Becoming A Master Diver

  As stated in the previous post on Spout Cave, which was the official press release pertaining to the incident. I felt it necessary to add my personal experience during the event on February 4th, 1991.    All was normal as my dive buddy and I prepared for the dive, lights, exposer suits, line reel etc. the water temperate was 45 deg. We had been diving and mapping Spout Cave for about a year but could only stay in the cave for not much more than an hour or less. We began from the sump entrance inside the cave and secured our safety lines. One last equipment checks before we and made our way to the previously found passageway that was discovered on the earlier dives. Once inside the passage the cavern opened up to a moderate sized cavern. This part we had not mapped yet. That's when things changed rather quickly. I noticed My dive partner's tank valve had become entangled with the safety line reel...

    Exploration & Mapping of Spout Cave                     WVASS / NSS Cave Diving Section The upstream terminus of Spout Cave is very  close to Hanna Caverns. January 1990 Divers began to plan and map a connected submerged passage below the small room. Robert Flenner and David Chaney conducting the Diving Activities. Robert Flenner attempted to dive the main submerged passage below the small room, was able to penetrate and map 65 feet west and 34 Ft. depth. Over the several months Robert and David returned several times, each trip more of the system was mapped and studied. Eventually discovering a small passage which extended several hundred feet thought to possibly connecting to Hanna Caverns.  The Dive Team's efforts ended in late February  of 1991 after the small passage they had entered suddenly silted on the dive team. resulting in zero visibility. The dive was aborted ...