texascavers Digest 12 Sep 2011 15:18:51 -0000 Issue 1389
Topics (messages 18555 through 18565):
Re: A visitation for the death of a home.
18555 by: Ron Ralph
PBSS Meeting for September
18556 by: J. LaRue Thomas
OT - President Declares Disaster For Texas - federal assistance for individuals
now available
18557 by: Julia Germany
18560 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net
Re: Julia's offer to help with FEMA paperwork
18558 by: Logan McNatt
cave diving related
18559 by: David
Earth Power
18561 by: Mark Minton
Earliest human ancestor dated from cave
18562 by: Mark Minton
18563 by: Don Arburn
body recovery in Ireland finished
18564 by: David
Another caver family that needs your help
18565 by: Jon Cradit
Administrivia:
To subscribe to the digest, e-mail:
<[email protected]>
To unsubscribe from the digest, e-mail:
<[email protected]>
To post to the list, e-mail:
<[email protected]>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
Cavers,
I just talked to Wes and he said the authorities are instituting a Phase 2
entry system with roadblocks and photo identification passes. He thinks this
will not work for visitation this morning and has cancelled the meet at the
Schumachar house. Stay tuned for developments via Facebook if you are on
that.
Again, the visit to Bastrop is cancelled.
Ron
_____
From: wesley s [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2011 10:36 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] A visitation for the death of a home.
The Schumachers are one of many caver families that have been affected by
the Bastrop fires. The fire razed their home and all surrounding structures.
This weekend there will be a visitation to the site for all those who wish
to come. Contact Wes at 512-762-3003 if you need additional information.
Location:
120 Robin Rd. Bastrop, TX
Time:
Saturday, September 10 . 10:00am - 2:00pm
Contingent upon fire suppression and free access to the land...We will be
congregating Saturday, September 10th at 10am in remembrance of a home par
excellence, with friends, family and loved ones.
We really can't express enough the thanks for the outpouring of love and
support we have gotten from all of our friends.
Although everyone wants desperately to come out and help with the
cleanup/rebuilding process, that simply isn't possible at this time. We must
wait on the insurance adjuster to look over the damages and asses things
before we begin clean up. Also, it is simply too raw a wound to clean just
yet.
However we don't want everyone to feel as though there is nothing that can
be done. Right now the best thing you can give is your compassion, and we
want to allow an opportunity for grieving and condolences to flow freely.
And so, we will once more open our home to all, welcoming them to bid
farewell to a place and honor the virtue of hospitality.
We have always believed that to cherish something is to share it and give it
life. Over the years you all gave our home life by visiting and sharing it
with us, enriching and bettering it in the process. We want to thank you and
offer you a chance to say goodbye to the place.
Please bring chairs for sitting and cameras for documenting the site. Feel
free to play artistically with the stark forms. The air is dusty and smokey
so respirators/face masks might be a good idea, as well as clothes that can
get dirty & closed-toed shoes.
We will raise a toast to the gods of hearth and home and curse the fates for
their cruel indifference. We are wounded but we are not diminished for we
have hope and friends and family.
Wes~
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Attention All Caver-type People!
The Permian Basin Speleological Society is holding its September meeting
this Tuesday, September 13, at 7:00 p.m. at Murray's Delicatessen in
Midland. Murray's is at 3211 West Wadley in Midland. We meet in the back
room. Come early and eat something: (The food's good and we don't pay
anything for the room.)
We will discuss an opportunity to take the Permian Basin Outing Club (PBOC)
caving, as well as the Comanche Springs trip and any programs anyone might
be interested in having.
Any and all are welcome! For further infomation about the Permian Basin
Speleological Society contact: Jacqui Thomas [email protected], or Bill
Bentley [email protected], or Patrick Ray [email protected]
PBSS web page:
http://www.caver.net/pbss/pbss.html
The Permian Basin Speleological Society was founded in October 1983 and was
chartered as the 300th grotto of the National Speleological Society on
January 18, 1984. The Permian Basin Speleological Society is an affiliated
grotto or Caving club with the Texas Speleological Association and the
Southwestern Region of the National Speleological Society and supports the
cave conservation ethics of the National Speleological Society.
National Speleological Society web page:
http://www.caves.org/
Texas Speleological Association web page:
http://www.cavetexas.org
Southwestern Region of the NSS web page:
http://www.caves.org/region/swr/
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
For those affected by wildfires in BASTROP COUNTY:
Subject: President Declares Disaster For Texas
DATE: September 10, 2011 2:24:35 PM CDT
President Declares Disaster For Texas
>From the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
Release Date: September 9, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal aid has been made available to
the State of Texas to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area
affected by wildfires beginning on August 30, 2011, and continuing.
The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals
in Bastrop County.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost
loans to cover uninsured or underinsured property losses, and other programs to
help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Kevin L. Hannes has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal
recovery operations in the affected area. Hannes said that damage surveys are
continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be designated for
assistance after the assessments are fully completed.
Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties
can begin applying for assistance today by registering online at
www.disasterassistance.gov, by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov or by
calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Disaster assistance applicants, who have a
speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585
directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call
1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10
p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.
________
Let me know if you need help filing the paper work.
julia
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Like hell this is off topic...
Sep 10, 2011 05:17:08 PM, [email protected] wrote:
For those affected by wildfires in BASTROP COUNTY:
Subject: President Declares Disaster For Texas
DATE: September 10, 2011 2:24:35 PM CDT
President Declares Disaster For Texas
From the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
Release Date: September 9, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal aid has been made available to the State of Texas to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by wildfires beginning on August 30, 2011, and continuing.
The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in Bastrop County.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured or underinsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Kevin L. Hannes has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area. Hannes said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be designated for assistance after the assessments are fully completed.
Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance today by registering online at
www.disasterassistance.gov, by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov or by calling
1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Disaster assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.
________
Let me know if you need help filing the paper work.
julia
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On 9/10/2011 5:16 PM, Julia Germany wrote: Let me know if you need help filling
out the paperwork.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One more example of the incredible variety of knowledge, skills, abilities, and
sharing that make cavers one big family.
Thanks Julia!
Logan
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Below is an interesting trip report posted back in June by the cave-diver that
drowned in Ireland this past week.
( Disclaimer: I didn't read the whole report, but skimmed thru it. )
Part 1
______
We arrived to Bellaburke [ a small community in Ireland ] around 2pm,
briefly chatted to the landlord and had a look at the resurgence cave
called "Pollatoomary."
The water levels were low but the visibility was nil, the entrance
pond filled with brown murky water. A plan to bring Megalodon
rebreather and to have a couple of goes through the -33m squeeze by
taking off and putting the unit back on ( for a practice before a push
below -103m) was immediately dismissed.
The old nylon line from 2008 was completely fucked and not wanting to
go home with nothing done I decided to put a fresh 4mm polypropylene
line down to the squeeze and perhaps a little bit beyond, -40m ish.
With a single tunnel – a small shaft with a couple of squeezes going
vertically down to -45m, what could possibly go wrong, right? ;))
Once in the water the vis turned out to be between 10 -15 cm while
undisturbed. We put the vertical line down to -14m in an open shaft at
which point the first constriction was encountered so I turned around
and escorted my buddy to the surface. Then I dived again with three
cylinders: 2x Alu80 (210 B and 150 B) and steel 12l (210B).
I passed the first constriction and approached the second one at
around -21m. To my surprise the only way on that I could feel was kind
of horizontal and quite tight, nothing like I remembered from 2008.
But I was pretty sure there had been only one way on so I continued
until I reached a lip of another shaft. This seemed more familiar and
since I couldn't feel any sensible belay point at the top of the shaft
(though no line traps either) I continued with a vertical ascent.
Around -28 things got tight again (as expected) so I belayed the line
to a piece of protruding rock (I remember having looked at that belay
for a split second with a sort of a doubt as the rock was at a funny
angle in the relation to the line and then ignoring it - Will do - I
thought – I'll keep the tension and fix it bomb proof at the bottom).
I staged one of the Alu80 and started wriggling down fins first. After
reaching -32m no more progress could be achieved and after a very
thorough examination by touch it turned out that the way down was
blocked by head size, irregular shape boulders and sand. It didn't
make any sense at all – it was a resurgence and I knew from the
previous years that there was a good bit of a vertical shaft below
that ( around 15m) so I couldn't imagine how that blockage could be
created other than from a collapse above, an option that I dismissed
immediately without any reflection.
Having nothing better to do on that Sunday afternoon anyway I started
removing the rocks from the constriction but after reaching 20 min
bottom time and no progress at the dig I made the decision to turn the
dive. The place didn't seem to be the way on I remembered from 2008
but what was it then? Some other parallel shaft? I reeled back to my
Alu 80 staged at -30m, re-pressurised it, checked the content and
clipped it in. I took out a knife, cut off the guide line 30cm after
the final belay and started securing the remaining line on my reel.
I was half way through the process when suddenly I saw a glimpse of
the loose end of my guideline floating up in front of my eyes and
disappearing into the darkness above! What the..?! Shit – that dodgy
belay's gone! You fuckin' eejit, I told you! I threw my free hand
towards it immediately but the water, just like in a bad dream when
you try to run away from someone or something but you can't because
the air seems to be thick like gelatine, slowed down my movement and I
missed it by inches...it was gone... Fuuuuck!!!! Right then the line
was probably no more than a meter above me but floating away further
into the darkness with each second. I had to ACT; there was no much
time for STOP and THINK. I got caught off guard but I knew I could fix
it in no time if I acted quickly. I got off my knees and sprung into
the darkness above. With one hand holding the unsecured reel with a
metre of loose line or so and with the other sharking water above my
head in search of the lost guideline I was briskly moving up the
shaft. At around -22m, still finding no line I removed my 5mm gloves
and threw them away, I couldn't afford not to feel the line when I
came across it. I got a short flashback from Hell in November
2007...certainly not the first pair of gloves that I had to ditch to
save my life... By the time the visibility dropped from already
atrocious 10cm to practically zero. I could have closed my eyes as
well and it wouldn't have made much difference. I kept them open
though ;-)
I stopped for a while somewhere in mid water to calm down my breathing
which became too heavy. The gas I had was buying me time, and I needed
time to sort out that shit I got myself into. I needed to calm down.
I got things under the control and I moved up scanning the walls and
the water above me with my hands like a blind man who lost his stick.
But the damn line wasn't anywhere there! Soon the shaft above me got
smaller and from what I could feel it started closing down...terrible
feeling...I took a big breath and my reg took some water in, I choked,
coughing violently and grasping for more air...Calm down! Calm down!
For fuck sake... Stop acting like an amateur and CALM DOWN!
As if it wasn't enough suddenly I was left with a chunk of the ceiling
in my hand! I held my breath terrified when some more pieces of rock
fell on my helmet and my shoulders...in a split second I understood
the situation: not only the roof was closing down above me with no way
on but it wasn't solid, it was just a boulder choke! Feck ! Do I have
to always get the best bits?!? At least that explained the boulder
choke at the bottom of the shaft...
It finally occurred to me that my luck just ran out and now I was
acting against myself. I missed the opportunity to sort it out with
one bold move, my gimmick didn't work and now I had to pull back and
apply a proper emergency procedure before it gets any worse: I needed
to go back to the bottom of the shaft and start a proper lost line
search.
With my heart in my throat I slowly began to descend breathing as
little as possible in the given situation; it certainly gave me
another incentive to calm down and keep my breathing down, God only
knew what the expanding bubbles of my exhaled air could do to that
boulder choke in the ceiling and although there was very little I
could do about it I understood it would be a whole lot better for me
to never find it out.
I moved down the shaft, I had to go back to the place where I'd first
lost the line to fix my emergency rescue reel somewhere around and to
start a systematic search for the lost line or the exit from there
with a solid point of reference that you can always come back to,
otherwise you can wander further into the unknown while the safety
could be just metres away. Obviously I should have done it straight
away in the moment when I'd lost the line but at the time I believed I
could sort it out my way...besides, there was a single vertical
passage there so what could possibly go wrong, AGAIN? (sarcasm
emoticon here). But in a cave and especially in poor visibility
nothing is as it seems and it's always stupid to assume otherwise: my
progress to the point of the lost line at -30m was suddenly stopped at
-27m where I simply reached ...a bottom! HOW THE FUCK IS THAT POSSI...
Fuck, there must be yet another shaft...kurwa mać... I tried to
picture the situation in my head and there must have been some kind of
fork junction half way between the unstable roof at -17m and the
blocked shaft at -32 that split the tunnel in two. So I went up again,
feeling the walls with bare hands, trying to find the line until I got
-17 m and the unstable roof again. I don't know why but I was equally
if not even more shaken when the ceiling closed down above me again,
as if I expected some miraculous little hole opened up in the meantime
that would take me to safety. And still there was no sign of the line.
It was like in a nightmare: I KNEW it must have been somewhere there
yet it wasn't...
I worked my way down again but this time I focused on not missing the
presumed forked junction which apparently was there coz I eventually
reached the spot where I’d lost the line at -30m. By the time I
reached the bottom of the shaft I was in a bad shape. I mean not
physically but mentally... I wasn't thinking clearly, the shock of
reaching the dead end twice took its toll and that's when the first
crisis came: I realised I would die there.
So... It's Pollatoomary... I always wondered which cave it was gonna
be ... now I've got my answer... and I must say I didn't see that
coming, I mean not here, not like this... I wanted to go deep here
with Megalodon and I knew that things could go wrong below -100m but
to perish on a recce dive, to lose the line, get lost and run out of
air...no, I didn't see that coming...
… and those who never liked you but never had the courage to show
it...only to talk behind your back...Now they’re gonna have their
feast: 'I told you he's gonna kill himself one day, fuckin' cowboy'
... Fuckin' cowards! Leave it now Artur, it doesn't matter anymore...
you need to prepare yourself, get ready to take it with dignity...
For some reason the scene from Angels with Dirty Faces came to my
mind, when James Cagney scowls like a dog and begs for mercy while
being led to the electric chair... I watched it for the first time
when I was nine and I was heartbroken for him. All he had been left
with was to die with dignity but then that bloody priest, his
childhood friend begged him to destroy his image and to pretend to be
a coward for the sake of those kids who looked up to him. My task
seemed to be infinitely easier, I didn't have to pretend to be a
coward, I had not to be one. But wasn't I? I didn't know the answer.
It's not that it got me completely by surprise, you sort of have to
realise your mortality in a more profound way when you do this sort of
thing... I mean in order to protect it coz you're more vulnerable,
more exposed... Sure you can be killed by a car while coming back from
a day in the office or walking your doggy but it's usually NOT your
primary concern...here it’s different. I'm not paranoid about it, I
never tried to put myself in a mode that “the cave was after me”
...well, maybe I should have... But boy, I always hoped it would come
quick, put me to sleep first, gently... if I only had my Meg(alodon)
now...there would be so many better ways to go...
But she was coming in such an unhasty yet inevitable manner at my very
full consciousness, and I knew it would be violent...
Part 2
______
So those were my thoughts down there. I didn't give up yet but I'd
spent the last quarter wandering blindly from wall to wall, from the
collapsing ceiling to the boulder strewn floor and as a result my
morale was quite low… No, certainly I wasn't giving up, it's just what
I was doing simply didn't work... I knew I had to keep trying, trying
to the last breath but what if I was doing something wrong? You can't
expect good results if you do things the wrong way, no matter how
many times you repeat it. I was 33 and I've learned that lesson in a
past in a hard way. And I didn't have THAT much time here to keep
repeating ineffective procedures. I need to focus. Clearly keeping
going up wasn't working, the way out there was blocked. But where am I
in the first place and how did I get here?! I understood that staying
at -30 m was a bad idea – my synapses clogged by dissolved nitrogen
from breathing compressed Air at that depth didn't make me the
sharpest tool in the drawer plus at -30m I was using 4 times more gas
than on the surface. With my current surface breathing rate surly
between 25-30l per minute I was too scared to finish that
calculation... Focus, focus! I knew I needed to go up but I needed a
plan firstly. So again - How did I get in that dark shithole?! Why is
the way up blocked? Feeling like a character from one of the Kafka's
novel who just woke up in some strange, alien world with no
recollection of the past ( I reckon my short term memory was gone due
to nitrogen narcosis and stress ) I kept interrogating myself.
This can't be the Main Shaft! Did I jump off into some side passage? A
side passage... a side passage?! OF COURSE! The horizontal passage!
That's how I got here! I must have found a parallel shaft that no one
including me knew about! Jesus Christ! And what was the depth there?
-20m? -23M? Something like that... With a huge mental effort my mind
was slowly shaking off the debilitating fog of nitrogen narcosis and
the stress. I knew what to do now. Somewhere in the darkness up
there, somewhere between -23 and -20m there was a small hole in the
wall that would lead me through the diver size passage back to the
Main Pollatoomary Passage. At least that was the current plan. Content
gauges. No, I don't want to look at them. I'm composed, I don't need
reassurance, I know what I have to do. If I have plenty of gas left
it's not going to change much now but if I'm already running low on
air I might lose the composure and let the stress retake control. So
fuck it. Let's keep going. I've only checked if all three valves were
open, I switched the regs and went straight up to -23m laying an
emergency line from the bottom. The search begun. Almost immediately I
felt an opening in the wall and I started squeezing in but after only
a metre and a half it became too tight. Shit! That's definitely not
the one I came from! I reversed backwards, finished a circular search
around the shaft at -23m, found nothing else and then moved one metre
higher. There I felt another hole, slightly bigger, which went for
about two metres before it closed down as well...The cave, she likes
me...she wants me so badly...Fuck You! Out of the crawl and back to
the blind search again. I realised at that point that if I found the
right hole eventually my line should be there too; there was no
freaking way that the guideline, even a floating one could be pushed
out of a horizontal passage since there was no flow there whatsoever.
At -22m, the same level, I found another opening in the wall, nice in
size, felt almost like 1mx0.5m. I investigated its edges by touch
thoroughly- Shit, no line... Not that I could be very picky and had
multiply choices of getting out of there so I decided to give it a go.
I was quite bulky with my three big cylinders and when the passage
became quite tight after only a couple of metres I removed one of the
11 litres tank from my side and clipped it onto a little butt d-ring
on my Farrworld sidemount harness. Streamlined I could continue. The
only thing was that there was no way this could be the route I came
from... it felt way too tight and too horizontal while I had a strong
impression that the one I came from was more spacious and gently
sloping.
I got stuck for a brief moment but after moving some rocks aside I
could continue again. And how long is it?! It must be good 10m now? I
would be delighted in any other situation but this one. Exploring to
the very end … I laughed to myself but there was more despair in that
laugh than anything else, I knew I was at the edge of breakdown...
After what felt like tens of metres the crawl opened up into some sort
of small chamber or a bottom of another shaft. First thing I started
examining was the floor in search of my previous belay point. Nothing.
Not good, not good at all...
I rested there for a while, working on my breathing rate but the truth
was that I was too scared to check the roof of the 'chamber' or the
shaft, whatever I was in, scared to find out that there was no way out
there either, scared to hit the roof again. I entered into the second
crisis, more dangerous coz “rationally” justified: there was no line
in the horizontal tight passage and there was no belay around here in
the chamber. So pretty much I knew I didn't find the way back; I must
have moved even further into the dark belly of Pollatoo-Mary and the
chances to reach any surface there were close to zero.
I want to leave a note.
The decision surprised myself, I've never thought I would come to that point.
I left so many things unfinished at the surface, things that I should
have said to the people that I loved and cared...
And this is probably the funniest part of the whole story: I was
trying to decide whom should I write the note to, but the list was
long and I didn't want to offend anyone! This is a fuckin' nightmare -
I thought, and I didn't mean my current situation - It will be easier
to have another go and try to save my life instead...
Ok, it's a lie, funny or not but a lie, I've made it up. The truth is
that there was only one person I could think about in that moment and
whom I wanted to write to but I knew she wouldn't care so there was no
point in the end... What an irony... And what would you possibly say,
that you were sorry? Everyone is fuckin' sorry when his number's up,
get your shit together ya little bollocks and try to get your ass out
of here alive! Fucking drama queen...
So I got a grip on myself, placed a belay and started ascending
feeling the walls around me by touch but expecting to hit a ceiling at
any moment. I moved on for a couple of metres up, the shape of the
wall was driving me crazy as it created an overhang there but the way
up was still open. Suddenly I felt some bits of a soft, flimsy line in
my hand, I brought it up to my mask immediately and I recognised my
old 3mm nylon line from 2008! Shut up! It's probably been washed in
here by winter flood, doesnt' have to mean anything! I was trying to
keep it real and not to get unnecessary excited but I must have
admitted there was a slight chance I was back on the way out: the line
was completely loose towards the surface but seemed to be solidly
jammed ( or belayed!) somewhere down beneath!
With my rescue reel in one hand and the newly found line in the other
I kept ascending. At around -16m it was still going up wide open but
the old nylon line was cut there. I tied it in to my rescue line,
switched the regs and kept going up. I don't know if I had ever an
equally tense moment in my life before: anything was still in the
cards for me, a Russian roulette with two bullets in the chamber ...
the only thing I got was a bit of an old line, I knew that the reality
check might be cruel ...
Then at -14m a fresh, light blue 4mm polypropylene line flashed in
front of my mask. I grabbed it immediately and checked its tension,
then I looked at the depth gauge, then I confirmed it wasn't the line
from the reel I was just using, checked the depth again and then I
finally smiled. It was the nicest 4mm blue polypropylene line I've
seen in a long time...I found my guideline; the long 28 minutes after
I'd lost it... You almost got me Mary... but not quite yet, not quite
yet... I checked the gauges: 90B, 90B and 100B. Not bad, I had another
30min...
I looked at Dr5 for my deco obligation but since I had forgotten to
change the gas from Tmx 12/55 to Air it was useless displaying only
the message: “YOU'RE ONE FUCKIN' LUCKY BASTARD - WELCOME BACK!”...;-)
I stopped for 3 min at -9m and moved to O2 staged at 6m by my buddy
but after 5min I'd had enough for the day and I slowly went for the
surface.
I was trying to act normal on the surface but I guess you can't just
wipe it from your face the fact that for the last half an hour you
thought you were dead, you can't hide it just like that...nor your
bleeding hands covered with cuts and scratches... So the team on
the surface somehow felt that something had happened but no one dared
to ask any questions. We started packing the diving equipment straight
away, it was late and we had a long journey back to Dublin ahead.
As I walked through the field towards the car with the last bits of
the equipment I stopped and looked back over my shoulder at the dark
rising where slanting rays of the setting sun futilely tried to
penetrate its troubled waters.
I'll be back...
Ref:
vertical profile of cave:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o3WYyMegM_4/Tfgz-arggvI/AAAAAAAAAWw/N8J1Smfu094/s1600/Pollatoomary+Rising+sketch+3.bmp
area where the diver got lost:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PJ4k44iBGic/Tfb5ROQLJUI/AAAAAAAAAWk/iEH137n2GB8/s1600/Pollatoomary+sketch.JPG
Ref:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/images/2011/0910/1224303828237_1.jpg?ts=1315723415
This was cut and pasted from the deceased diver's own blog.
David Locklear
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Here's a cool science experiment that makes electricity from
soil. If cave mud has sufficient nutrients, one could use this to
make a beacon that would blink in a cave for perhaps several
days. Most cave mud might be particularly nutrient poor,
however. How many would it take to recharge a Sten Light? ;-)
<http://www.keegotech.com/ScienceKits/MudWatt>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdIV_UZFK9A>
There are several other YouTube videos about similar experiments.
Mark Minton
Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Researchers have pinned down the age of fossils of the
earliest human ancestor at 1.98 million years from a cave in South
Africa: <http://newsroom.melbourne.edu/news/n-622>.
Mark
Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Of course he dated from a cave, where else would he date from? Bet he clubbed
his date too. :^)
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
According to one web-site,
SIX DAYS after Polish cave diver Artur Kozlowski was reported missing
in a south Galway cave, a British rescue team brought his body to the
surface.
The highly risky and challenging operation concluded just before 5pm
on Saturday, when the rescue team led by Coventry firefighter Rick
Stanton and John Volanthen completed the last of a series of recovery
dives at Pollonora in Kiltartan.
Mr Kozlowski’s body was taken for a postmortem yesterday at University
Hospital Galway.
The team of three British experts, working with the Irish Cave Rescue
Organisation and the Garda, had estimated last Friday that the slow
and painstaking recovery could take several more days due to siltation
in the cave system.
At that stage, Mr Kozlowski’s body had been taken halfway through the
800m (2,600ft) cavern.
Conditions had improved sufficiently on Saturday for a full recovery
through the last 400m, according to Supt Pat Murray of Gort Garda
station, who was supervising the effort on behalf of the Garda.
The British team had been flown in as part of an inter-governmental
request, due to their international expertise. Mr Kozlowski’s mother
and sister have travelled to Ireland, and prayers were said at the
scene on Saturday evening by Fr Tommy Marrinan of Gort parish.
The Speleological Union of Ireland – the national organising body for
caving – has offered its condolences to the cave diver’s family and
friends.
In a statement, the union said “over the last few years Artur has been
renowned for pushing Irish cave diving to its furthest limits.
“This is an unforgiving sport requiring extreme mental and physical
fitness, but it was Artur’s passion.”
The national organising body added: “He had trained originally with
the extremely experienced Welsh cave diver Martyn Farr and soon
realised the potential for discovering new cave passage in Ireland,
returning to and passing many of the limits of Martyn’s own Irish
dives.
“Artur’s discoveries have filled the last two editions of Irish
Speleology magazine, but his two record-breaking dives will probably
be his long-standing legacy.
“In 2008 he achieved a record Irish and UK cave dive depth record of
103m in Co Mayo; and in 2010 the longest Irish and British underwater
traverse of 4km in Co Galway.
“Artur’s life was devoted to cave diving. He died pursuing his dreams,
exploring to the limits.”
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hi Folks,
Please be aware that long time caver Steve Keselik also lost his home as well
as his cabinet shop where he made his living.
Steve and his caving buddies are not the ones you see involved in caver
politics, being in charge of a big caver function, or sending out their
thoughts over the internet.
They are low key. They just go caving and surveying around Texas as well as
Carlsbad and Lech.
Please keep Steve, his family and their needs in your thoughts and volunteer
efforts. They will not be allowed back to their property until at least
Tuesday.
Jon Cradit
From: Julia Germany [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 5:17 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] OT - President Declares Disaster For Texas - federal
assistance for individuals now available
For those affected by wildfires in BASTROP COUNTY:
Subject: President Declares Disaster For Texas
DATE: September 10, 2011 2:24:35 PM CDT
President Declares Disaster For Texas
>From the Federal Emergency Management Agency:
Release Date: September 9, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal aid has been made available to
the State of Texas to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area
affected by wildfires beginning on August 30, 2011, and continuing.
The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals
in Bastrop County.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost
loans to cover uninsured or underinsured property losses, and other programs to
help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Kevin L. Hannes has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal
recovery operations in the affected area. Hannes said that damage surveys are
continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be designated for
assistance after the assessments are fully completed.
Individuals and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties
can begin applying for assistance today by registering online at
www.disasterassistance.gov<http://www.disasterassistance.gov/>, by web enabled
mobile device at m.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). Disaster
assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use
TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay
Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will
operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further
notice.
________
Let me know if you need help filing the paper work.
julia
--- End Message ---
