We were met by a beautiful day, warm weather and water.....Ok, not really. The winds have kicked up quite a bit today and the snow is flying. Everyone was excited to get back into the water as the debrief left several areas of possibilities to enhance the dive time. The line arrows arrived and several more exploration reels were respooled with 48 line. The volunteers have been phenomenal as they have been great going up and down the sixteen degree slope with all our kit and making sure any last minute items are obtained.
We had planned to obtain pictures and some video of the push today and add new line. Both goals were accompished rapidly as the comfort level of the divers has increased with their growing knowledge of the passages. We have found a moderate current in many of the passages. There seems to be an underground river coming down into the passages from the surface drainage area. Fortunately, with the three feet of snow on the ground and the cold temperature, the amount of runoff has decreased. It has still affected visibility in many passages as flying particulate keeps raining down upon us.
This time we had no camera crew there and it was more of a "get in and dive" day and see what can be found.
We had a few problems with lights, O2 sensors and little equipment quirks, but all these were overcome quite quickly which meant that the divers got in and had an enjoyable dive.
Some artifacts like large wheel a pump were found as well as remains of old rail cars and rail lines that the miners used.
It was great to see the smiles on all the faces as we were successful on both fronts, the video footage even made it on CBC across Canada. Now for that long walk back up the mine shaft with the gear..........
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