set up the cable car on the day of arrival as planned, but only on the 2nd day. This messed up the schedule a bit.

Day 2

The next day we started early, breakfast was still dry, but that should change soon: Uncomfortable rain set in. So the visit of the entrance in the valley became a little slide for all of us. With shock we registered the low water level, the ladder stood only with 2 rungs in the water. This is rather unusual, at this time of year there should be much more water in the pool or in the entrance area. But we were not discouraged by this.

For the installation and operation of the cable car we had to form 3 teams, top station with car driver, middle station for transferring the barrel and the bottom station. The teams were quickly distributed, Peter coordinated everything, Tim sat in the usual way behind the wheel, Mark, Andreas and Tibor formed the valley station and the remaining strong men were distributed to mountain and middle station. Manu acted as "runner" between the stations.

After a few attempts we had found the right position of the cable for the middle station. Everything was documented by photo, so that next time the individual installation points would be clear and it would be faster overall. With the rain that had started and the low water level we decided against a dive in the Gourneyrou.
Dismantled were the ropeway and tent camp then quickly. Together we then headed for the Lot and distributed to our accommodations (Domain de Gayfie and Moulin de Lantouy).

Day 3/4

The next 2 days were available for "free" diving. Apparently it was not only a holiday in Germany (Ascension Day), so the lot was really full with divers of all nations and everywhere you met familiar faces. On the first day we spread out. One group (Roland, Tobi, Mark, Andreas, Manu, Peter) went to the Gouffre de St. Saveur and had planned some deeper dives in the range of 75m. Roland, Tobi and Mark had a 17/55 with them in the bottom stage, plus 3 deco gases (Tx 35/35, Tx 50/20 and O2). The group wanted to comfortably scoot to the bottom and was back in the pool after 2.5 hours total dive time. Manu and Peter wanted to take the opportunity to continue their survey work in the St. Saveur.

The plan was to completely record the data in the small shunt between 300 and 380m, the two had already completely mapped the main passage to just before the bell in April 2011. On this dive the similar gases were used (Tx 15/60, Tx 35/35, Tx 50/25, O2). The total dive time was 4,5h. Tim and Oli, as well as Tibor and Darko had planned for this day the Source de Landenouse and the Emergence de Ressel. In the Landenouse both teams used an EAN 32, max. depth 24m and a penetration of 700 to 1000m, dive time about 90min. In the Ressel Darko and Tibor floated up to the shaft (max. depth 32m, penetration 350m, 66min). Oli and Tim had their scooters with them and went to the 3rd T at 830m (or known as 1st deep T), diving equipment RB 80, bottomgas Tx18/45, for deco Tx 50/20 and O2.

After diving we went to the supermarket to fill the fridge for the evening barbecue. We met at a late hour all in the Domain de Gayfie, the house had a huge covered terrace and a large grill. Perfect for us. When Oli and Tim came back from diving to the accommodation the grill was already glowing.
We wanted to spend our last day together. We had heard from some divers that the Gouffre de Cabouy should have relatively good conditions. So we threw our plans (Emergence de Ressel) overboard and drove to the Cabouy. When we arrived at 10:00 a.m. everything was already full with cars and diving equipment, but the "first" shift was already clearing out and so soon something became free. We placed a few pensioner tables at the little wall, threw a few stages and scooters into the water and rödeln the back devices on. Everybody could let off steam as they pleased. The moderate diving depth of the Cabouy up to 30m allowed easy gas logistics. We dived either OC with Nitrox 32 or RB with Trimixstage 35/35. Roland and Tobi wanted to scoot to the 1st sump.

Tibor, Oli, Mark and Andreas scooted up to the Poumeyssen and briefly poked their heads out of the water. Peter, Darko and Manu planned a photo dive. The visibility was quite good, but unfortunately not good enough to take pictures. Well, there were a few pictures. One by one everyone came back out of the water and we packed the cars.

On the way home we stopped at the supermarket to get some French delicacies for the grill and the fridge at home. For most of us it was time to go home the next day, so we had to pack a few cars before the barbecue.
In the evening we sat together for the last time with a glowing grill. A few people extended their stay and wanted to go diving for a few more days. Oli and Tim stayed until Monday, Mark and Andreas even until Wednesday.

In this sense,

Your Cavebase

Gallery

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