TRAVEL SPECIAL
Above : Nick inspects an impressive structure in Dos Ojos
Below right : Side mount harness faff set of kit and skills , all of which are useful out in my normal environment of UK sea diving , but are essential in Mexican caves .
Back to School
The course consisted of some theory based back at Underworld ’ s purpose-built accommodation ( complete with very cute rescue dogs , one of which - Pato- I wanted to bring back ), with an extensive set of dives to progressively introduce skills for us to master . Lanny carefully threw more and more drills at us , moving from dry land to open water to cave to slowly reinforce them while it all became second nature . ‘ Dry ’ runs were done in the middle of the jungle in 98 % humidity and 30 ° C heat so became very wet , and we quickly adopted the name Team Clammy as we knelt in knee pads and neoprene blindfolds , shuffling about trying to find a lost line in a jungle , or following a line by touch , identifying line markers and way points we had memorised . Kitting up in 5mm full length suits and a twinset was equally drippy , but sinking into 25 ° cenote water was a very pleasant experience .
Once we had practiced in the so-called dry , the skills were transferred into the water and as the week developed , Lanny ’ s ‘ hand of doom ’ would sneak in and a light would go out , or a neoprene mask cover would be dangled in front of us to pop on to develop our blind drills , using touch communication and feeling for the line to make our way to safety . When we were comfortable with this , more drills were added until we were calmly making our way out following the line using feel only , with touch signals , sharing gas on a long hose without being stressed .
One drill involved ‘ lost line ’, where you have to find the main line in zero visibility ( the mask cover ) using an emergency spool , a bit of guesswork and a clever procedure to work out where it is , finally
116