XtremeDream II at Boesmansgat (October 2004)
We are a group of South African Cave Divers who enjoy exploration - of caves and personal limits. This exploration has led us to some interesting places, not least of which has been the pursuit of the All Time Woman's World Depth Record.
As of 15h40 (CAT) on 25 October 2004, Verna van Schaik holds three world records for the deepest all time, deepest cave and deepest altitude dives by a woman. . The elusive all time world record was conquered on that day with a 5 hour 39 minute dive to 221m (at an altitude of 1450m in a cave) at Boesmansgat, Mt Carmel, Nothern Cape, South Africa. This betters her previous dive to 186m on Wed 28 November 2004 at the same venue.
As of 16h44 (CAT) on 28 October 2004, David Shaw holds the new world record for a deep dive using a rebreather (a Mk15-5), also attained at Boesmansgat.
You can follow the expedition's history with Verna's Daily Diary 2004 and Derek's Photo Journal 2004. You can contact the Xtreme Dream Team at xtremedream@tiscali.co.za
2004 Expedition Summary
Day 13 (Wed 28 Oct 2004) Status: REBREATHER DEPTH RECORD
Dives: 92 in total, 15 sub 40, 11 sub 50, 5 sub 80, 3 sub 100, 3 sub 150, 1 sub 200, 1 sub 250!
An early start was required as Dave's dive could be as long as 10 hours depending on what depth and time he finally achieved. He had 6 alternative dive plans to use on the dive. By 6.30am the team was at the water's edge and kitting up.
At 7.10am Dave descended and the long wait began. Don Shirley of IANTD was next in, planning to meet Dave at about 150m on his ascent. Despite having to replace some batteries just prior to the dive, Don headed off 30 minutes later.
The first news took almost 2 hours to reach the surface when Derek returned from his 40m support dive to report that all was well. Dave had reached 271m, found the body of Deon Dreyer (who died tragically on 17 December 1994) and was decompressing comfortably at 40m - 7.5 hours of decompression still lay ahead.
At 4.45pm he emerged into the rapidly diminishing daylight at the bottom of the hole. Very tired, quite cold but otherwise in good health, Dave recounted his attempts to lift and recover the body of Deon that were thwarted by the thick mud into which Deon's cylinder's have been embedded. Dave did however had the presence of mind to attach a line to the body to facilitate a future recovery effort.
A second world record tumbled in 4 days at Boesmansgat (further cementing the site in the world of deep diving).
Day 12 (Wed 27 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN for Dave's dive
Dives: 84 in total, 14 sub 40, 10 sub 50, 5 sub 80, 3 sub 100, 2 sub 150, 1 sub 200!
A very quite day with little diving. The team had only one chore and that was to lower the white shotline to the bottom in preparation for Dave's dive on Thursday. We had already put in about 240m of line for Verna's dive and based on a review of the ROV footage taken during the search for the body of Deon Dreyer 10 years ago we added 20m as the expected depth at that point was 255-260m.
Everything was now set for a second record breaking attempt; the world depth record for a dive on a rebreather (the current record is 242m by a team of three German divers in 2003).
Day 11 (Tue 26 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN for Dave's dive
Dives: 82 in total, 12 sub 40, 10 sub 50, 5 sub 80, 3 sub 100, 2 sub 150, 1 sub 200!
It was almost an anticlimax after the achievements of yesterday. Verna was up and about early, looking far to refreshed for someone who had completed a marathon dive the day before. She walked around on cloud nine with her 221m tag festooned about her neck as a pendant.
The morning was taken up with moving equipment out of the hole, transferring valuable left over gas (and there was plenty) into storage cylinders for future use, and doing final preparations for Dave's planned dive on Thursday.
John, Derek and Gareth all made reluctant departures, sorry to miss out on the dive to come.
Day 10 (Mon 25 Oct 2004) Status: 3 WORLD RECORDS
Dives: 82 in total, 12 sub 40, 10 sub 50, 5 sub 80, 3 sub 100, 2 sub 150, 1 sub 200!
"Wow, that was amazing, I had so much fun. Thank you guys!"
Those were Verna's first words on emerging from the water 5 hours and 39 minutes after the start of her dive. In between she had collected a signed tag from the shot-line at 221m below the surface. In so doing she added 10m to the overall world depth record for scuba diving by a woman and became one of the deepest 10 divers ever, male or female. She also improved on her existing world record for depth in a cave and depth at altitude (adjusted depth on this dive was 261m).
As I write this Verna has been out of the water for 3 hours and is resting comfortably at the bottom of Boesmansgat (the dry section :) ) before tackling the tough 80m scramble back to the parking lot.
The Xtreme Dream Team 2004 congratulates Verna on this amazing accomplishment. You go girl!
Day 9 (Sun 24 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN
Dives: 66 in total, 12 sub 40, 9 sub 50, 4 sub 80, 3 sub 100
Its 11.30pm on the eve of the record dive and the farm is quiet except for the now familiar sound of our reliable electric compressor filling the bank cylinders. Everything else is in readiness. Verna rested for most of the day and the team did a bit of recreational diving before wrapping up the gas mixing this evening.
We will be up at the crack of an African dawn tomorrow and hope to have Verna in the water by 8.30am. Her dive plan is 5.5 hours so we should have a new world record holder by early afternoon. This website will be updated as soon as possible thereafter.
Day 8 (Sat 23 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN (All Systems Go)
Dives: 56 in total, 8 sub 40, 4 sub 50, 3 sub 80, 3 sub 100
Its late on Sunday night, too little time to write a summary – read Verna's full dairy account – Derek.
Day 7 (Fri 22 Oct 2004) Status: AMBER (The Lurgy still Lurks)
Dives: 44 in total, 8 sub 40, 3 sub 50, 2 sub 80, 2 sub 100
With Verna and Theo "I never get sick at Boesmans" van Eeden laid up in bed the rest of the team swung into action like a well oiled machine. Don had spent 16 hours mixing gas the day before which was quickly analysed and adjusted by Derek and Jo. Ian and Allana rigged 10 cylinders with Don and Gareth placing the deep 4 between 50 and 80m, and Allan, Jo and Ian doing the shallow ones. By day's end we were not only back on track but actually ahead of our schedule- all we needed now was for Verna to get back on her feet quickly. Unfortunately the dreaded lurgy struck swiftly and took Don out from early evening.
Day 6 (Thu 21 Oct 2004) Status: AMBER (Verna is ill)
Dives: 38 in total, 8 sub 40, 3 sub 50, 2 sub 80.
Our fist day of mix diving – Derek and Verna went to 80m with the rest of the team drilling the support dives that will happen on the big day. It was well organised chaos with 6 divers in the water at one time. Soon after the dive the dreaded lurgy took Verna down and threatened to delay proceedings. Some quick contingency planning was needed to get on track on Day 7.
Day 5 (Wed 20 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN
Dives: 27 in total, 6 sub 40, 2 sub 50.
Today's started by us laying out the second shot line on a dirt road on the farm to see just how far 221m is away from the surface. We people on the road to correspond to where support divers will be. An interesting perspective indeed. Check out the Gallery for the pictures.
Day 4 (Tue 19 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN
Dives: 20 in total, 2 sub 40, 1 sub 50.
We are getting into the swing of things today, with steady progress and some good dives. But the dreaded Boesmansgat lurgy (that caused a hospital visit in 2001) is back and three of the team are flat on their backs. Hopefully it will pass in 24 hours.
Day 3 (Mon 18 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN
Dives: 11 in total, 2 sub 40
We are 3 days into the current expedition and all is well. The drive was tedious (as expected), the setup was hard work (as expected) and the diving at Boesmansgat absolutely stunning (also, as expected). We are all systems go for a record attempt 1 week from today.
Day 2 (Sun 17 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN
Dives: 3
A hard day's work yielded a satisfying outcome - we'd broken the back of the equipment setup. With some help from the local farm labour force we carried most of our gear 60m down a rocky slop to the water's edge. Derek, Jo and Ian made acclimatisation dives - awesome underwater scenes!
Day 1 (Sat 16 Oct 2004) Status: GREEN
Dives: 0
Today we left Joburg eraly and had an uneventful 6 hour drive to the farm at Mt Carmel, home to Boesmansgat. We took a drive down to the hole in the later afternoon to confront our goal - it is always an impressive and sometimes intimidating sight.
T-2 days (Thur 14 Oct 2004).
The big migration is on. Tonight we try and pack everything into 5 vehicles. We leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday.
|
