Portroe 28.12.2011

Pollonora Cave 04-06.09.2011

Dzisiaj w sądzie dla miasta Gort odczytano oficjalne wyniki śledztwa w sprawie śmierci Artura Kozłowskiego. Dowiedzieliśmy sie że Artek...utonął...Prawdziwe przyczyny tej tragedii już na zawsze zostaną tajemnicą...Garda zwróciła wyposażenie Artura a, w tym moją kamerę Go Pro którą, Artur miał w kieszeni swojego suchego skafandra. Artur raz jeszcze zostawił po sobie prawdziwy skarb jakim jest nagranie wspólnego z Gerardem nurkowania w Pollonora Cave które miało miejsce dzień wcześniej przed feralnym ostatnim nurkowaniem Artura.Warunki panujące w jaskini są trudne do opisania. Osady które chcąc nie chcąc wzbudzają sie w trakcie nurkowania powodują kompletny brak widoczności. Pollonora jest jedną z niewielu w tym rejonie jaskiń bez przepływowych. Woda jest krystalicznie czysta. Niestety osady redukują ten atut jaskini prawie do zera. Spore i długie restrykcje ( bardzo niski sufit ), duża głębokość ( 52m ) oraz duży dystans ( ok 1km ) pozwalają zaliczyć Pollonore do jaskiń o najwyższym stopniu trudności technicznych.
Przed Wami pierwsza seria screenschotów video materiałów z tej fascynującej, tragicznie zakończonej wyprawy...
Kamera: Gerard
Edycja: Waldasso

Exploracja to słodki gwałt zadany naturze...

Artur Kozlowski - MARBLE ARCH - CASCADES CAVE SYSTEMS
CONNECTION 2010

   

Hawaiian surfs world record wave Portugal 30m...

Hawaiian surfs world record wave

Bulloch Harbour with Jim Warny ( Belgian cave diver)

Irish Cave diving: passion, obsession, the last frontiers… A tribute to Artur Kozlowski - Jim Warny

Irish Cave diving: passion, obsession, the last frontiers…
A tribute to Artur Kozlowski - Jim Warny


Thurs 3rd Nov 2011
MacNeill Theatre (Hamilton building), Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm

Doolin West Coast Of Ireland 31.10.2011

Riders on the storm - praca nad filmem

To już prawie 1,5 roku od kiedy wystartowały prace nad tym filmem.Do 6 września
pracowałem nad nim razem z Arturem. Kończę go z konieczności sam.

 Niestety nie będę miał możliwości pożreć się z Artkiem na temat tego i owego w filmie ale parę rzeczy
na które, zwracał mi uwagę a których, ze względów czysto ambicjonalnych nie chciałem
zmieniać postanowiłem zamieścić w takiej formie jakiej sobie tego życzył.

  Mam wielka nadzieje że, film będzie ukończony przez zbliżającym sie wielkimi krokami
sezonem festiwali filmów outdoorowych 2011. A więc mój deadline to styczeń 2011.

Asta la Pasta ( cokolwiek to znaczy:)
Waldasso

Riders on the storm - wallpaper

Artur "Riders on the Storm " Drysuit.

Artur "Riders on the Storm " Drysuit., a set on Flickr.
During the 2011 Artur asked a few drysuit and underwater light's company
about possibility to sponsored a new drysuit and light's for his explorations.
Everybody said now or proposed aprox. 20% reduced from oryginal price...

High Pressure - The Story of Ireland's First Big Wave Surf Contest

High Pressure - The Story of Ireland's First Big Wave Surf Contest is a forthcoming documentary presenting inside views of what was considered a groundbreaking event in Irish waters, held at Mullaghmore Head in February 2011. Along the journey towards the contest, it explores deeper elements of the sport and the value of waves as a natural resource along the Irish west coast. Credits: Produced, directed and edited by Dave Mottershead Daniela Gross Camera Dave Mottershead Daniela Gross Peter Clyne Peter Martin Michal Czubala Glyn Ovens Peter Conroy Barry Mottershead Photos Aaron Pierce Soundtrack Mark Black For further enquiries contact mullyproductions@gmail.com

"Frontiers in Diving" - Talk Series 2011-12 | Dublin University Sub Aqua Club dusac.org

Irish Cave diving: passion, obsession, the last frontiers… A tribute to Artur Kozlowski - Jim Warny Thurs 3rd Nov 2011 MacNeill Theatre (Hamilton building), Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm
Darkstar deep wreck diving - Mark Dixon and Jeff Cornish
Thurs 17th Nov 2011 MacNeill Theatre (Hamilton building), Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm
Hyperbaric medicine - Des Quigley Thurs 24th Nov 2011 Venue TBA, Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm Irish underwater archaeology - Karl Brady and Connie Kelleher Thurs 8th Dec 2011 Venue TBA, Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm
Malin Coastguard - Derek Flanagan Thurs Jan 12th 2012 Venue TBA, Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm
INFOMAR: Seabed Mapping & 3D Visualisation of ship wrecks - Charise McKeon and Koen Verbruggen
Thurs 2nd Feb 2012 Venue TBA, Trinity College Dublin @ 7.30pm Parking and Transport Finding the venue

Przypadek zaginionego i nigdy nie odnalezionego Bena Mcdanielsa...

Ben McDaniel disappeared while on a scuba diving trip to Vortex Spring in North Florida. He was last seen entering the deep underwater cave at about 7pm. No one has seen him since. Rescue and recovery divers, including some of the world's top technical cave divers, have searched for almost a year-and can not find any sign of Ben. Some people are certain he perished in the cave. Others, including some who knew him well, have other theories. Was it an accident? A hoax? A murder? This journalistic documentary film, by Jill Heinerth and Robert McClellan, is an investigation to answer the question: Where is Ben McDaniel?

Chris Jewell - Tribut to Artur Kozlowski

http://www.casj.co.uk/ ( Tribut on original Chris Jewell's site )

I make no apologies that this story is told from my perspective or is very narrow in its perception or scope, this is simply the story of my friendship and diving partnership with Artur. I’ve also put in links to Artur’s side of the story as I think it makes for interesting reading. At Easter in 2008 I did my first cave diving in Ireland, in Fermanagh to be precise. Before I went I was conscious that there simply wasn’t anyone sump diving over there at the time. All the records of previous exploration were done by UK cave divers and members of the CDG and no one had done anything in Fermanagh since the 90’s. I figured Ireland had lots to offer and that with pretty much with no one else on the scene I’d have rich pickings for many years. The 2008 trip was really successful and I even came over to the SUICRO symposium that Autumn. At the symposium I listened to Artur talk about Polltoomery but I certainly didn’t think of him as a caver or someone who would be interested in the sort of diving I was doing. To my surprise as Easter 2009 approached and we planned a return I began to get a few emails from him about Fermanagh. I wasn’t best pleased about this but at the same time I reasoned that as he was a ‘local’ I could hardly be precious or claim ownership of any sites. He made some advances in John Thomas and then turned his attention to Upper Cradle. We’d dived here previously (Simon Cornhill, Hilary Greaves and I) and unknown to us found new underwater passage whilst trying to reach the Monastir way. Artur carried on from the end of our line and surfaced in a new section of cave which he called the Northern Way. He showed his talents here, whilst we’d simply blundered into the sump laying line he followed his compass and knew he was going somewhere different. I was also impressed with his approach to diving these sites which seemed to throw accepted practice out of the window. The ‘traditional’ approach to this sort of site would be with a wetsuit and a pair of 7ltr bottles. A diver can effectively self-carry with this kit and have a 40-45minute dive before hitting thirds and getting too cold. Usually you would also wait for low water levels in the hope of getting good visibility. http://arturconrad.blogspot.com/2010/05/upper-cradle-hole-discovery-of-northern.html Artur’s approach was very different. Due to owning different kit and finding it more awkward to transport cylinders from Fermanagh back to Dublin he preferred to take several much larger bottles. In fact for Upper Cradle he used 2 x 12lts and 1 x Ali80. He also didn’t own a thick cave diving wetsuit so all his exploration was done in his drysuit at this point. Finally waiting for good weather in Fermanagh is like waiting for Christmas in Hell so he assumed the visibility would be terrible and preferred to use the strong water flow to find the source of the continuing cave. Rather than see the way on, he’d feel it. All combined these new tactics gave him a long time underwater in relative comfort in which to figure out the sump, lay line and survey. I’m sure this approach to diving also stemmed from the fact that he didn’t have a group of peers and veteran cave divers telling him how it should be done – he just did what he thought best – and it gave some excellent results. Over Easter of 2009 I was back in Fermanagh with Dave Garman and we arranged to meet Artur and Al Kennedy for a few trips including a dive in Upper Cradle to see this new section of cave and even attempt a surface voice connection. Dave and I wore wetsuits, home made buoyancy bags, wellies, helmet mounted lights and ‘small’ bottles whilst Artur was in his drysuit with a pair of 12s and a canister light..... ..the approach could hardly be different. It was quite something to see him caving and climbing with his handheld light and crawling around in sharp cave in his drysuit. He gave the impression this worked perfectly and I was quite jealous although on later reflection his drysuit never seemed very dry to me and a wetsuit appeared in his kit so I’m not convinced it was the best for all conditions. I was also very impressed with his determination and ability as a dry caver even at this point. When we later met Al Kennedy on the surface where we thought the new section of cave lay I watched him hammer at rock and attempt squeezes only a veteran digger and explorer would attempt – he was seriously keen! After looking round the ‘Northern Way’ we made our way to the ‘Monastir Way’ which is where Simon and I had previously been heading for, attracted by the same thing Artur was – an undived sump. Artur had tried the main sump on a previous trip without joy then put 13m of line into sump 3a, which we now focused on. Artur dived first and laid 52m of new line. Then it was my turn. About 15m into the sump however I encountered an underwater squeeze. I was still wearing my buoyancy bag and where Artur had pushed through in his drysuit with only minimal digging the elbow of my inflator wouldn’t push past the ceiling. It took me 10minutes digging underwater before I could get past the restriction and although I carried on I never reached the end of his line before hitting thirds. It seemed ridiculous to me that he’d been able to get further in a drysuit that I had in a wetsuit but I was fast learning that a thin membrane suit can be pretty slim. http://arturconrad.blogspot.com/2009/04/towards-monastir-sin-k-team-chris.html I did however get my revenge that trip with the discovery of ongoing passage in Monastir cliff. Whilst Artur was else where I had laid 15m of line in very tight cave, all feet first and going with the downstream flow. The following day I was back with Artur. I dived first (in my drysuit so I was already adopting some of his ideas) and pushed on for another 15m before hitting thirds. Then it was his turn and I sat back to see what he could do. After 15minutes he returned and simply said to me “you’re a tough bastard!” he’d found the cave very tight, reached the end of my line and retreated. Of course knowing Artur anthing like that is a red rag to a bull and I knew he wouldn’t let this challenge go easily. http://forum.technicaldiving.ie/index.php/topic,1462.msg8878.html#msg8878    We kept in touch after the 2009 trip, I read his articles and exploration reports with interest and we swapped emails about various caves. I would sometimes send him pages he wanted from the CDG newsletter or look up sites. We had a gentleman’s agreement to leave Monastir cliff till I was next over and I also asked the same thing of him for Shannon and Pollnagossan. The rest I told him were fair game. One site I’d dived in Fermanagh was Ahinwrawn and he and Al Kennedy had a disastrous trip here when a rock fell from the roof smashing into Arturs face and keeping him off diving for around 3 months but certainly not dampening his enthusiasm and I know he still wanted to return there.   http://arturconrad.blogspot.com/2009/07/aghinrawn-bloody-sunday.html Easter 2010 saw me back in Fermanagh. The student caving symposium was on so we spent the first four days of our trip at the event. I’d arranged to meet up with Artur for diving but was somewhat dismayed to find him on a bender. He told me later that he never liked having ‘a’ beer – if he was going to have a drink he was going to have a lot of drinks! On the morning of our first days diving I dragged him out of the sleeping bag he was sharing and we prepared to go. However shortly before we left he opened a can of cider (it was 11am)… and I knew (or at least hoped) that he wouldn’t be diving today. He let off plenty of steam during the symposium but once it was over it was back to the serious business of cave diving – and Artur did take it seriously. We dived together in Monastir cliff for two days and this time he was in a wetsuit a wellies! He made an excellent advance on the first day whilst my dive was limited to clearing branches and other rubbish from the passage. Then on the second day I tied my line reel into the end of his old line coming from the Monastir Way sump 3a. I returned triumphantly with a shout to the dry chamber and he knew we’d done it! He then went on to make the through dive and prove the connection – a dive which required serious nerve. http://arturconrad.blogspot.com/2010/05/im-very-pleased-to-announce-that.html After an already eventful week things were about to get even more ‘exciting’ with a trip down Pollnagossan. I had dived here twice previously but been stopped in sump 2 by line issues and then a squeeze which needed to be dug through. I knew exactly what I had to do this time and so went into sump two first, with a plan for Artur to follow 15mins later. Sump two is particularly unpleasant with almost zero visibility and lots of silt on the bottom. To make it more complicated there was a line trap approximately two thirds of the way through where the old line was pulled in tight into a crack. To get round this I had previously laid a new section of line in a square around the restriction, using two silt screws as belays. Shortly afterwards the gravel meets the ceiling and this is where I’d turned back in 2009. On our 2010 trip I managed to dig through this section and then wait for Artur on the surface. Together we then headed for the end of the cave passing 7 known sumps and looking for the undived sump 10. The “easy walking passage alternating with a series of short sumps” described by Martyn Farr in 1983 failed to materialise, instead we had knee deep mud and by the time we got to sump 10 I was pretty unimpressed. To add to this feeling there was a line in sump 10 where we were sure there shouldn’t be. We passed this and the line continued into sump 11. Artur dived first with me close behind as we’d done in the preceding sumps. We expected it to be short but 70m later he gave me the signal something was wrong (repeated squeezes on my hand as vis was zero) and we turned back. On the surface he explained he’d found an abandon reel in front of a squeeze and asked if I wanted to go first? I declined without much hesitation but Artur was still keen and we agreed that I’d give him 20mins before following him into the water. I was hoping he’d come back and I wouldn’t have to dive but after a very cold 20minutes there was no sign of him and so I entered the sump. After some unpleasant unwater squeezing I surfaced in a chamber where I was in the water up to my chest. There was no sign of Artur but the line continued onward down into another sump. I was getting really cold by now and just as I was debating what to do he surfaced. We were both cold and luckily for me he didn’t take too much persuading to turn around. Artur had his own difficulties getting back through sump 11 but I was unaware of this. I was focused on getting back out safely and the underwater squeeze I’d dug through in sump 2 on the way in was playing on my mind. It seemed to me that if it collapsed it would be very difficult to dig from above. Back at the start of sump 2 we both wanted to go first. No one wants to be the last diver on the way out usually and here the sense of isolation was even more pronounced. However I knew the cave better than he did and I’d dived sump 2 several times by now so I knew it was right to let him exit first. The only condition I put down was that he would wait for me at the bottom of the gravel slope incase it collapsed and he could dig it for me. He did this and I easily got through the squeeze, gave him the signal and sent him off ahead of me. Two minutes later I followed slowly until I reached my first silt screw, part of the line I’d laid to navigate around the line trap. I moved onto my new line and headed for the second silt screw. Just as I reached it I found a hand on the line – “what the hell?” I thought, “he is supposed to be long gone by now”. I gave him a few moments but the hand stayed where it was. We couldn’t communicate in the zero visibility and we didn’t have any pre-arranged signals to deal with this. If he’d have given me the signal something was wrong we’d have turned back for the surface on the far side of sump 2 and he didn’t want this. After another short while I passed over his hand and continued along the line figuring that I had to at least get myself out in one piece. I moved forward not knowing where he was and began to doubt I’d actually touched him – was I imagining it? With one hand on the line I decided to reach back and see what I could find – swiping with my hand I caught him and grabbed him. I pulled him towards me and put his hand on the line the gave him a shove in the right direction and waited till I felt he’d gone. Alone once again I made a slow exit wondering if Artur was ahead of me somewhere or whether I’d lost him underwater. To my immense relief he was there when I surfaced and all I had to say to him was “you lucky bastard!” I vowed never to go back to Pollnagossan and although Artur said the same initially he did keep mentioning it too me and said he was considering a return. http://arturconrad.blogspot.com/2010/04/pollnadossan-11-sumps-and-counting.html The week in Ireland cemented our friendship. We talked about cave diving and everything else every evening and I found Artur an excellent companion. I also learnt about his laid back style.. People are usually waiting for me to fettle kit and pack for trips but with Artur the tables were turned. Late morning after I was packed he’d still be drying his wetsuit and covering it in large amounts of glue whilst I waited. Early (or even late) afternoon departures were not unheard of.  Artur and I had a lot in common – he was an excellent self-publicist, something I’ve been accused of and everyone says I always pose in photos whilst Artur made no bones about the fact that he did. We’d infact started cave diving around the same time, both from different backgrounds but both ambitious and keen to make a name for ourselves. I’m not always convinced of the benefit of tourist dives and Artur was positively hostile to the idea of cave diving for any reason other than exploration! In short we were on the same wave length, the only difference being that Artur was closer to the more serious and obsessive end of the spectrum. He said to me several times that Ireland had all the cave diving he needed and so I was surprised and delighted when he asked if there was space on the expedition to Pena Colorada in Mexico we were trying to arrange. I also knew he was signed up to go on Bill Stones J2 expedition in 2012 so the lure of exciting foreign caving expeditions was getting him. Our first trip abroad was unexpected. I was due to go to Spain with John Volanthen but at the last minute John had to go to France to take part in the search for the missing cave diver Eric Establie. I figured there was only one person I knew who could drop everything at short notice and come to Spain and that was Artur. As it happened the CDG divers taking part in the rescue attempt in France needed a few things from the UK so we stopped off in the Herault on our way down where Artur was able to meet Rick Stanton and John Volanthen. The following day we arrived in the Pyrennes in the middle of a storm which set the scene for the rest of the trip. I’d promised Artur sun in Spain but all we seemed to get was drizzle. On the first day we carried kit upto the entrance of Fou de Bor with help from our Spanish hosts. The rain did stop for us and we began to get hopeful. After many short but very sweaty caving trips we had kit set up at the sump and began to put it all together. To make matters more difficult there was a steep muddy slope down to the water and no dry land at the bottom. It was getting late by the time everything was ready but we dropped below the surface to find out what the cave was like. Visibility was terrible but we expected as much as the water in the pool was static. We hoped we’d meet nice clear water pretty soon but when we got below 20m and into the full flow of the underground river it was clear that conditions were terrible. We turned the dive and headed out. For 3 days we waited for conditions to improve whilst we were given a guided tour of the local area by David Magdalena. It was pleasant but really wasn’t what we’d travelled to Spain to do and it sapped my morale. Finally though we got to make our big dive, the story of which I have told in more detail in other places. One thing probably not communicated before though about that dive was the real sense of team work and shared underwater exploration. Generally speaking in the poor visibility we were both used to, diving as a team didn’t happen and swimming side by side down new passages definitely not! However in Spain just after I tied on the reel we descended a 20m shaft together, side by side. I can still picture this clearly. Working the reel and watching my rebreather closely I descended with my head up, looking back to watch the line whilst Artur was head down looking into the new passage. As we swam off into the unknown I took the lead with Artur behind finding places to attach the belays. We waited for each other on the return and completed our decompression together – for a solo cave diver used to being independent this was about as close to team diving as I’d ever come before and I was very happy to have Artur as my team mate. We repeated our process in Bordonera a few days later with Artur running out the line whilst I did the belays. Back at 6m on our hour long deco stop we swapped messages on my dive slate and filmed each other for the film I’d later make. The journey back to the UK wouldn’t usually justify a mention however on this occasion I was feeling a bit tired and in need of some comfort food. After 3 hours a sign for McDonald’s provided the perfect answer and we were soon stuffing our faces. Three hours later another McDonald’s sign loomed on the motorway and so for a laugh we pulled in for another burger – both ashamed of eating at the golden arches twice in one day and promising to say nothing to anyone else! However as evening approached we began to look for somewhere to eat. In a French town we located the local hypermarket but as it was a Saturday, 7.30pm and France is a backward country – they were closing for the night and refused us entry. We drove round the town, then tried the next one and as it approached 9pm it became clear that there was no where to eat in France… except bastard McDonalds! So we ended up consuming a third Big Mac and swearing repeatedly never to tell anyone.    Although it was a whole year before I saw Artur again we were in frequent contact online, especially after we agreed to return to Spain in the summer of 2011. Having said that getting verbal commitment to go on the trip was easier than getting him to book a ferry – just the week before we were due to leave I was still pestering him and half wondering if we’d be going away at all. This would be our most ambitious trip, driving all the way to Spain in a large yellow transit van of unknown vintage purchased only a few weeks before, spending two weeks exploring two different sites and doing a series of dives which for me would be the biggest dives I’d ever done. With this in mind I was therefore slightly anxious (and amused) that the night before he left Artur was still asking me questions about gas mixes whilst I’d had my cylinders filled for weeks already. I will be writing a proper detailed report on the trip and what we accomplished but this seems like a fitting place to put down some more memories about Artur. Our spirits were high on the journey down and we kept the banter going for many hours before one of us would eventually sleep – Artur objected to paying for the toll roads and from his lead I developed an aversion to them as well so we did our best to avoid them. His trusty old mobile phone had now been replaced with a modern smart phone – an Android, and with some deal on data roaming he was never off the bloody thing! I even took to calling him Artur Android to make the point when he seemed engrossed in the phone. I also learnt how much of a gannet he really was – our shared food was always in danger of disappearing when I wasn’t watching. One day we purchased a pack of chocolate biscuits and ate half during the afternoon. The next day when I got up I couldn’t find them in the van.. because Artur had got up in the middle of the night and had a midnight snack! The only piece of food which was safe was strong cheese which he couldn’t stand and I remember him sitting outside the tent with an umbrella whilst I smeared bread with strong Spanish hard cheese. The dives were very successful and although we dived together on the first dive in each cave, in each case on the second dive we agreed that he would go on further whilst I did the survey work. Despite this the exploration still felt like a team effort and he never claimed the glory for himself. For my part it was clear that Artur was in his element here. He had the experience, the equipment and what he achieved was very impressive. Chris Jewell http://www.casj.co.uk/ ( Tribut on original Chris Jewell's site )

KOLOSY 2010 - Artur Kozłowski (English subtitles)

(0.10) - Area around Gort is probably, as we are trying to prove , as I thought we would after some time, one of the largest systems of subterranean caves, underwater caves in Europe, if not in the whole world. 

(0.26) - Was it ever explored before in any way? - Yes it was, by Martyn Farr, my teacher. They organised the so called Dark Shamrock Expeditions in the 1990s. In ’90s they managed to explore nearly 3 kilometres of the caves, gradually exploring from one ponor and the other. They reached the limits of their capability, it was also matter of their age and other interests. For the last four years together with my friend, Jim Warren, Belgian cave diver, we explored another 9 kilometres in the same region, so that makes 9, almost 10, the total of nearly 13 kilometres and I guess there is potentially another 10 kilometres. Connection of them, it could be one of the longest siphons in the world and definitely in Europe. 

(1.29) The truth is that what was shown in the movie, it was all 20 metres away from the entry, from Polledeelin and Polltoophill. I can't afford to take anyone further but still, the conditions are the best in these places, but this is much more of a challenge (hard core ). 

(1.49) Some people ask me „Why do you swim there? Let's go to France or Mexico, you can see some 30 metres there.” But this is not only what you see, but also what you feel – I know this ceiling is somewhere beneath me, this combination of water and darkness... I think darkness is the important element here. Martyn Farr wrote a famous book The History And Development Of Cave Diving, The Darkness Beckons , which can be translated “the darkness is calling you”. I am currently translating the book into Polish for the 360 Publishing House – the book should be published around July. And there the darkness and the attraction of the darkness is a crucial element, like there is an hole in the ground , you don't know what's in there, you just see the darkness, which means... When I see, even in clear water the continuation of the passage, it still ends as a dark spot. There is something and I have to see it. It's like, you know, we can see what's on the surface of the moon, it sounds like a bit of a cliche, we can fly in a plane above the mountains, any of them, we can place a probe on the sea bottom – in an underwater cave, or in any cave for that matter, you never know what's behind the corner. There can be the most beautiful chamber of the British Islands or in Europe, but as I said, it's more often the case that it's not there, but the only way to find it out is by trying to get there yourself. So it's in fact an element of maiden exploration, maiden journey and probably the way to fulfil the dreams of each young boy – exploring some systems. 

(3.40) For the last few years I've been trying to understand what really attracts me in this and it's not all logical – there is also something primal in all that and it does make sense because when you look at it, our ancestors used to live in caves. It was a place where no bear can get you – you were home, you were safe. Besides, it's proven, though I don't know to what extent, it's a theory, that many instances of such behaviour have been genetically transferred to us. Right? We don't really understand them today, nowadays they are useless, for example, women are afraid of spiders, long ago they had to pick berries in the woods and had to be careful about such things... And who knows, maybe our ancestor lived in the caves, but maybe not for all of us because not everybody likes caves. So it could also be such an element. With this womb – I think it's a good analogy, and nice imagery, but I don't know if there is really anything in common. 

(4.40) There are many plans. Two years ago I found the deepest cave of the British Islands, Pollatoomary, at 103 metres – it still continues. I needed some time, these two years, to get ready. There are such tight parts that you have to get rid of most equipment and push yourself through 30-centimetre crevices , under water, at 30 metres and further on it doesn't get any better. Visibility is similar. That's why I needed some time to prepare myself. I'm going back there this year. One expedition to Spain with my friend, Chris Jewell, another one to Italy – a similar system with a similar visibility, but there are 20 kolimetres unexplored as yet, waiting... A river disappearing under water in Slovenia and appearing again in Italy... We'll see. And next year I hope for the expedition to J2 with Bill Stone, to Mexico, in search for the deepest cave in the world. 

(5.42) The very name of this traverse, Riders on the Storm, the very meaning of it... People may think it's about riders, but... they are sort of carried by the storm. It was supposed to be an allegory of the storm that life is, but this is also the origin of my tactics... Just like most skin-divers wait for dry weather to have better visibility and better, safer conditions, there never used to be better weather here and even if there was, it never changed anything for the visibility. I understood that in fact stronger current is helping me when I can’t see anything., I don't know where the continuation is, in which direction I have to swim, and in this way the water itself is showing me the way, so I tried to use it to my benefit. And the floods there are really disastrous … like the one last year because the cave system is still active... it's the main system that drains the water from this part of Ireland. The caves form a natural reservoir that collects the water supply. For various reasons they cannot fulfill this task at the moment and everything is flooded... Trees are pushed inside, the lines are destroyed... practically after each winter the situation is the same and I have to start from scratch again. It's just that I have it mapped so I know where it's going, so I have two months to go back... to retrieve it. And to try to go further.

Barcelona 2011-wakacje:)

Barcelona 2011, a set on Flickr.

Artur w telewizji Hiszpańskiej w trakcie ostatniej wyprawy exploracyjnej do jaskini Fou De Bour

Krzysztof Starnawski o Arturze...

Wielka strata dla polskiego nurkowania jaskiniowego
Dla Artura eksploracja jaskiń była najwyższym priorytetem dla której poświęcał cała swoja energie.
Już dawno nie widziałem tak intensywnie doskonalącej się osoby w pokonywaniu trudności stojących na drodze do nowych odkryć.
Side mount, rebreathery, wielobutlowe konfiguracje to były tylko narzędzia, które miały mu służyć do kolejnych eksploracji.
Z dużym szacunkiem obserwowałem jego dokonania i podziwiałem determinacje i konsekwencje w działaniu.
Cześć Jego Pamięci

Artur Kozlowski - ostatnia droga...

Cueva Molino at Bustablado

Artur Kozlowski - Recovery action after fatal accident in Pollonora Cave Kiltartan Co. Galway 06.09.2011

Artur Kozlowski - recovery action 06.09.2011

Artur Kozlowski - funeral ceremony

Hi! Message for every everybody who knows Arturt :
"Say goodbay to Artur" ceremony will start on wednesday 14.09.2011 at
17.00 pm to 19.00 pm in Funeral House in Gort.
Main funeral ceremony will start the next day on the 15.09.2011 at 11.00am
in Kiltartan Parish.
Let's all meet there.
Regards Waldasso.

Artur Kozlowski on Bullock Harbour 22.05.2010

Artur Kozlowski on Bulloch Harbour 22.05.2010, a set on Flickr.