Cave Divers From
Somerset Establish New
Record in the
Dordogne .
sent in by Clive Stell
Clive Stell of
A team of British cave divers have beaten the depth record for Dordogne caving at the Grand Souci in the Commune of St. Vincent sur I' isle.
The team consisted of divers Tim CHAPMAN, Sean PARKER and Clive STELL, all of the Bristol Exploration Club and the British Cave Diving Group, with Andrew KAY of the Speleo-Club de Perigueux and the Wessex Cave Club acting as logistics and surface Controller. The record breaking descent went to 107 metres below ground level, and the bottom of the cavity has not yet been found!
This was not cave exploration as visitors to the underground tourist sites of the departement probably imagine it, for 102.5 metres of the site are under water. Obviously in these circumstances not only does progress require a quantity of expensive equipment and meticulous planning, but also nerves of steel. The reward for the cave diver is knowing that he has been to a place where no one has gone before. As a favourite expression goes, "more people have been to the moon"!
The Grand Souci is a geological enigma for the region. Most caves in the
For the technically minded - the 'point' dive, made by Clive Stell of Bath, took 2 hours and 47 minutes, of which only 18 minutes were for the descent and exploration, the remainder the ascent and respecting the previously scheduled 'decompression stops'. Special computer programs had been used to calculate the mix of gasses to be breathed by the diver, because at such depths pure oxygen or even compressed air, become fatally toxic. The mixture used is known as 'Trimix', comprising oxygen, helium and nitrogen all mixed into the dive cylinders in precise quantities with different mixes used at different depths. It is not cheap: each cave dive to these depths costs £100 in gas alone, not to mention the equipment to use it.
Clive decided to be prudent and turned around two minutes
earlier than his maximum scheduled dive time permitted. In the dark, hostile world of a flooded cave,
it is better to play it safe. At a depth
of 94 metres the visibility dropped to a point where Clive could not seen his
gauges despite bright dive lights but he continued on laying the dive line
linking him with the world above until any situation became too dangerous. In these conditions, it is easy for a diver
to become disoriented. His mission was
accomplished: the deepest cave in the
By Andrew Kay - La Chassenie, 24390 Chervieux-Cubas,