The Fine Art of Extreme Exploration Dives

tech talk

The fine art of conducting Extreme Exploration Dives

69 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED tech talk

How to master the complexities of extensive explorations of underwater caves and other overhead environments

Our case story will be a recent actual a depth of 200 meter and ranging more exploration where the dive profile posed a than 700 meters from the entrance. On few challenges: the actual dive date we may then find - Distance of 700 meters from the that these preset definitions of depth and entrance to the end point. time do not match up with the actual - The depth of 164 meters at the begin- diving profile, mental and physical fitness ning of the actual exploration and 186 and the equipment at hand. This leads to m at the end. postponements and delays which may run - Duration of the dive which including into a year, or at least several month of deco stops required a run time 9 hours waiting, which is often the case. It is thus and 46 minutes submersed. necessary to stay fit and keep practicing all the relevant technical skills. In this case However, even if this specific dive profile I kept up a regular schedule doing many presented us with some exceptional chal- speleological/cave dives where I could lenges, it wasn’t fundamentally different rehearse practice stage and travel proce- from other technical dives in terms of dures as often as possible, as well as prac- safety and logistic considerations. We do ticing deep and rebreather dive profiles. our preparations and make plans in which In the beginning of May we found our- we try to reduce the number of unknown selves in Egypt. After one week of diving factors as much as possible. between 50 and 100 meters deep with In technical diving “what if..” and “plan stage and trimix, I’ve also made five dives your dive and dive your plan” are all basic to depths between 65 and 180 meters on mantras. It is only the magnitude of the rebreather in order to some build routine undertaking that changes as well as the with real deep dive profiles and to test the levels of complexity. Even for a practiced 150 meter barrier. tech diver who routinely dives his twin 12-li- Physical fitness training was not an issue ters tanks and use ready made table dives as I practice every year around 4-5 times like this are much more complicated. a week by running, swimming and bicy- cling so I simply took a nice break the Preparations week before the actual dive.

1. Defining objectives and means. Knowing the location This cave is quite the labyrinth and has In this case the objective was to explore several levels. So it is a good thing I knew an underwater cave that would take it rather well. A year ago I first dived it to divers beyond the depth of 164 meters a depth of 60 to 90 meters before going before the made it to the end. In this down to 150 meters. And the week before case we planned as if we were diving to the dive I’ve returned with a rebreather,

70 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED EVERFLEX

LIKE A SECOND SKIN.

SCUBAPRO EverFlex suits are rich in features and in the way they make you look and feel. Our advanced, extra- comfortable EverFlex line has been stylishly designed for incredible fit and freedom. Its pre-formed dimensional shape and multi-thickness panels provide a superior combination of warmth and flexibility. EverFlex suits move naturally with a diver’s body for unparalleled stretch and comfort. Heliospan lining in the torso area and Glideskin going to the 70 meter mark, just to than 270 meter on a closed circuit inside the cave and the dive bell at seals on the wrists, ankles memorize the route, using a scooter, rebreather. On the other hand, the 12 meters. It was a bit heavy, but in and neck provide added to avoid wasting time when we were closed circuit system (or semi-closed case of a complete failure of the protection and insulation. going to do our exploration. Needless circuit) is the latest trend amid serious closed circuit, it would have allowed EverFlex adapts to a large range of body shapes and to say I had also gone over the avail- underground exploration dives for a me to make it back to the bell area sizes. able topographic information and number of good reasons: from the deep end. This also permit- If you are tired of the struggle reports from previous dives in order to - greater autonomy ted the team to familiarize themselves to get into your suit, Everflex get a clearer picture of equipment - greater gas economy with the cave. is for you. load during the dive, restricted pas- - breathing a much less colder gas The scooter or, as it appropriately sages, currents (what of if it rains the - less tanks to manage termed, the Diver Propulsion Vehicle, preceeding days?),visibility and nec- - Possibility for using helium – in the was also a requirement because of essary permits. In nature it is not any form of heliox - for the entire dive, the distance to be traveled. Several different from when you check the significantly improving the decom- trips starting from the deep end which weather forecast, prevailing currents pression profiles. was 500 meters from the entrance and swell before you go on a dive in helped me to select a model that DEEP DOWN YOU the ocean. My Voyager dive computer has a can really tow, rather than a lighter WANT THE BEST battery life of at least 7 hours, mak- one. The former, although a little less scubapro.com 2. Choice of equipment ing it possible to complete the entire speedy, seemed to me to be more dive, starting from the entrance until maneuverable inside that particular The choice of gear must reflect the the bell-area. My other technical cave. depths and environmental hazards. option was to stick with the usual The deco stations: the possibility of For example when I did my 330 meter open circuit system with complete mounting a deco station was exten- dive it was obvious to go with an redundancy. sively used. The choice was between open circuit system since I had never We had to bring a few 20 liter tanks a mobile deco station – suspended been beyond 150m on a rebreather. inside the cave, between the depth between 11 and 9 meters deep and And no one has ever gone deeper of 110 meters which was 600 meters then again at 6 meters. Or a fixed

71 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED deco station at 6 meters which is much With the calculations for depth and The diving bell was mounted at 11 meters simpler. The mobile option was then time completed, we opted to go with and since the ambient temperature was chosen as it was capable of staying dry the “full helium” option which only had 18 ° C it wasn’t required to heat the habi- and hot twice as long which in this case 6% Nitrogen without a second thought. tat. meant almost 4 hours instead of the 2 Even the bailout plan an open circuit hours offered by the fixed option. system had a maximum level of 30% Provisions Nitrogen Dealing with dehydration is paramount Decompression strategy We had full sets of tanks with standard to ensure proper decompression - we The dive profiles were simplified as much deco mixes 02/He 20/50, 40/30 and 60% can never drink too much. Lots of water

as possible so we opted for a short one O2 which were thoroughly analyzed, with a bit of fructose and a isotonic salt and a long one, for a depth of 180/200 marked twice and pressure verified. Also mixture is ideal. Fruit juices or energy meters at the bottom which was already clips sets, and speleological cable keep- drinks can also be used but with modera- very complex with its several levels and ers for the ropes were checked. tion as the last thing you would want is a great end depth. As an additional For the sake of safety we also had to nausea. Hot drinks such as light sweet option we could use a set of a set of consider the situation where we had to teas or soups are alsi suitable During more conventional tables and 2 multi- perform the dive on open circuit sys- long dives it is also important to eat to gas computers, one connected to the tems and not rebreather. Did we have keep up the energy. Energy bars are rebreather to deal with all the intermedi- enough of each mix? For each depth fine also nut paste or cocoa but go easy ary situations. we had to calculate what was needed on sweets. Put pastes and creams into Simplicity is preferred even if it with an acceptable level of security tubes or syringes. And don’t bring ham demands hours of calculations for differ- Thermal insulation was taken of by a or other meat products into the dive bell ent profiles and using different software. drysuit with Thinsulate 300 undergarment

72 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED tech talk Stay with the same team if possible. It is impor- tant to know each other well and how you act under water.

Team to their qualification levels and their decompression until the end of Stay with the same team if possible. role in providing assistance during the dive (comfort/information It is important to know each other the dive such as: assessment, food/re-hydration, well and how you act under water. - placement of safety and decom- photography, etc.) In our team we are all multitaskers pression tanks but each one of us is also a specialist - helping the deep divers get in During planning we delegate roles on some area. For this specific dive, the water and responsibilities and some will be I had part of the team who assisted - assembly and handling of the tasked with very special roles which me at my record dive to 330 meters. diving bell he will focus entirely on throughout Each member dove both according - deep diver assistance during the dive.

The person in charge of sur- For that purpose we used visualization during which we face management has a lot a list of participants and review all stages to be fol- of particular responsibilities; material, as well as the deep lowed during the exploration. - Make decisions. diver’s runtime as planned. Once the process has - Manage the chain of sup- Managing it all is no mean begun, people are usually port divers while keeping task. less stressed and always very tabs of the deep diver. focused on the different tech- Each support dive will be On the big day, hav- nical tasks ahead: All equip- planed according to each ment is checked one last time particular deco planning. ing everything properly and after performing bubble - Manage safety and pos- planned and rehearsed checks at the surface we sible variables, in case will pay off, help ease the commence our descent. a problem should occur We leave the diving bell such as longer dive time stress, and aid the visu- and its reassuring shape than planned, evacuation, alization during which behind us, the safety tanks, decompression, drifting in pilot the scooter. After 500 open sea drifts as well of we review all stages to meters, drop the scooter and having prepared or evalu- be followed during the let yourself glide along succes- ated the weather forecast, sive of wells between 60 and communications, medical exploration. 114 meters deep. Take advan- assistance and an evacua- tage to descend slightly the tion plan. 2 remaining safety stations, - Manage the boats if the During the dive at 60 meters, at 75 meters dive occurs at sea (crew, On the big day having every- and 114 meters respectively. available anchorage, dif- thing properly planned and I can appreciate Stéphane’s ferent types of vessels, rehearse will pay off, help re-equipment handwork as I etc?) ease the stress, and aid the appreciate my companions’

73 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED work at storing the safety tanks. then recompression ahead. A After some 40 meters while afterwards, Fred – the first It is then a great pleasure and to return and followed by David, one that makes all the precee- Patrick, François and his equip- ding months of tedious prepa- ment – 12 meters and its already rations worth all the whole to go time to re-enter the diving bell. beyond the 164m and enter the It was Marc, Josep, Henri and “terra incognita” as we go into Michel who manned the relay, the uncharted gallery. We fre- along with François and Tono, as quently check the rebreather’s always. oxygen partial pressure, dive After 4 hours inside the div- time and depth. As we carefully ing bell, I’ve surfaced as an reel out our lines we keep an extremely happy man. The open eye out for the next open- whole team was eagerly await- ing. We pass ing our accounts 170 meters from the depths, and go along It is then a great my opinions and a long ledge. the perspectives of We reach pleasure and one that going there them- 180m and makes all the preceeding selves. Because is another flat months of tedious prepara- their dive as well. surface that gradually tions worth all the while to After the dive leads us up to go beyond 164m and enter It is important to a dead end acknowledge and at 168 meters. the “terra incognita” as savor the accom-    The next area we go into the un- plishment and will probably never forget that      be at a much charted gallery. it is the result of higher level. good teamwork.      Next time perhaps At this stage we usually already Facing more than 8 hours of drift into planning the next dive deco time we turned around even in the cases where we had and went back at a slow pace, a disastrous dive and have just SeaCure™ Custom Mouthpiece taking the opportunity to scruti- be swearing to ourselves never is moldable and remoldable. nize the fault with the powerful again. In any case it is impor- 21 watts HID Green Force torch, tant to learn a lesson from each making it all as bright as daylight. dive. In this case, for example, Created by an orthodontist, Since we were still on the first we felt afterwards that we could SeaCure is designed to fit stage of the return, we reduced have done with a lighter load of your mouth, teeth, and our ascent rate even further to equipment in the cave, in par- gums . . . PERFECTLY. just 3 meters per minute when ticular the safety tanks. we reached 132 meters. Still Available at your local dive center. being 600 meters from the The downside entrance we felt being well at We didn’t use the rebreather to home. Our return was very slow its fullest. Too many equipment being sectioned into short deep pre-carryover dives, over the stops and by us being busy entry area, very easy to reach. going into thenooks and cran- We should have left some safety/ www.seacure1.com nies. deco tanks between 30 and 6 At 54 meters we recovered meters, very easily installable the scooter and the third relay, while setting up the diving bell,

74 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED tech talk

the why burden the team. The usage of the mobile diving baric chamber at 350 meters. The use of a dorsal redundant bell enabled is to stay warm, for - rebreather (2 totally independent being able to talk during decom- - D9 Suunto wristwatch, making closed circuits ) and a third side pression and being able to eat our depth up to 200 meters and rebreather left safely, for example, proper food rather than having a ideal for a very precise runtime. Depth: 28 m with the scooter at 54 meters would second stage stuck in your mouth - Aquatek Voyager manual close Gas mix: Tx 19|45 have prevented long/deep and for four long hours. The equipment circuit rebreather which was Dive time: 32 mins tiresome carryover dives, while was chosen for its performance unmodified. For the planning, Exit: frozen allowing for a triple safety measure. characteristics and reliability. It was I’ve enquired with the manufac- And even more, at every moment a key point for the success of this turer regarding the model’s limi- of the way while we approached undertaking. tations not only theoretical ones, the exit. This equipment included high per- but those tested in hyperbaric The re-equipment dives are left chambers and/or during assem- in place, which – when needed, bly. At least 240 meters for the would be eventually used as an The usage of the mobile O2 feed and 300 meters for the added safety measure. diving bell enabled is to triple PPO2 electronic control. The positive stay warm, for being able Setting the limit for this dive to 200 - We used only 60 bars of trimix to talk during decompres- meters left me a large margin. during almost 6 hours of dive I have tested the equipment at time, outside the diving bell sion and being able to eat progressively greater depths, 111 (wings included). The rebreather proper food rather than meters (wreck), 177 meters (reef), option allowed for cutting down 150 meters (cave), 180 meters (at to half the number of carryover having a second stage stuck sea at Dahab), 186 meters (cave). trips and tank load inside the in your mouth for four Thus, the next step will be using cave. dorsally mounted redundant equip- - The option of using a mix close long hours. ment with totally independent cir- to heliox (only 6% Nitrogen cuits giving 10 hour of autonomous to counter the onset of High formance Apeks XTX 50, 100 and operation. Another laterally carried Pressure Neurological Syndrome) 200 regulators, and the Aqualung set that will be carried clipped on so

without having to pay a small Legend on the rebreather (oxygen, it can be left behind as a safety set ______fortune, and without the fear air and trimix diluent feed) and on for the return trip. SUUNTO HELO2 of helium freeze, since the gas the open circuit for the safety trimix. Cave diving is serious business. The Ojamo mine in Finland breathed in the rebreather is This setup is used by the majority of Acknowledgements presents a fascinating array of tunnels and galleries to warm. Also, at 186 m, we could the British cave divers and and for A thousand thanks for the great discover. However, your dive needs to be flawlessly planned. In February, the 3°C water and –18°C surface temperatures enjoy having completely clear my dive to 330 meters with no prob- team (well-known ones!) are unforgiving. “The hole in the ice had frozen over during minds and the total absence of lems whatsoever. Fred Badier, Henri Benedittini, our dive and I had to break it with my decotank from below the ice to exit.” says photographer Jussi Hyttinen. narcosis as well as exiting the It also included a very warm David Bianzani, Philippe Bompa, Suunto HelO2 opens up a gateway of diving opportunities. water in refreshed state after a Arctic 330 Thinsulate undergarment. François Brun, Christan Deit (Northen The first Suunto Trimix dive computer, its mixed gas and gauge operating modes make diving to greater depths more dive lasting 9 hours and 46 min- Credits also to the Green Force Tri Catalan), Stéphane Girardin (Swiss), accessible than ever before. The wide range of settings utes. star LED torch with its long lasting Josep Guarro (Southern Catalan), and features can be personalized to suit your diving needs and properly plan your dive. The personal freedom provided power, 21 watts HID over the hand Sophie Kerboeuf, Kristian Rouannet, by Suunto HelO2 makes every dive, the dive of your life. Going with the “full helium” option mount and safety torches. The Jean Luc Soulayres, Marc Thène, For more, visit www.suunto.com must therefore be considered for whole set was developed for a 500 Patrick Tonolini, Michel Ruiz. Because life is not a spectator sport. validated. meter beam and tested in a hyper-

75 X-RAY MAG : 31 : 2009 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED