Ressel Clean up

Team Cavebase: Tobi Ziegler, Marc Grosse, Andreas Voigt, Danny Beiert, Oli Kurtz, Manuel Fiore
Guests: Carsten Richardt, Markus Oßwald, Bernhard Bekker, Benjamin Beyer, Anke Löbel

After the somewhat disappointing Lot trip in December 2011, we wanted to go back to France as soon as possible to do some proper cave diving again! Since the line situation in the deep passage of the Ressel was a thorn in our side for a long time and Tobi and Carsten saw this as an optimal opportunity to get to know each other on a longer dive, we decided to give the trip a certain project character and to reline the Galliere Profonde. The main passage was already provided 2010 by Maxim and his team with the "Gold-Line", our plan should be to take the deep passage from the third to the fourth T and collect the old line and other material lying around there and bring it out.

Wed 28.03.2012

Andreas and Marc started already at night and reached Domaine de Gayfie around 11am. They decided to do a check dive in the Ressel and floated comfortably down the shallow corridor to the shaft to get used to it. After about 100 minutes they both resurfaced with a grin on their faces. Nothing stood in the way of the planned project, the Ressel showed us her chocolate side! Back in the accommodation they waited for the rest of the team to be able to report on what they had experienced. Carsten and Markus were the last to arrive around 11 pm. Despite the exhaustion caused by the long journey, we still took the necessary time and discussed the schedule for the next day. In advance we had defined that we would start right away on Thursday in order to be able to start again on Saturday if necessary. Between two dives with a decompression phase of several hours, the guys wanted to have a day off in any case. After the schedule and the distribution of tasks were fixed and we knew that the night would be much too short anyway, Tobi rang the bedtime!

Thu. 29.03.2012

The day began much too early, or rather it was still dark and the day had not yet begun. But what a good coffee does not make up for everything. Punctually at 7 a.m. the convoy set off in the direction of Ressel. As Marc and Andi told us the night before, the conditions were great and it didn't change overnight. The water level of the Cele was good, hardly any flow and the water was unexpectedly clear. In order not to have to swim the bunch of stages to the cave entrance, we decided in these conditions to let all stages directly at the "pool" into the water.

It must be said that under water you could admire the complete source pot, a sight that was partly only known from pictures. After everything was prepared, we went through the distribution of roles again. Discussed key points of the individual dives and created a schedule. Manuel, who could not dive today due to a cold, took over the role of the surface manager.

Tobi + Carsten, Bernhard + Markus, who did the line laying and clean up in the deep loop, had planned per team as follows:

2 x O2 + 1 x O2 Bailout
2 x 50/25 + 1 x 50/25 Bailout
2 x 35/35
4 x 15/55
4 x Scooter
2 x Heating tank incl. food and drinks

Ideally, both teams wanted to start the dive with only one Scooter, one Stage 35/35 as well as one Stage 50/25 and collect the rest on the way. Unfortunately, since we only had a team of two for depth support, we could not quite implement the ideal case and defined the following depots:

Depot 1 (6-9 m):
6 x O2

Depot 2 (36 m):
4 x heating tank
4 x 15/55

Depot 3 (Deep T):
2 x scooter
2 x 15/55

Ben and Anke took over depot 1 and placed the 6 x O2-stages at about 150 m just before the first T. Since full O2-stages unfortunately have a lot of downforce, they decided to take it slow and set up the depot in two short dives.

In an exemplary manner, both did their pre-dive checks, took the first stages and dove down.

Marc and Andi put on their equipment a few minutes later. They had the task of setting up depot 2 with 4 x heating tank and 4 x Bottommix stages. Both were armed with a scooter each. They comfortably scooted from the entrance to the cave pool, picked up the tanks and stages laid out in bundles and started their setup dive.
After their "work" was done, they let their propeller servants pull them from the shaft to about 650 m and finally started their journey home as discussed.

Due to the advanced time and an upcoming eight hours dive, the "line layers" decided to do without the third depot or to take their material themselves. Carsten and Tobi got ready and started with a 50/25, a 35/35, line reels with new line, a depth gas (the second one was already in depot 2) and 2 scooters. Their task was to reline the deep loop starting at the third T to the fourth T and on the way back remove old line and wire and transfer existing cookies and arrows from the old to the new line. Both scooted comfortably from the entrance with the 50/25 to the cave entrance and put on the remaining stages here and got going.  

The next two were Oli and Danny. Their primary task was to set up the third deposit (now only for Markus and Börni) at about 850m (third T). Both took beside their own gas and Scooter still in each case a depth gas and Scooter for Börni and Markus. After setting up the depot, the second task was the clean-up in the gear already relined by Carsten and Tobi (starting from the 3rd T). They planned a total dive time of 6h. In a time interval of approx. 45 min to Tobi and Carsten they dived down.

About 15 min after Oli and Danny, Markus and Börni were also ready.

Armed with loads of Snoopyloops and arrows, the two were responsible for fixing the new line. Both put on their equipment and dived in the Cele. Markus and Börni also planned a dive of about 8 hours. On the way in they passed, like Carsten and Tobi, first the O2 depot and could convince themselves of the good work of the support teams. After changing to the 35/35, they continued until they took off their 50/25 plus bailout at about 21 m before the shaft. At depot 2 they picked up their 15/55 and laid down the 35/35. Turning left at depot 3 (3rd T) they began their work. 6h after Tobi and Carsten descended, Marc and Andi started with the first support / check dive as discussed. The two were so motivated that they scooted back and forth between the entrance and the O2 depot 10 times in the following 2 hours and actually took out all the equipment of all 3 teams that was no longer needed! At this point, thank you again for the commitment and our respect!

One by one everyone returned to the water surface. Oli and Danny came with the clean-up up to the "snail", Tobi and Carsten had the Deep-Loop from the 3rd to the 4th T completely new leashed and Börni and Markus could fix over half of the new line cleanly. Thus it was certain, on Saturday we come again!

In general, it must be said that all teams with a little less comfort could have taken their equipment completely themselves, but we wanted to do something together on the legs and were much more efficient with our approach and had all our fun! Around 23 o'clock Anke and Ben as well as Marc and Andi drove already first toward accommodation and began to prepare the meat etc. and to heat up the grill! The rest was still brave to get all the equipment back to the cars. At midnight we all sat exhausted but satisfied in a large group at the table, enjoyed the sumptuous meal and let the day pass in review!

Fri. 30.03.2012

Today was at "free disposal". Andi and Marc wanted to enjoy the Ressel again to the fullest and without any additional tasks and start again early in the morning. Anke and Ben, as well as Danny, Oli and Manuel had planned to pay a visit to the Cabouy. But first we slept in! Although some decided for a dive-free day, all without exception were at the pool of the Cabouy and supported the rest in preparing the equipment.

At the Cabouy we met some from DIR-NL, who also did a project at the Ressel a few days before. See more at http://wethorse.nl/movies/Ressel_1_12.html. Danny, Oli and Manuel scooted up to the Pou Mayssens and resurfaced after about 2 hrs. The visibility was as usual not very good!
After everything was prepared for the 2nd part of the Ressel project, we let the evening end again with a super tasty BBQ.

Sat. 31.03.2012 

Today the finish of our project was on the agenda. To take full advantage of the day we started again at a very ungodly hour. Marc and Andi decided to pay a visit to St. George. As they told us in the evening, they unfortunately did not get far due to pressure equalization problems. The view itself was also nothing special. All others drove closed to the Ressel. Markus and Börni had taken care of the rest of the fixing of the newly laid caveline. Tobi and Carsten planned the remaining clean-up in the deep loop. Both teams planned a maximum dive time of 6 hours for today. No setup dives were planned for today except for setting up the O2 depot. With the experience from the first project day, the four guys had planned the dives in detail the day before and reduced the required equipment a bit. For example, due to the shorter bottom time, only one depth gas was used. Also only one backup scooter per team was used. After everything was prepared, Anke and Ben were the first to dive. They had agreed again to set up the O2 depot. After the first oxygen days were ready, Oli, Danny and Manuel started their dive. They had planned for today to scoot towards the fourth T and had the task to enjoy their planned 4 h under water to the fullest : )

All three this was not really difficult! On their way back they met Carsten and Tobi at the 3rd T, the two had net bags stretched on their scooters and were armed with neat cutting tools. About 30 minutes later they met Markus and Börni whose scooters were hung with snoopie loops and watched how the two were devoured by the shaft.
The deco was unspectacular and they emerged after about 235 min in the Cele. All three were grinning for a long time after the dive.

After almost 5 hours Markus and Börni showed up, they did not need so much time to fix the whole newly laid line properly and then overtook Tobi and Carsten on the deco. Half an hour later Tobi and Carsten were back as well. They had also successfully completed their mission, removed all the old lines and wires and moved all the arrows and cookies.

After all equipment was stowed back in the cars, we drove closed and absolutely satisfied back to the Domaine de Gayfie, here we were already expected with red-hot grill of Andi and Marc!

After a delicious meal and a lively exchange about the experiences of the past hours, after a short farewell, the first things were already packed for the journey home. A great project which we had successfully completed together came to an end! Many thanks to all!

So. 01.04.2012

Journey home : (

From the viewpoint of our guests:

We, Anke and Benjamin, fresh C 1, meet Manuel Fiore and Tobi Ziegler every Saturday at Lake Starnberg; for diving, eating and extended chatting. Fascinated by their stories and the way they treated us, we had a very positive impression of the Cavebase, which was absolutely confirmed when we met other members, e.g. at Lake Constance and in Kiel. Therefore, we have always followed the activities of Cavebase with great interest. When Tobi Ziegler and Manuel Fiore told us about a planned project at the Ressel and asked us if we would like to join them, there was of course no stopping us.
The car was overloaded and we got up too early, so the 13-hour drive to Cajarc flew by in anticipation. On the drive, Manuel held out the prospect that we could even help out diving by bringing the O2 stages to the 6m stop. We knew the Ressel entrance area from last summer and had a rough idea of what we could do. Clearly, we wanted to do this.

Arriving late in the evening we met the other participants, Tobi, Carsten, Börni, Markus, Oli, Danny, Marc and Andi, in a good mood at the improvised supper. The relaxed evening was short, as Tobi, with reference to the next days, cancelled the round. How right he was.  The number of parking spaces at Ressel has just been reduced, so it was important to get there before everyone else. That meant departure at 7:00 am and with several walky-talkies it was real fun.

Once there, the sport started. An impressive amount of scuba gear was brought to the Célé.  We got ready to dive and picked up the stages in the Célé at the level of the cave entrance, bundled them per diver in a leash and attached them to a rope stretched across. Finally came the O2 stages - impressive how heavy they can be. We decided to bring them in two trips behind the obstruction, which took quite a long time due to lack of practice, but we succeeded. So we were lucky to see Tobi and Carsten in the entrance area while diving out. We still had gas left and so we stayed in the cave and watched the spectacle. They picked up all the stages and scooters and floated big as trucks in the entrance area. It didn't take long and they drove off, all the equipment pushed automatically to the right place and so they passed us into the cave. Very nice!

After the working dive we had many hours and did a second, private dive. We just really like the Ressel. We went shopping for everyone and in the afternoon we were able to help the teams coming back one by one to bring everything back to shore and towards the car. Only in the middle of the night we were back at our houses, where the grill - thanks to Marc and Andi - was already glowing and the day ended successfully and happily.
The next day was used for rest. Oli, Danny, Manuel and we went for a dive in the Cabouy. There it was the other way around: this time the tanks were carried for us. What a team spirit ! Very impressive ! Many thanks !
The Cabouy had like last time moderate visibility and because of missing mainline in the entrance we had to lay a primary reel and could show all our "skills". We met the mainline only with searching at 25 meters and so our dive was then quite limited in time, but still very nice.

Much earlier than the night before, we had again enough meat and sausage on the grill. This time Tobi's salad was the highlight - with and without tomato. We had an enjoyable evening.
On the third day we started early again, because a second dive at Ressel was planned. We were again able to bring the O2-stages for the 6m-stop into the Ressel - this time not quite as far as the first time and with the practice from the first day already a bit more speedy.

 

  

 

After that we made a very nice dive for us and then shopped for the closing party. Also that evening the grill did not stay cold. We marveled at the large amount of line replaced and celebrated the success. We had a very fun evening.

What remains in memory is the impressive effort that such deep and long dives cause and how practiced calmly they conducted this group. With plan, but without strict rules or constraints, always focused on the task without losing sight of the other. This reminded us very much of the central point of our Cave training "Awareness", - just keep it in mind. But not only under water. From our point of view, this was completely successful. We have the feeling that everyone got their money's worth during these days. Thank you for this experience and the beautiful days. We would do it again and again.

Anke and Benjamin

In this sense,

Your Cavebase