The
cave is located in the far side of the Port Miou calanque. This
is a rocky inlet in the limestone cliffs of the coastline, used by yachts
as a harbour from the Mediterranean. From the entry point, it is approximately
a 400m swim across the busy harbour and along the cliff on the other side
to reach it.
The
cave has been split into two sections by a civil engineering project. Five
hundred metres from the entrance is a concrete barrage built to keep salt
water from contaminating the fresh water on the other side which it had
been planned to use as a water supply. Beyond the barrage is another 1500m
of huge cave passage, eventually reaching the main shaft at its end. This
shaft drops to over 150m, thought to be at least -180m deep and the expedition
had been for Dr Jerome Meynie to investigate this deep section. Obviously
for a dive of this nature, it requires a lot of logistical support, including
multiple scooters and rebreathers.
The
week's preparations had been dogged by various incidents and disasters.
It began with an escaped panther which had been spotted in the calanque,
so it had been closed to the public until it was caught. The panther turned
out to be a big house cat. Thomas Baum's drysuit got a huge hole in it.
Arno got electrocuted by his torch. My Gavin scooter was beyond repair.
Rodney & Suzi couldn't get gas fills at the local shop because their
cylinders had nitrox stickers on them. The prop on Michael's Aquazepp shattered
when he turned the power on.
But it didn't stop any of us diving. As the week went on, Jerome's plan began taking more of a shape than it had before. Preparations had even involved obtaining a portable Draeger recompression chamber. Finally, on Thursday, Jerome set off to do his push to the end of the cave. In keeping with the rest of the week a series of problems conspired to force him to turn back despite going more than halfway.
One
of the good things about the trip was seeing so many different rebreathers.
Jerome was using his Mk15.5, Thomas had a double Trilobyte SCR setup (similar
to the RB80) and a new KISS CCR, Michael & Arno are the makers of the
EDO4
passive SCR (another unit similar to the RB80) and they too were diving
double SCR units. I had the BQX which I managed a few dives on too.
Here
Thomas dives on the Mk15.5
Rodney
Nairne test breathes the EDO4
The
Mk15.5 without its back cover
Technical
gas mixing at Le Bestouan car park. Le Bestouan is another cave with its
entrance in the sea. It is accessed by swimming in from a small beach (full
of topless sunbathers!) and swimming about 200m to the entrance. Like Port
Miou, there is a halocline in it which makes following the line in the
shallow sections quite hard. The cave is huge, crystal clear and very long,
around 3000m to its end.