28th February

Work commitments and recovering injuries are affecting the mid-week digging effort lately.

Report by Jon

Three diggers (Jon, Tav and Duncan) braved the warm and damp conditions to convene at the meeting place at the appointed hour. Finding the team inquorate, they patiently waited for absent friends and discussed the issues of the day. Hot topics included the cost of beer in Singapore, the recovery time after eye surgery and the minimum price of a decent bottle of red wine.

After that, they went home.

14th February

Report by Tav.

A Valentines Day Massacre. Nick, Mike, Dunc, Tav and Jon. 58 counted, sloppy and heavy bags removed, Jon admitted that he couldn’t count in numbers, which brings last weeks estimation into question! The passage ahead is widening at depth.

7th February

Report by Jon

Four diggers (Jon, Nick, Mike and Tav) braved the mild and dry conditions but were surrounded by a rival group of webbed creatures. Holding their nerve, the diggers chatted amongst themselves, pretending to wait for a fifth member, reputed to be also attending. Their patience paid off and the rivals soon dispersed.

At the sharp end, the pit contained more than a few inches of water. However, carefully laid plans from previous expeditions allowed digging to continue from the top of the heap. The dig continues as before.

The success of the evening was jeopardised by a systems failure which resulted in some data loss. Specifically, the bucket count was not backed up. A hastily convened business continuity meeting, on the walk back, yielded two estimates: 25 and 47, that is, 36+/-11.

I took an action to see if we could improve upon this. I have subsequently analysed the data. A least squares fit to a linear curve confirms the mean value of 36 as the intercept, but the sparsity of the data precludes any estimate of the gradient of the curve.

The lack of a statistically significant sample prevents the testing of any other meaningful hypothesis. I have therefore been forced into making an engineering decision. We can state, to a certainty of 100%, that the previously proposed figure of 36 is fully consistent with all of the known statistics of the bucket count.

January

03/01/2019

Roz, Jon, Mike and Lee Hawkeswell

The induced rapid speleogenesis (27/12/2018) had the desired effect, the slab had been reduced to manageable pieces. Some sediment was also removed.