steve2281
July 28th, 2006, 10:11 PM
It had been about seven months since our last dive in Cannonball. I was hoping, somehow, that the hill wouldn't be as steep and long as I remembered it. It was (steep and long).
Although we both had made about a dozen dives in Cannonball, this was our first visit since full cave certification. That being the case, the dive plan was simple. The plan: make every jump in the cave. We chose to dive wet; our first wetsuit dives in a MO cave.
Vis in the lake was about as close to zero as it can get. We tied off on shore and dropped the reel in the prescribed manner. Dive 1: Going down the line in the lake, the zero vis went from brown to pitch black. I felt the cold before the vis cleared. Within a fraction of a second, the zero vis had turned to 30' and the 83* lake water was 58* spring water. After tying off the reel, we entered through the restriction. The flow was the lightest I have experienced. Entry could be made without pulling, ceiling walking, or flailing about. Vis was good, 30' or better. We stayed on the mainline and took a slow pace to get reaquainted with the cave. The arches were great; I could look at them all day. Arriving at the pit, we jumped to the right to circle around the top; farther around than I had guessed. Back at the mainline we pulled the reels and managed to stick to the dive plan by resisting the temtation to bounce into the depths. We headed back and put in a reel to the back side of the second jump setting up a circuit for our second dive. We exited about as slow as you can go. 61 min, max depth 58', penetration about 800'
SI was pretty nice; the clouds helped us out and the bugs stayed away.
Dive 2: We left O2 outside the cave at the start of the mainline. Again, the entry was easy; we took a bit quicker pace as we headed for the jump that would complete the circuit set up on the first dive. This is a smaller tunnel that runs, more or less, parallel to the main tunnel. A bit tight and silty in here. We pulled the reel completing the circuit and stayed on the main line a short distance to the pit. We dropped down a bit, and checked out an area we had not seem before. We turned the dive at 32 min and took the thick downline back up to the main tunnel. As we exited, we pull the reel on the front side our circuit. We decided against doing the first jump to end the dive, the cold was setting in. We did about 5 min of deco at the lip that overhangs the spring entrance at 18'. The lake water and spring water were mixing at this depth making it the perfect spot. 65min, penetration about 800', vis 30'.
Didn't make all the jumps; guess we gotta go back.
Although we both had made about a dozen dives in Cannonball, this was our first visit since full cave certification. That being the case, the dive plan was simple. The plan: make every jump in the cave. We chose to dive wet; our first wetsuit dives in a MO cave.
Vis in the lake was about as close to zero as it can get. We tied off on shore and dropped the reel in the prescribed manner. Dive 1: Going down the line in the lake, the zero vis went from brown to pitch black. I felt the cold before the vis cleared. Within a fraction of a second, the zero vis had turned to 30' and the 83* lake water was 58* spring water. After tying off the reel, we entered through the restriction. The flow was the lightest I have experienced. Entry could be made without pulling, ceiling walking, or flailing about. Vis was good, 30' or better. We stayed on the mainline and took a slow pace to get reaquainted with the cave. The arches were great; I could look at them all day. Arriving at the pit, we jumped to the right to circle around the top; farther around than I had guessed. Back at the mainline we pulled the reels and managed to stick to the dive plan by resisting the temtation to bounce into the depths. We headed back and put in a reel to the back side of the second jump setting up a circuit for our second dive. We exited about as slow as you can go. 61 min, max depth 58', penetration about 800'
SI was pretty nice; the clouds helped us out and the bugs stayed away.
Dive 2: We left O2 outside the cave at the start of the mainline. Again, the entry was easy; we took a bit quicker pace as we headed for the jump that would complete the circuit set up on the first dive. This is a smaller tunnel that runs, more or less, parallel to the main tunnel. A bit tight and silty in here. We pulled the reel completing the circuit and stayed on the main line a short distance to the pit. We dropped down a bit, and checked out an area we had not seem before. We turned the dive at 32 min and took the thick downline back up to the main tunnel. As we exited, we pull the reel on the front side our circuit. We decided against doing the first jump to end the dive, the cold was setting in. We did about 5 min of deco at the lip that overhangs the spring entrance at 18'. The lake water and spring water were mixing at this depth making it the perfect spot. 65min, penetration about 800', vis 30'.
Didn't make all the jumps; guess we gotta go back.