Is Telford Springs an Intro. Cave Dive?

[OneBrightGator]

One of my instructors loves using Telford for Intro dives 3 and 4 because you can set up the backup light and no light/air share exits in the second sink (daylight) and then proceed through the cave back to the first sink. The gap(s) are done either by the instructor or a full cave assistant.

If an intro diver does the gap then "by law" it's not an Intro dive, if you're diving with an App or Full cave diver and they do the gaps then you still have a continuous guideline to the surface. You could also dive there, when you reach the end of the line tie in and do a lost line drill to the surface, then start dive #2...

Point is, it's more important if you're prepared for the dive then what cert level it is.

 

[SmokeAire]

Oh Andy Andy. As we discussed last week, hence your post, my Intro Inst. Bill Rennecker, said that the gaps are ok for the Intro diver because the line ends and starts within a "Cavern" zone. Natural daylight coming down from the two sinks. So when you get to the end of the first line you are in a cavern zone. Now the question might be since the line ends at a cavern zone should you run a gap line or not. And since you are in a cavern zone and you are a trained cavern diver I'm not really sure what the problem is. Take the ballroom at Ginnie. Do you run a line into the ballroom since it is a cavern (however in fact some parts of it should be considered “cave”).
Now if you were to dive Telford at night now you have a completely different scenario and there would not be cavern zones where the two sinks are.

I just called Bill and asked his opinion and he said that, as far as he was concerned, Telford is fine for Intro divers because the gaps are in the cavern zone but that you should run a line between the gaps so that you have a continuous line. Just like running a line from the cavern zone to the mainline at Pothole. Now Bill did run the gap lines during our Intro training because I was just a Cavern diver at that time. Now that I’m Intro. It’s fine for me to do it.

Chuck

 

[H2Andy]

well, i hadn't mentioned any names