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Jamaican Caving Notes |
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Apr 3, 2004 ROEHAMPTON SCHOOL CAVE Position: WGS84 - 18 24' 17.2" N, 77 54' 36.7" W, +/- 5m Field notes: I. C. CONOLLEY Cavers: R. S. Stewart, G. van Rentergem, I. C. Conolley, M. Bellinger, R. Stirling. Time in: 11:30 EST, Time out: 14:30 EST THREAT VULNERABILITY: Intermediate It’s Roehampton School cave again and this time round there are repairs going on at the school. The school is getting a little more than just a face lift - cement work. We trudge through the pasture - well manicured this time round. They have prepared for us. There is no sign of the land owner through and so we walk on.. over a couple barb-wire fences and viola, we are there. It is not a massive opening but more than comfortable about ... There are five of us. We will be mapping today and Guy is the surveyor with Mark assisting him. Rona joins their team. Stef and myself make up the advance party to explore and mark the areas for mapping. It is a cave with several side passages - Yes one of those caves you can easily get lost in. As I move on I see flagging that Stef has left behind. He is out of sight ahead. I pause periodically to see the interesting black coating on limestone in the cave -at least it looks like a coating from a non-geologist’s perspective. Interestingly when we got out of the cave later, owner of the cave property Vincent Cunningham, said that though he had never been in there people said that it seemed as if tar from the road had seeped into the cave. The rocks certainly had that look but the theory is untenable. There is no way that tar from the road could seep so far in and also be so selective -missing some in the direct path and coating others below. Anyway, we move on. By now I am catching up with Stef. I see a basin and a bottle and shout to him that it seems that someone was planning to wash up. As it turned out. He had seen the basin and the bottle and had taken them up and put them on a rock. More examples of cave litter. The stuff just gets washed in from outside. In this case people are not actually dumping garbage into the cave. He shouts to me that there is a narrow squeeze ahead. I have caught up with him at the squeeze and see how he moves through and then his light as he pauses and turns to wait. This gives me the opportunity to see another and equally small opening but one requiring less contortions. I slither through and we are on our way again. Soon we are facing a pool of water and no way around. I snoop around. Ah well. Get wet time, I think and tell Stef I am going to go in and see how far I can go. There are a lot of rocks to hold onto in case the water gets deep suddenly. With my body now about waist deep in the water, I hold the rocks and move around the boulders following the course of the water - the only way to go. The roof of the cave is getting lower. The water is no deeper but I am now stooping and up to my chest. I keep going until I am up to my neck. The roof of the cave is slowly merging with the height of the water. Yet the water is getting no deeper. That’s it for me. You need scuba gear for this one. The water is very clear. I am shouting to Stef, telling him of my progress as I go. Now I tell him I am turning back. This only took me another forty feet in. Remember too that this is the dry season so this may be as low as it gets. We head back out and meet Guy, Mark and Rona making their way in surveying and recording. They are working fast. I had not expected them to have been so far in. They map as far as the squeeze and then its out. They catch up with Rona and myself who have started ahead as Rona was not feeling too well - in good time too for I was there stuck at a fork looking for flagging to determine where to turn. Guy comes breezing through passes me and climbs up the rock without hesitation. No sooner I follow than I see the flagging. Ah well.. yes.. I could have put it in a more prominent place. Yes, it would have taken some minutes searching to find it. We slither through more mud. Some caves you just can’t avoid wallowing in the mud - low cave ceiling and muddy cave floor - so its elbows and knees, if not sliding on the stomach. Snakes and earthworms would be proud of us. Then onto another pool of water - nice and clear and cool. I am tempted. I take the opportunity. Remember I was already submerged in water earlier so I am still fairly wet. But extra muddy as well. I sit on a stone in the pool and in a bathing motion with my hands with all clothes on I rub the mud off my clothes. I am almost clean. Yes, a little more mud to go through in the cave but we are almost out and I emerge marvellously cleaner than the others. Mr Cunningham is awaiting us outside - doing some bushing really. He greets us and exchanges pleasantries. He tells us that when it rains that water flows into the cave from the surrounding area. He points out incidentally that the surrounding area includes a cemetery. He wonders if that will affect the quality of the water. That we did not answer his question was no reflection on our manners but we were preoccupied with the thought that we were in the water and the mud - the cemetery water and mud....Okay. Bye Mr Cunningham. Until the next time. We head to the car. Another cave surveyed. Next.... |
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