It wasn't pretty but I survived

[Trixxie]

(used to be mauigal btw)

We did our confined water cavern training yesterday:

S-drills - line following - line following no vis - line following while air sharing - line following air sharing no vis.

The pool we use is 13' deep and heated really well, too much in my opinion. It runs about 89 deg. The bldg it's in is also heated (hot!) we're assuming it helps the pool stay warm (?). Anyways I'm in a 5 mil (wanted to get my weighting and trim right for what I'll be diving in FL) and just about to die! I'm hot, the necklace octo was almost more than I could bear and I could not figure out a comfortable way to run my 7' hose, got new springs for my fins but with the boots I had on they were way too tight and hurt my feet.

My tank was up too high (HP 80) and it wanted to stand me on my head. (someone on another thread told me if I double these it would stand me on my head - this was just a single, I am thinking the doubles would be a lot worse?) It was not as tippy after I had a DM who was in the pool lower it. He also helped me get my 7' hose run comfortably - he's already done his cavern so he knew what I was going through.

I'm sure glad we did all this in the pool first before going to open water. I felt torn between puking or having a full blown panic attack but knew that neither one would help if I could just get past the initial claustrophobic feeling, I'd be OK. I did and I was fine after a while.

I have had my eye set on getting full cave ever since I signed up for cavern but after yesterday... I am not so sure. I am going to take it one dive at a time, get comfortable with the rig and go from there. Being in an overhead environment is the last place I need to be when I am not comfortable.

Yesterday was a valuable learning experience, I was too overconfident. I have been in the ballroom at Vortex (I know I have no business going in there:no) and thought it was great. I wasn't scared or nervous about being in there, even with no training. In fact, the only thing that scared me was the fact that I wasn't scared or have the respect for an overhead environment that I should have had. I think I have seen the light.

On one of the line following no vis practice we did, I lost contact with the line. Our instructor had the line wrapped around weights in the pool to keep it taught. I passed over the weight instead of keeping one hand on the line and the other following it as it was wrapped around the weight. I was in a head down position when I lost the line. (the line was tied to the ladder and then ran back down to the deep end.) I felt myself get disorientated, not really knowing which way to go and even though I was in a pool and completely safe, I thought "Oh $h]t- I just lost the line! Now what am I going to do??!!!:11:" I thought for a second and then kinda back tracked and was able to find it again. BUT was I going in the right direction??? Since I had been going down the wall, if I began going up I would have known I was going the wrong way but since I stayed along the bottom of the deep end then I knew I was right. Ahh but what if there was no up and down on my line in a real situation? I had better NOT lose the line and make sure I KNOW for a fact which way is OUT. Making sure I live to dive another day!

All in all it was a great learning and humbling experience. I hope all y'all with LOTS of cavern/cave experience don't think I'm dopey. I know I'll achieve mastery through time in the water, practice and experience.

Thanks for letting me share.

 

[dboddy]

Don't worry about it...we all have those stories to tell. I was taking a deco course and when exiting the cave, picked up my instructors stage (sorry Johnny) instead of mine. Of course I realized that as soon as I came across my bottle a couple of minutes later. Could I turn around and get his put back without him knowing? Nope...he was right behind me...another "oh *****" moment. That was the start of a pretty bad weekend for me. Went downhill from there.

If you can go back and look at what you did right and what went wrong, and learn from it, then it was a good day at the pool. There is a lot of new gear to get used to and that results in task overloading. I think your approach of going slow and getting comfortable with the new gear is a great idea. The caves will be there when you are ready.

Dave

 

[Mike Edmonston]

I hope all y'all with LOTS of cavern/cave experience don't think I'm dopey. I know I'll achieve mastery through time in the water, practice and experience.

You're not Dopey, you're learning. Also, I'm pretty sure that a cooler diving environment would help make you feel more comfortable. Keep it up.

Safe Diving

 

[Trixxie]

Thanks y'all! I'll keep at it - going to practice running a line on land before we head to FL. Hoping the practice will help once I get in the water.

My Inst had wanted to go to Orange grove and peacock area. Anyone think that those will be diveable the last weekend in March? If not we'll probably head over to Vortex for a day then maybe Jackson Blue. Any word when Morrison will be open again?

 

[JahJahwarrior]

when practicing running lines on land, if you decided to use things like mailboxes, make sure you don't run lines ACROSS the road.

That was the fastest I have ever reeled in a line. And the stupid car turned at the driveway just before my spider's web of lines in the road.

 

[TSandM]

Don't feel bad about your pool experience AT ALL! You just had a fantastic lesson taught to you at no risk to yourself whatsoever. This is what these classes are designed to do.

I took a wreck workshop here as a stepping stone to my cave training. In one exercise, we ran line in for 18 minutes. We turned, went "blind" and assembled our team of 3 on the line for a touch-contact exit. THIRTY-EIGHT minutes later, the instructors cut the drill, when we had pulled off two ties and wrapped the slack of the line around Peter's manifold to where we were never going to get out. I remember, a ways into the exit, beginning to feel real fear building up because we weren't getting anywhere. In addition, I had no way to check my pressure. (Of course, I knew I had plenty of gas, but that didn't stop my brain from saying, "You're not getting out, you're not getting out, and how long can you keep doing this?") We were in 20 feet of water in a completely benign and familiar site, and I felt panic lurking in the edges of the darkness.

I had a similar lesson in my cavern class, where I passed a tie and forgot to maintain the orientation of my hand on the line, and got turned backwards. That time, my buddy corrected things, but it was very sobering, again, to realize how EASY it is to make a mistake.

That's what classes are for -- You get to make mistakes with an instructor supervising you to make sure it all stays safe. But the lessons you teach yourself by screwing up are absolutely the most powerful lessons of all.

We've all been there.

Edited to add: Trying to manage these new skills in unfamiliar gear is more than doubling the stress. I took cavern (and the wreck workshop) in gear that felt like old, comfortable shoes, and they were still a challenge. If you can get some more pool or some open water time in your gear before you actually get to the caverns, it will help you a LOT.

Jah Jah, that story hysterical!

 

[Trixxie]

when practicing running lines on land, if you decided to use things like mailboxes, make sure you don't run lines ACROSS the road.

That was the fastest I have ever reeled in a line. And the stupid car turned at the driveway just before my spider's web of lines in the road.

HA will remember that - thanks

 

[Trixxie]

I took a wreck workshop here as a stepping stone to my cave training. In one exercise, we ran line in for 18 minutes. We turned, went "blind" and assembled our team of 3 on the line for a touch-contact exit. THIRTY-EIGHT minutes later, the instructors cut the drill, when we had pulled off two ties and wrapped the slack of the line around Peter's manifold to where we were never going to get out. I remember, a ways into the exit, beginning to feel real fear building up because we weren't getting anywhere. In addition, I had no way to check my pressure. (Of course, I knew I had plenty of gas, but that didn't stop my brain from saying, "You're not getting out, you're not getting out, and how long can you keep doing this?") We were in 20 feet of water in a completely benign and familiar site, and I felt panic lurking in the edges of the darkness.

I find it very interesting if not fascinating as to why our brains are in the cave/cavern even though we're in the pool or other relatively 'safe' environment. I wanted to try and make it as real as possible 'no vis' so no, I didn't cheat myself and open my eyes. I could have and pretend like I didn't screw up but that would have been just cheating myself. But the fact I felt like I was really there in the cavern on a lost line instead of practicing in the pool still intrigues me.

Thanks for sharing your learning stories too!! Glad I'm in good company.

 

[TSandM]

I was talking to a GUE Tech 1/Cave 1 diver yesterday, who told me that, despite all the adventurous stories he had related during the day, one of the most frightening things that had ever happened to him was the "lost line" drill in his Cave class. Chris took him about 20 feet off the line, left him FACING it, and blacked out his mask. He never found the line.

You can imagine he treats the line with a great deal of respect when he cave dives.

We're supposed to get "scared" in the classes. It keeps us careful.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

My Inst had wanted to go to Orange grove and peacock area. Anyone think that those will be diveable the last weekend in March? If not we'll probably head over to Vortex for a day then maybe Jackson Blue. Any word when Morrison will be open again?

Forget Peacock/Orange Grove for awhile.

Morrison isn't nearly finished up, but supposedly will open on occassion during the summer - they probably won't have a way of notifying the out-of-town public for this, so you may want to drop down SR81 to take a look whenever you get into Ponce DeLeon. I would count on it not being divable due to park closure - its been flooded all this year already anyway. Water levels are heading down to nearly divable this week, but with a line of thunderstorms predicted to hit tomorrow night that will likely flood it out again.