Category — Backmount

I recently had the great pleasure to hang out and dive with two fellow dive professionals from the other part of the world:

Tom from the Philippines and Kelvin from Truk Lagoon. Both of them came by after they had visited the DEMA trade show. Tom just the day before Hurricane Ida and Kelvin just after. At first we were a bit nervous if Ida would destroy our plans of cave diving the next days but then she passed us far and we only got a day of wind and rain followed by excellent weather.

Tom was in for some guided cave diving to see what the Mexican caves were all about and so we sent him out with one of our guides to give him an overview. Unfortunately he was on a tight schedule planning to do other things besides cave sightseeing and so Santi could only show him the tiny little tip of the iceberg leaving a lot of fantastic sights out of the tour.
On the plus side Tom could use the time to get certified as Basic Sidemount Diver which was a new experience for the PADI Course Director who also happens to be Instructor for Cave and CCR diving.
It is one of the greatest things for me about this sport that even after years of working in this industry and having logged thousands of dives there are always things left to do and new techniques to be learned. It simply never stops, always fields and places left to explore.

It was definitely cool to share stories and experiences with him as well as comparing techniques and protocols. I definitely took a lot from it and am always grateful to encounter open minded people who like to share their experiences and knowledge with others.
I hope to see him back here soon for some more…this time Sidemount cave diving. Or maybe Wreck diving in the Philippines.

Kelvin is running a big technical diving shop in Truck Lagoon which is one of my dream destination since my wreck diving days in Egypt. Just the drives in the car to the Cenotes were super interesting and filled with stories about sunken battle ships and wreck diving techniques in comparison with cave diving techniques. We also have both a passion for mixed gas deep diving, which made for interesting discussions about decompression theory, gas selection and ascent protocols.

Kelvin was thinking since a long time to come to Mexico and start with cave diving but it had never quiet worked out until now. He started his course with Santi who dialed him in on buoyancy, trim and propulsion, as well as giving him his first experiences in the non metal overhead environment. All in all a good start and preparation to the adventures that were yet to come.

Once I came back from Toluca we met in the evening and the next day we were diving the three of us together. Objective of the day was to finish Toms Sidemount course and for Kelvin some more time to get used to fresh water and train the skills he had worked on with Santi.
The next day it was me and Kelvin in Chac Mool working on lost line and lost diver drills. A nice day with lots of discussions about procedures and protocols and eventful dives with multiple emergency drills. We train hard and dive easy!

The next couple of days we were getting into restrictions and navigation and even though we had to fight with equalizing problems on Kelvins part we still managed to finish the course. Kelvin had a great time and did not only learn some new diving skills but also learned some things about himself. Often asked questions about how he would react in certain situations where answered during the course.
I hope to see him back here soon as we did not have any time after the course to go and do some fun diving. There are still sooooooooooo many caves he has to go and look at! I am also looking fwd to meet his wife as she was the star of most of Kelvins stories…although I have to admit I am a bit scared =)

Looking back it was just one of these times where you get the chance to hang out with some good people and share experiences, stories and a lot of laughter . Although we are all from different parts of the world, have a different age and different opinions about a lot of things, we are all still united by the same passion and fascination of the aquatic realm.

Now I stop writing and go diving instead!

Cheers
Patrick

This project has been long time in the making. October 2008 was the first time Leszek and his guys where diving with me, only a couple of days to get back into Mexican cave diving. In February 2009 the team was back with a bunch of brand new Cuda dpvs and ready to scout dos ojos to see how the lines had changed since there last project in 2005. It was also used to train their side mount techniques utilizing multiple scooters and stages.
Now in October 2009 almost exactly 4 years later they had assembled a strong 7 man team to try and push their old distance. The first days where used for scouting as well as establishing procedures and protocols for the team. Leszek also tried different equipment configurations to determine which would work the easiest for his 10h run time. He went from back mount to side mount and even tried a “quad” (4 tanks on the back) but ended up deciding that side mount with additional stages would be the best compromise given that he was diving solo and the passage seize especially downstream of cenote monolito.

In the same time other team members where locating and cutting trails to different cenotes which would be used as possible bail out points. The day after the whole team including 4 Sherpa where taking off to cenote kentucky castle 1.3km in the dense jungle to scout the lines around this area as well as leaving some equipment staged for the big dive.

The day after we decided to take a brake and relax a little, which also gave me the time to prepare some   custom gas blends for the deep dives that followed in the Pit. These deep dives where the last missing puzzle pieces for the declared long distance dive that would start off with a deep drop at the short line right under the cenote.

Everyday passed in a very relaxed atmosphere with plenty of laughter and good spirits. Always with a cooler full of drinks and food and hammocks for the surface support to relax while waiting for the dive teams.

Finally the day had arrived and we started our day early at Cenote The Pit. In the days before we had finished dropping tanks, scooters and lights at predetermined locations through out the cave which would enable Leszek to travel the 17km without ever having to surface.
He started his journey with a drop to 72m before exchanging tanks in the dome and then taking off towards the passage named link. After reaching the end of the line there, he turned around and passed the pit once more on his way to tikin chi and afterwards to Cenote Kentucky Castle. There a team was positioned which informed the rest of us when Leszek was passing by. Then he made his way towards Cenotes M1 and M2 but was forced to turn as a collapse had made the passage too small for him to pass. Now he was on his way downstream and followed the lines up to the end of the LSD area and back. He was making good speed, reaching every waypoint at almost the exact previewed runtime. Half way through he passed the Main Entrance of Dos Ojos and now continued downwards to Cenote Monolito passing several other Cenotes on the way. There he changed his gear to slim down for the restrictions lying ahead. After almost reaching Cenote Hilario he truned back and finally surfaced slightly tired but happy in Cenote Esteban where the team greeted him and took his gear for the final 500m walk back to the cars. It was almost 10 o’clock at night and his Liquivision X1 marked exactly 558min after submerging.

A great achievement and the perfect end for an awesome project that lasted at the end for 12 days. I really had a nice time with genuine people that always smile and joke even after a 90min hike through the jungle with a 30kg backpack and 1.2million mosquitoes chasing them.

The team:
Leszek – dive leader
Remek – main support diver
Cisek – rescue expert and support diver
Mirek – support diver
Bogush – surface support and protection =)
Richard – surface support and equipment expert
Waldek – surface support and equipment expert
Patrick – logistics, transport and diving safety officer
Lucio – Equipment transport at Pit

This will definitely not be the last you heard from this extraordinary team as future projects are already planned.