CATACOMBS GATING PROJECT
By Caren and Sullivan Beck

It finally happened! After much talking and planning, and more talking, the FSS finally installed a gate on Catacombs Cave. This incredible 6500 foot aquifer cave is located in south Ocala on private land. We met at the cave at 10:00 sharp (well, most of us did, that is, Sullivan, Caren, Buford, Sean, Becky, Brandon, Ken, Adam, and Bill B.) Sullivan had already welded the metal gate and so it was just a matter of putting it into place 20 feet inside the cave entrance at a small restriction. Sounds easy enough, right? Not really, but anything worthwhile usually requires some work, or a lot of work, as the case may be. So, Ken and Sul rigged a rope and hauled the gate down. Initially we powered the drill with Adam’s car using Sean’s DC/AC converter. Unfortunately, it didn’t supply quite enough juice to keep the drill going, plus we needed the masonry drill bit, which was coming in a bit with Brian. So we waited for Brain to arrive, and we waited, and we waited. And we called him on his cell, and we waited some more. After a second call and more directions he finally showed up promising to trust his gut feelings over his GPS coordinates. So, then we had his generator and drill bit and we were ready to get started. The task was tedious. The guys drilled into the rock limestone walls around the gate and put the stakes holding the gate into place.

There was only enough room for 2 or 3 people to work on the gate at any given time, so rather than stand around looking pretty the Roberts, Adam and I decided to explore the cave. It was beautiful as usual. The water level was very low. We caved to the Square Room near the back. We didn’t see any bats, and we only saw a little bit of guano (compared to our last trip in September). We did see the bats near the entrance as they prepared to take their evening flight, so the colony must have moved to a new location within the cave. While we were caving, Bill, Ken, and Buford went to the hardware store to buy concrete and hydraulic cement to secure the stakes and stabilize some of the rock around the gate. It took several hours of drilling to place the stakes. After they were in place, Sul and Sean mixed concrete and Brian, Buford, Ken, and Bill poured it. It was 5:30 by the time we stopped working. We have to return another day to finish some additional concrete work and a little welding.

The FSS wishes to thank the landowner, Peggy, for her wonderful attitude and support towards the FSS and preservation of these unique environments. We appreciate the opportunity to protect and enjoy this magnificent karst feature.