N Florida Xmas Caves Report

[theskull]

Hi everybody,

Wish all of you that are qualified were here. All is fantastic.

First the generals: Best weather I've had here at Xmastime--high in 60s, low in 40s. Best conditions I've had here ever--viz is great, flow is low, and the crowds are VERY low this time (just a handful of divers around!)

Dive Outpost fed us a nice Xmas Eve Dinner and a VERY nice Xmas Dinner.

Got to have dinner with a recently moved dive buddy on the way through Atlanta, and had a nice leisurely paced trip down this time.

Arrived on Dec 23.

Specifics and dive reports on next page. :)

theskull

[theskull]

12/23 Peacock Springs. Hour-long dive up Peacock with 80 ft. viz! 71 F water temp.

12/24 Peacock III Siphon. 70-minute dive to 1800 ft. penetration with 40 ft. viz--excellent conditions for this very silty tunnel.

12/24 Telford Springs. 70-minute dive to 2100 ft. penetration with 40+ ft. viz.

12/25 Orange Grove to the Peanut Tunnel. The Grand Traverse, approximately a mile of swimming, which we did in 90 minutes with 60-80 ft. viz the whoooole way!

12/25 Orange Grove. Jumped to the Distance Tunnel and did an 80 minute dive to about 2000 ft. penetration.

(cont.)

[theskull]

(cont.)

12/26 Mill Pond. Drove over to Marianna and rented a boat to dive the 3 caves here.
Jackson Blue. An hour-long dive with stunning 100-ft. viz and beautiful formations in a huge tunnel. Got just a bit of deco on this one, mostly at a depth of 95 ft.
Twin Cave. 45 minutes in a very cool tunnel that mostly looked like a cathedral with peaked ceilings. 60 ft. viz.
Hole in the Wall. A bit of a challenge. Submerged through dense swamp grass to the small silty entrance and found our way in by feel and holding the line from the primary reel. Viz of just inches until we broke through the silty intrusion of lake water into the system (slight siphon). Once in the larger tunnel viz improved to about 10-20 ft. and there were many cold spots from the cold lake water flowing into the system (57 F lake water).

More to come when I get another chance to get online.

theskull

[scububa]

Glad to hear you guys are having a great time! But, you had a great trip to the Doria and now an Excellent Adventure to NFL. I'm going to be afraid to dive with you next year ;-) You are getting an awful lot of love from the scuba gods, hope you aren't using it all up.

Continued good wishes for more great diving.

Jim

[steve2281]

Sounds great, wish I was there. My gear is barely dry and I'm already thinking about the next NFl trip.

Have fun and dive safe!!

[DeepDiverBob]

My truck is packed, and I am very tempted to drive down there and join you. I'm off work until Tuesday next week. I would love to be down there right now.

[jclifton]

Glad to hear you guys are having some great dives. Be safe and bring SLIM home so I can finish my training.

~

Bob while you can't get 80' vis if you want to go to RBD this weekend let me know.

[DeepDiverBob]

That sounds very tempting...any idea what the conditions are?

I might be available for something on Saturday, but I will be at Mermet Sunday and Monday for the new years day dive.

[skip]

Wish I were there! Nice trip and some real nice dives. But tell me more about the Grand Traverse. I've heard that some make it on backgas alone and some take a stage. Mike and I have placed cookies on the mainline from both directions and have not yet been able to make the connection on thirds (backgas only), but get closer each trip. Any suggestions for us?

-skip

[skip]

oh, I forgot one more thing.... I've heard some tell of surfacing at Challenge and recalculating thirds (and/or Olsen) in order to complete the traverse. Any thoughts on that? I've not sit down to think it through myself, but would like to know your thoughts on that.

-skip

[theskull]

oh, I forgot one more thing.... I've heard some tell of surfacing at Challenge and recalculating thirds (and/or Olsen) in order to complete the traverse. Any thoughts on that? I've not sit down to think it through myself, but would like to know your thoughts on that.

-skip


Yes, definitely, recalculating thirds is the way to do the dive. You don't have to surface at each sink, though, you just need to know that you can get back to the closest exit within the next "third" of the gas supply you had when you passed it.

I've done the GT with an exit at Peacock I on just backgas with plenty to spare. This time we exited through the Peanut tunnel, which gives you one less exit on the way, so we each carried a "safety bottle" stage. None of us needed it, and we stayed within thirds, but we all agreed that it was close enough to just enough that the extra bottle gave peace of mind. Plus it's always good to get the practice of swimming a mile while carrying a stage. ;)

theskull

[theskull]

Continuing report:

12/27
Madison Blue. Did the Godzilla circuit, recalculated thirds near the beginning of the main line, then took the main line app. 1,000 ft. to the first narrow restriction before turning the dive. Just got out without hitting deco with a 70 minute dive with 95 ft. max depth. Awesome viz of 80+ ft., low flow, and noone in the system at the same time as us.

Little River. Turned right at the "T" and did a 1400 ft. penetration at just over 100 ft. depth. Because of the long morning dive we ended up with about 12 minutes required deco (7 after making the gas switch to O2). Another 70 minute dive with excellent viz (at Little River!) and low flow (at Little River!) Three other teams entered at about the same time we did, all going in different directions, so the dive was not crowded, but we did all converge in the cavern zone to do deco--luckily it is a big cavern and the flow wasn't threatening to spit anyone out the exit.

This trip rules!!

12/28 I'm taking today off from diving to off-gas and rest the body (and shop for gear!) Have had 4 very active days of diving, with another 3 to come, so I want to be kind to the tissues.

theskull

[steve2281]

Hey TS,
I had thought about making the Traverse exiting at Peanut. Sounds ideal to have the shallow part at the end of the dive. But where do you hit the Peanut line?? I'm guessing at the end of the Peanut line? or thru the crossover tunnel? How do you manage the jump(s)? Put them in the day before?, leave the reel(s) and get them later?, blind?

The diving sounds great; keep the reports coming!

Wish I were there! Nice trip and some real nice dives. But tell me more about the Grand Traverse. Any suggestions for us?

-skip

4000 psi in LP tanks, make Challenge on thirds, recalculate, and it's all down hill.

[theskull]

Hey TS,
I had thought about making the Traverse exiting at Peanut. Sounds ideal to have the shallow part at the end of the dive. But where do you hit the Peanut line?? I'm guessing at the end of the Peanut line? or thru the crossover tunnel? How do you manage the jump(s)? Put them in the day before?, leave the reel(s) and get them later?, blind?

The diving sounds great; keep the reports coming!



4000 psi in LP tanks, make Challenge on thirds, recalculate, and it's all down hill.

About 100 ft. past the double arrow between Challenge and Olsen is the jump through the Peanut restriction onto the end of the Peanut line. That is how we went. We did the jump onto Peanut "blind" (the line is only a few feet from the main line and we all KNEW which one it was. And we had been in before to also know that the main line extended out all the way into open water, so an exit primary reel was not needed. Minor infractions of the rules, yes.

theskull

[theskull]

(continued report)

12/29 Little River. SLIM and I each took a stage and a deco bottle and entered with the intention of reaching the end of the main line, at the Well Casing. Objective was accomplished with lots of gas to spare and only 20 minutes of required deco (12 after making the switch to O2). Total penetration of 2250 ft., most of it at a depth of 85-100 ft. Total dive time of 72 minutes.

12/30 Ginnie Springs. Went over to attend the CDF Forum Social. Nothing doing when we arrived so we jumped in for a dive up the main line through Devil's Eye. Did 1150 ft. penetration and did an hour-long dive with just a few minutes deco required at the end. Then had a nice Social with hamburgers and hot dogs, and jumped back in for another 1100 ft. penetration dive--this time through the Devil's Ear with a jump onto the Bone Room tunnel. Was a short 35 minute dive since we started with less-than-full doubles. Then supper at Floyd's Diner.

Happy New Year's Eve everybody! Will post the final update on 1/1 after making the rest of my dives.

theskull

[DeepDiverBob]

I heard a report today that your midnight dive was canceled due to weather. That sucks. Looking forward to reading thr rest of your report.

[theskull]

12/31 Madison Blue. Breathed a stage up the main line to 1/2 plus 200 psi and dropped it just short of the "Half Hitch" restriction and continued up the main line on backgas to the jump to "Potter's Delight" tunnel and made app. 1700 ft. penetration before turning the dive. Did short deco on O2 in the spring pool after 80+ minutes dive time. Very nice and relaxing dive.

And the traditional midnight Telford dive did get cancelled due to heavy thunderstorms. Did have an excellent New Year's Eve dinner at Dive Outpost, though with the same great company we had been keeping and diving with all week--the likes of SLIM, Marvin Zaske, Forrest Wilson, Paul Heinerth, some Canadians, some North Atlantic wreck divers, and the local bunch. Best cave trip ever, even allowing for the lack of a midnight dive!

theskull

[DeepDiverBob]

I'm definitly interested in seeing the video you have. What systems did you record in?

[theskull]

I'm definitly interested in seeing the video you have. What systems did you record in?

I have video from Peacock, P3, and Madison.

Marvin video'd nearly everything we dived, and will be editing it down to a DVD that he will mail me a copy of.

theskull

[skip]

Ok, you definitely had a better time diving than i had staying here nursing a root canal.....duh. And despite the protestations of my wife and stepkids, I am not staying home for christmas next year! Too much time off work, too much money spent on useless christmas "extras," and too much tv too!

Thanks for the reports. next best thing to being their myself!

-skip

[theskull]

Ok, you definitely had a better time diving than i had staying here nursing a root canal.....duh. And despite the protestations of my wife and stepkids, I am not staying home for christmas next year! Too much time off work, too much money spent on useless christmas "extras," and too much tv too!

Thanks for the reports. next best thing to being their myself!

-skip

Just sorry my reports aren't as poetic as yours are--I'm sure you would have enjoyed that much more. I promise my feelings during the dives were poetic . . . as are my memories as I replay the dives in my mind . . . but the imagery doesn't flow onto the keyboard for me, dude. But of course that's why we do it.

And to top off my Xmas present to me -- 8 days lodging at Dive Outpost PLUS all my Nitrox and O2 fills came to just $350. And great meals provided for those in residence on Xmas night and New Year's night. It would have cost me that much to stay home and go out to eat once per day!

theskull

[skip]

theskull wrote:

"And to top off my Xmas present to me -- 8 days lodging at Dive Outpost PLUS all my Nitrox and O2 fills came to just $350. And great meals provided for those in residence on Xmas night and New Year's night. It would have cost me that much to stay home and go out to eat once per day!"

Dang! I spent more than that just trying to find something dry to keep me busy! Doc says Jan 16th for final root canal work, then I go diving again. But you know, the house has never looked so good! Got the new storm doors put on, a couple of new windows installed, two rooms stripped, cleaned, redecorated.... And a nice guest room so when you Missouri boys decide to try our Tennessee caves, you can stay free. Well, not free exactly, since you'd have to put up with me!

again, thanks for the reports during my dry spell; a good read and a chance to at least day dream the dives!

-skip

[SLIM]

Man what a trip it was this year WJH? I think we topped all the others and it will be hard to top it next year but I bet we will. I got some new systems in also that are not onthe tourist site and are fun to get to with my ankle that I tore up just a few days before the trip. Kind of limited my diving but in all I have to say what a great trip.

Skip, see you can use that, just look at the money you will save.

Later I will get a short report about some off the dives I did WJH did not do. We did several togather but also kind of just at times go our own way. Good to konw he can now dive the caves with out me. LOL

SLIM

[theskull]

. . . Good to know he can now dive the caves with out me. LOL

SLIM

Thanx. ;)

theskull