Badgat beckons...

jtresfon · 6th January 2008, 13:18

Forum member SCUNICK and I just completed a week long cave diving course at Badgat with Don Shirley. My first dive in both a cave environment and in fresh water after 18 years of openwater diving was a fairly mind-bending affair, but by the end of the week I was very sorry to leave. Don is a great teacher and his passion for Badgat is very apparent in everything he does.

He graciously allowed me to take my camera on the last 3 dives and I quickly had to work out how to take pictures in a zero ambient light environment.

The pics can be seen by clicking on Untitled Document

Regards
Jean.

colinj · 6th January 2008, 15:09

Thanks for sharing, your pics are great, Don is an excellent teacher, looks like he has a fantastic "class room" too.

Mixaddict · 6th January 2008, 16:23

Very cool pics. Thanks for sharing.

**Dsix36** · 6th January 2008, 17:06

Very nice pics. Gives me a better appreciation for caves.
Thanks for posting!

scunick · 7th January 2008, 06:31

Quote: (Originally Posted by jtresfon)

Forum member SCUNICK and I just completed a week long cave diving course at Badgat with Don Shirley. My first dive in both a cave environment and in fresh water after 18 years of openwater diving was a fairly mind-bending affair, but by the end of the week I was very sorry to leave. Don is a great teacher and his passion for Badgat is very apparent in everything he does.

He graciously allowed me to take my camera on the last 3 dives and I quickly had to work out how to take pictures in a zero ambient light environment.

The pics can be seen by clicking on Untitled Document

Regards
Jean.

As always the man has delivered some spectacular photos....

A great course... no now all we need are some caves in the Western Cape!!!

Your ever faithful shmodel

Nick

***caveseeker7*** · 7th January 2008, 07:15

Very nice images!

The "BMW rescue vehicle" is a Toyota, though.

scunick · 7th January 2008, 08:18

Quote: (Originally Posted by caveseeker7)

The "BMW rescue vehicle" is a Toyota, though.

Yes

.... you see the story goes as follows:

BMW 320D with trailer followed Toyota Prado down very wet clay road

. BMW made it up one hill.. down another... through a small bog... and then got VERY stuck half way up the next hill

... Now Toyota called into action (after a fairly protracted discussion on the relative value of a recovery

). Toyota did fantastic job as a "BMW recovery Vehicle"

Cheers

Nick

PSquared · 7th January 2008, 13:49

Quote: (Originally Posted by scunick)

Yes

.... you see the story goes as follows:

BMW 320D with trailer followed Toyota Prado down very wet clay road

. BMW made it up one hill.. down another... through a small bog... and then got VERY stuck half way up the next hill

... Now Toyota called into action (after a fairly protracted discussion on the relative value of a recovery

). Toyota did fantastic job as a "BMW recovery Vehicle"

Cheers

Nick

Hate to embarass the BMW driver but we were there between Christmas and New Year and a little half ton 2 x 4 Corsa made it through after a 50mm cloudburst

Pleased you guys enjoyed our home away from home. The photos are excellent, thanks for posting them. They did reminded me that we need to plan a reel recovery dive down the incline shaft in a few weeks - Dusan, are you out there?

scunick · 8th January 2008, 06:15

Quote: (Originally Posted by PSquared)

Hate to embarass the BMW driver but we were there between Christmas and New Year and a little half ton 2 x 4 Corsa made it through after a 50mm cloudburst

No embarrassment... I was really surprised my little 3 Series made it as far as it did. The limiting factor was dragging the belly over the concrete pipe halfway up the hill... the same pipe that was slidding down the hill in clay...

.
I could always "pimp the suspension" and get the belly off the ground for the next trip...or... next time i could just do the right thing and grab a family 4x4

Do enjoy the reel recovery....

... enough said

Cheers

Nick

6th January 2008, 13:18	#1 (permalink)
jtresfon New Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Cape Town Posts: 23	Badgat beckons... Forum member SCUNICK and I just completed a week long cave diving course at Badgat with Don Shirley. My first dive in both a cave environment and in fresh water after 18 years of openwater diving was a fairly mind-bending affair, but by the end of the week I was very sorry to leave. Don is a great teacher and his passion for Badgat is very apparent in everything he does. He graciously allowed me to take my camera on the last 3 dives and I quickly had to work out how to take pictures in a zero ambient light environment. The pics can be seen by clicking on Untitled Document Regards Jean. __________________ www.underwaterimages.co.za It's not about being down deepest or longest, it's what you do when you're down there!
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6th January 2008, 15:09	#2 (permalink)
colinj New Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Uttoxeter Posts: 66	Re: Badgat beckons... Thanks for sharing, your pics are great, Don is an excellent teacher, looks like he has a fantastic "class room" too.
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6th January 2008, 16:23	#3 (permalink)
Mixaddict Always Learning! Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Evolution Other CCR Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other CCR Dolphin Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Draper, Utah USA Posts: 477	Re: Badgat beckons... Very cool pics. Thanks for sharing. __________________ Randy Thornton (MixAddict) Inspiration, Evolution,Hammerhead & Sentinel CCR Instructor
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6th January 2008, 17:06	#4 (permalink)
Dsix36 Going Down? Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Deerfield Beach, Florida Posts: 1,078	Re: Badgat beckons... Very nice pics. Gives me a better appreciation for caves. Thanks for posting! __________________ THE MORE THAT I LEARN, THE MORE THAT I STILL NEED TO LEARN!!!!!!
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7th January 2008, 06:31	#5 (permalink)
scunick Nick Cunningham-Moorat Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Other CCR Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: South Africa - Cape Town Posts: 96	Re: Badgat beckons... Quote: (Originally Posted by jtresfon) Forum member SCUNICK and I just completed a week long cave diving course at Badgat with Don Shirley. My first dive in both a cave environment and in fresh water after 18 years of openwater diving was a fairly mind-bending affair, but by the end of the week I was very sorry to leave. Don is a great teacher and his passion for Badgat is very apparent in everything he does. He graciously allowed me to take my camera on the last 3 dives and I quickly had to work out how to take pictures in a zero ambient light environment. The pics can be seen by clicking on Untitled Document Regards Jean. As always the man has delivered some spectacular photos.... A great course... no now all we need are some caves in the Western Cape!!! Your ever faithful shmodel Nick Last edited by scunick : 7th January 2008 at 06:46.
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7th January 2008, 07:15	#6 (permalink)
*caveseeker7* Who loves ya, baby Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Too far from Neverland Posts: 5,462	Re: Badgat beckons... Very nice images! The "BMW rescue vehicle" is a Toyota, though. __________________ Cheers Stefan "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.!"
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7th January 2008, 08:18	#7 (permalink)
scunick Nick Cunningham-Moorat Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Other CCR Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: South Africa - Cape Town Posts: 96	Re: Badgat beckons... Quote: (Originally Posted by caveseeker7) The "BMW rescue vehicle" is a Toyota, though. Yes.... you see the story goes as follows: BMW 320D with trailer followed Toyota Prado down very wet clay road. BMW made it up one hill.. down another... through a small bog... and then got VERY stuck half way up the next hill... Now Toyota called into action (after a fairly protracted discussion on the relative value of a recovery). Toyota did fantastic job as a "BMW recovery Vehicle" Cheers Nick
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7th January 2008, 13:49	#8 (permalink)
PSquared New Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: South Africa Posts: 32	Re: Badgat beckons... Quote: (Originally Posted by scunick) Yes.... you see the story goes as follows: BMW 320D with trailer followed Toyota Prado down very wet clay road. BMW made it up one hill.. down another... through a small bog... and then got VERY stuck half way up the next hill... Now Toyota called into action (after a fairly protracted discussion on the relative value of a recovery). Toyota did fantastic job as a "BMW recovery Vehicle" Cheers Nick Hate to embarass the BMW driver but we were there between Christmas and New Year and a little half ton 2 x 4 Corsa made it through after a 50mm cloudburst Pleased you guys enjoyed our home away from home. The photos are excellent, thanks for posting them. They did reminded me that we need to plan a reel recovery dive down the incline shaft in a few weeks - Dusan, are you out there? __________________ P2 The voices say I wasn't really diving solo
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8th January 2008, 06:15	#9 (permalink)
scunick Nick Cunningham-Moorat Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Other CCR Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: South Africa - Cape Town Posts: 96	Re: Badgat beckons... Quote: (Originally Posted by PSquared) Hate to embarass the BMW driver but we were there between Christmas and New Year and a little half ton 2 x 4 Corsa made it through after a 50mm cloudburst No embarrassment... I was really surprised my little 3 Series made it as far as it did. The limiting factor was dragging the belly over the concrete pipe halfway up the hill... the same pipe that was slidding down the hill in clay.... I could always "pimp the suspension" and get the belly off the ground for the next trip...or... next time i could just do the right thing and grab a family 4x4 Do enjoy the reel recovery.... ... enough said Cheers Nick Last edited by scunick : 8th January 2008 at 06:56.
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