> And what happens when the fixed line breaks, somebody kicks up a little silt and you get disoriented as well? (Which is exactly what happened in the article.)
It's not unknown for fixed lines to break. Generally you'd tie-on a spool, and swim forward in the correct general direction until you found the line again. But if the other end had been pulled right out, you could be in trouble! In the system I referred to, there's a spot where the farmer who owned the land above, drilled down into the system to get some water. By a chance in a thousand, he drilled directly through (and severed) the fixed line in one of the main tunnels!
As for silt, a key part of cave diver training (certainly in this part of the world) is being able to perform all skills in a total blackout (whether from silting, loss of light, or whatever). This includes sharing gas, donning and doffing tanks, navigating restrictions, following the line, finding a lost line, and so on. That's just "part of the job", as it were.
It's not unknown for fixed lines to break. Generally you'd tie-on a spool, and swim forward in the correct general direction until you found the line again. But if the other end had been pulled right out, you could be in trouble! In the system I referred to, there's a spot where the farmer who owned the land above, drilled down into the system to get some water. By a chance in a thousand, he drilled directly through (and severed) the fixed line in one of the main tunnels!
As for silt, a key part of cave diver training (certainly in this part of the world) is being able to perform all skills in a total blackout (whether from silting, loss of light, or whatever). This includes sharing gas, donning and doffing tanks, navigating restrictions, following the line, finding a lost line, and so on. That's just "part of the job", as it were.