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Expedition Updates
During and after the expedition, we will post news of our dives, adventures and sessions in the bar! Stay tuned!
The Pearse Resurgence
Well I finally got to a computer after a very hectic 2 weeks! Those of you who saw Rick Stanton speak at OzTek will know of the exciting advances made in the Pearse by now but in a nut shell here's how it went:
Rick and trip leader Dave Apperley spent a few days in the Blue Creek resurgence and made some excellent new finds there, laying a significant amount of new line. They then transferred to the Pearse with Rick doing the Nettlebed through trip with some local cavers, whilst Dave Apps spent some long hours setting up the team's habitat.. Craig Howell and Dr Harry arrived with Christchurch caver John Atkinson on Friday morning by chopper and got stuck into organising themselves for the first day's diving Saturday. John who was less tired than the Aussies went for a quick dive to stage some tanks in the cave. A recent cold meant John got a nasty fright during the dive - some vertigo at 27m had him return to the surface after an unpleasant dive. No more diving for him.
Saturday. Rick and Dave are more acclimatised that Craig and Harry so head off for exploratory dives. Dave is testing his new kick arse HMI light from Silent Submersion. I follow him down and get the most amazing view of the cave to the start of the needle bender at 105m! What a light!! Craig has a successful dive in the main shaft also. A good start and we have survived our early dives in 6.8 degrees...eeek! The Otter suits and Typhoon heated vests are numero uno with the boys!
Sunday. More glorious weather but sandflies are killing us! Craig and Harry go for a second dive to test their procedures for disrobing and entering the habitat after planned longer dives. All not as easy as it sounded and we soon wished we had done habitat diving 101 first! Ask Craig for details...I am too embarrassed but suffice to say I shouldn't have "helped" him with his CCR quick release before he had the surface supply O2 reg in his mouth! Sorry Craig!
Monday. Craig is not diving as his unit is flooded (see Sunday). Rick is doing a push dive, and Dave is also going deep so Harry also stays on the surface as support. We soon get news that Rick has pushed the new passage Dave found at the back of the Big Room. The cave drops down the "Brooklyn Exit" and then runs nearly horizontal at 150m+. Rick goes to 157m and reports another sheer descent follows!
Wednesday (?) Rick and Dave gear up for more big dives. Dave lays more line to the end of Rick's previous exploration at 157m, then Rick picks up the baton and pushes to an extraordinary 177m. The KISS style sidemount performs beautifully but Harry's HID implodes ( $$ :-( $$ ) causing Rick to have to turn the dive. Soft Pom, should have carried on with his Dolphion torch I reckon.
That just about wound up the diving with a new Australian-New Zealand cave diving record and the cave almost doubled in length plus another 55m depth. And plenty more down there!
The RMS Niagara
Slow start to our trip with an enforced rest day on the first scheduled dive day...tank filling and shot line prep always takes longer than we think. Leigh Bishop, Tim Cashman, JDZ, Andrew McIntosh, Craig Challen and Dean Chamberlain have joined us at Tutukaka Holiday Park. Perfect weather the next day sees us out early on Pacific Hidaway with our terrific hosts Denise and Mark Barnes. Local Niagara legend Keith Grdon is on board and has been really usy organising everything behind the scenes for us. Support divers Ian and Grant complete an exceptional crew. We get over the wreck at about 11 am and Mark is over the wreck when he turns on the sounder! Not too shabby!
First dive. Glassy conditions, sun is shing...how easy is this!. Craig Howell and Harry are first in to secure the shot and then signal the others to follow. The shot is right on the mark, but conditions on the wreck are not as pretty as on the surface. At 80m the shotline turns from vertical to near horizontal as we hit nearly 1 kt of tide and really crap viz. Most divers limit their bottom times to less than planned but the famous Leigh Bishop still pulls 35mins for a 6 hour dive. Conditions prevented any great imaging and the gold remains safe for the time being! Some engine troubles on the way home mean a late arrival back at Tuts. One diver with a niggle in the elbow; but he is all good by the time we are back in port.
Now we wait for the wind to stop!
Monday 26th: Change of boats for the team and today we are out on Dive Tutukaka's "Perfect Day", a massive platform perfectly suited to 8 tech divers in full kit. Out over the wreck in sloppy conditions when we discover a small issue with the boat's sounder. The 2 shot lines from our first dive are still on the GPS marks so we take a chance and Craig Howell and Harry hit the water to confirm the tie in has held. 121m sand dive is the result and nearly 3 hours of deco for our trouble! Meanwhile Leigh and Tim try the second shot with the same result. Doh!! Back to port with our collective heads between our legs.
Tuesday 27th: Sounder is all fixed and we set off again. 2m seas and strengthening winds see us turning back to port without even reaching the wreck today. Forcast for tomorrow even worse. Might be a pub night tonight! Hey if it was easy, everyone would be doing it!
Thursday 29th: Well who would have thought! The wind has increased to 40kts and we have had 6 inches of rain in 12 hours. The roads to the south have flooded except for one which has been obliterated by mudslides! Tim Cashman is trapped and cannot return to Auckland to send his gear back to the UK! Oh joy! Well at least it has to be better tomorrow doesn't it?
Friday 30th: Tim says it is a good omen that he couldn't leave, so he will dive again today. The day dawns calm (big swell still) and sunny. Everyone is stoked to be out on the water again. JDZ and Craig Challen tie in the shot today and Craig Howell and Harry follow them in. Reaching the ship just forward of the main mast, Craig and Harry turn right until they meet the base of the mast, then follow it out onto the sand. Nice big crow's nest which Harry pauses to photograph then they push on. Suddenly Craig lets out a shriek and and there, stick up like dog's balls out of the sand is the ship's bell!!! Talk about 2 excited schollboys! Harry os screaming at Craig not to touch it until it is photographed in situ, but Craig already has his lift bag out and is swarming over the bell! Enormously excited, Craig bags up the bell and sends it to the surface while Harry photographs the great event. It disappears from view and the pair spontaneously hug at 120m! The fun is not over as next they reach the collapsed bridge where Leigh Bishop has spotted the telegraphs and an enunciator the dive before. Harry wrestles one of the telegraphs out of the wreckage but his single lift bag is not up the jpb of shifting the brute. Leigh comes to the rescue with his bag and finally the huge device slowly ascends and joins the bell on the surface. Blasts from the Dive Tutukaka "Perfect Day's" let us know that the festivities have begun topside! What a day and what a dive. Everyone returns safely to the surface and the champagne is on ice by the time we return to port! Harry sends up a slate to Keith Gordon with the message "Merry Xmas Keith". We wish we could have seen his smile!
This great shot, taken by John Stone from the Northern Advocate; shows from left to right: Craig Howell with the Niagara's bridge bell, Leigh Bishop and "Harry" Harris with a telgraph.
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