February 6, 1999

Today's mission was conducted by Brian Kakuk(left) and Matt Matthes (right). Unfortunately the visibility in the main tunnels was only about 3 meters (10 ft). They managed to run the digital wall mapper to K Tunnel, but were unable to continue on because of the difficulty in following the line [photos ©1999 Barbara Anne am Ende].

Today, Bill's son Dave (11 years old) showed up at Wakulla 2 for a week learning about the expedition. He'll be writing a daily column for the website during the time he's here.

Saturday February 6, 1999
David's Corner:

Today I arrived in Tallahassee, Florida at 1:03 p.m., coming from Gaithersburg, Maryland, through Atlanta, Georgia. My dad picked me up and then I met the team members of the Wakulla 2 expedition. Next I got into my customized wet suit and went to get equipment from out of the water. I also pulled hydrilla (an underwater plant that grows rapidly) from out of the water. I then saw some scuba divers get lifted out of the water in a diving bell that was 100 feet under water. I got to help pull the life support lines out of the water as the bell was raised. Then I saw them doing their decompression in the habitat chamber. In the picture below, my dad, me, and two other team members lift the cave mapper into one of the storage trucks at night. Also National Geographic filmed Bill Stone, me, and lots of other team members. I got to meet Boyd Mattson, host of National Geographic Explorer television show. Last, I did my homework and then went to my cabin to go to bed.

After today's mapping run, the digital wall mapper is raised up into the gear trailer. Here the unit is steadied by Patty Mortara (left), Bill Stone (rear, grey sweatshirt), Dave Stone (front, second from right) and Henry Elsner (right). In the trailer, the decapitated person in a red jacket running the winch is James Brown. To the right of James in the trailer is Doug Arnberg [photo ©1999 Barbara Anne am Ende].

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