Our project has had a bit of a setback this morning. Newfoundland has been experiencing record breaking rainfall and with unseasonal warmth, all the winter snow melted. The flood of water submerged some of the infrastructure in our dive staging area and meant final installation of our floating dock was not possible at the current water levels. Adjustments will be needed to improve the infrastructure, dock and staging area.
I’m having flashbacks to a project in 1995 in a deep canyon in the mountains of Central Mexico. We experienced mudslides that obliterated our camp and the cave resurgence we were exploring. We tried to build a dam to reroute the mud pouring into our cave. It seemed like a disaster. And yet, as we conspired to find way to deal with over 1000 feet of zero visibility, Dr. Bill Stone asked me to think much bigger. He said, “let’s find a way to map a cave we can’t even see.” That was the birth of the 3D Mapper. I was driving Dr. Stone’s mapper in Wakulla Springs a few years later. Great things come from adversity.
In the interim, mud and rain won’t slow down our expedition, but it does mean that we’ll be a little dirtier at the end of this. Hopefully water quality will improve as the rain abates. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
It’s all building a story where we triumph over difficulties!
