Greetings All
This past weekend it was up to me and Inkdiver (Don) to make sure that Rick (GDI) had lots of fun at Ginnie Springs - I think we (I) did an excellent job too - I can still hear Rick chuckling through his reg.
If you haven't read it yet, please be sure to see Inkdiver's write up here - he is a tough act to follow!
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...into-madness-i-want-my-fingerprints-back.html
Friday was gear review and line drills at Ricks house. I was a little luckier than Don, I never got into the fire ants. It is certainly easier swimming over lines than trying to climb over them! I am glad there wasn't any video - it must have been hilarious watching 2 grown men trying to climb over lines with their eyes closed. And of course there are all of the bricks, walk ways and other small tripping hazards that we couldn't see since these were all "no-viz" drills.
I had hoped to skip the "line drill" in the ballroom since I already had so much fun with that in my cavern class with Jeff Toorish. No luck on that one - Rick lead us around the basin and ball room making sure our lines were close and crossed one another here and there. Then it was simulate no viz - find your reel and reel it all up. The basin and the ball room were crowded with divers, swimmers, and tubers alike. This was where the finger prints started to vanish - pulling and gliding, all the while getting kicked by a swimmer here and there, and bumping into the entrance-exit of the ball room. I managed to loose a fin spring, got it back on, but managed to foul my reel in the process. Luckily I didn't get myself all tangled up - but I did get to the point where I knew if I was in a cave the reel would get left if fouled - so I put the reel down and followed the line out. While your reminiscing about past times - just think of the diver with his eyes closed swiping his arm around in a big circle checking for that obstacle while swimming in the basin with swimmers just overhead - could have been a real Kodak moment
Then it was off to the Ear. Don drew the lucky straw and was lead diver the first dive. (Don and I took turns leading the various dives). In this case it was nice going in second as I was able to mentally pick out a few potential tie off points for my "opportunity" at running the primary.
The rest of the afternoon we continued to Dive the Ear running the usual drills, light failures, ooa, entanglement etc. I managed to find the gold line on my first lost line drill, I was so happy I forgot to tie into it with my safety reel before I pulled off the "Fickle Face Mask of Fate". It took me a while though; first going right and then coming back to my tie off and moving left until I hit it. Rick gave me my mask back and then it was a primary light failure - I was already on the line and had my hand on a primary reel - and as soon as Don got near enough for touch contact I had managed to foul a fin in another line - somehow it had one turn around the fin - not in the straps - Don did a great job of getting me untangled and we managed to find our way out. Don and I both thought it was a no viz drill, but during the debrief Rick asked why we never went to a back-up light.
They day went well but it was a struggle for me - I did reflect back a bit on my Cavern Class remembering some of the mumblings that Jeff Toorish made through his reg. In fact it was on a lost line drill in the Ear back then that I learned some new Canadian phrases
Sunday it was round 2 - the dive site was Don's choice and Don choose to dive the Eye. Sunday's dives all went much better than Sat. Don did a great job of finding the gold line on his lost line drill! Rick tried to lure us into the cave after we hit our 6th's but Don was wise to the trick and didn't budge - I did go have a peak over the rock that Rick was hiding near and gave another thumbs up and out we went.
The next to last dive had us once again in a no-viz situation - I did strike my backup light, but that lasted about a nano-second - this one was going to be lights out all the way ooa with me in the lead. We didn't have the long hose routed quite right which kept Don pretty close. I did motion for him to cross over so we could straighten it out - which I learned later didn't work out so well. I pulled my fins in as close as I could get them but I know I still bumped him with them. Then we get to the cavern zone and I am trying to pass through this restriction that I know I came in through always seems more difficult exiting...after I cleared I had room to turn and I did so I could try and help Don and there he was - without a mask - drat I just knew I had kicked it off and felt horrible - later Don explained that he took it off, it was just annoying every time my fin tip would bump it. And all along I really thought I wasn't finning - my lack of finger prints showed I was pulling and gliding - I guess I have to work more on no fin movement.
The last dive had me in the lead and in we went, then on the exit all was well until Rick pulled off to the side where Don and I both missed him - I think it's an instructor trait to be able to blend in to the cave. We did notice him missing and turned back for him - and or course there he was - all grins. ( yes you can see a grin through a reg)
In my mind I was anticipating another weekend of diving, but then Rick motioned for the hand shake and wow what a relief. It was the best feeling one could have!
But Rick hadn't had enough fun yet - so off with a fin and a little dolphin kicking was in order. Just as my leg was starting to cramp up - Don goes flying by like he'd been dolphin kicking all day long
Then Rick had Don drop down into Little Devil and deflate his wing and make the swim up to the surface. A great effort - Don almost made it to the surface several times and then Rick brought him up for a rest. Then it was my turn - Don gave me way too much credit on this one - there is nothing easy about swimming up a set of double steel tanks with no air in the bladder. It was a lot easier in open water where I did it the last time, doing it this time in a small opening like Little Devil makes me think I know what a pin ball goes through. After catching his breath Don dropped down and made it to the surface on the next attempt!
It was a great weekend. Don is a great dive buddy and helped make the class a lot of fun. Fred (Fgray1) gave us a lot of support on Sat.
I owe a lot to my lovely wife (Andrea) for tolerating all of my dive-habits. Most of all for being so supportive. She is great as surface support - someday she will be a great divemaster She dives but she isn't into wet rock and likes the water temps more on the tropical side.
I can never say enough about how great it is to have Rick as a friend, a dive buddy, and an instructor!
This Sunday Fred and I are going to see what the cave looks like at Paradise!. Always wanted to go beyond that sign ....and now - I will
Cheers
Steve
This past weekend it was up to me and Inkdiver (Don) to make sure that Rick (GDI) had lots of fun at Ginnie Springs - I think we (I) did an excellent job too - I can still hear Rick chuckling through his reg.
If you haven't read it yet, please be sure to see Inkdiver's write up here - he is a tough act to follow!
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...into-madness-i-want-my-fingerprints-back.html
Friday was gear review and line drills at Ricks house. I was a little luckier than Don, I never got into the fire ants. It is certainly easier swimming over lines than trying to climb over them! I am glad there wasn't any video - it must have been hilarious watching 2 grown men trying to climb over lines with their eyes closed. And of course there are all of the bricks, walk ways and other small tripping hazards that we couldn't see since these were all "no-viz" drills.
I had hoped to skip the "line drill" in the ballroom since I already had so much fun with that in my cavern class with Jeff Toorish. No luck on that one - Rick lead us around the basin and ball room making sure our lines were close and crossed one another here and there. Then it was simulate no viz - find your reel and reel it all up. The basin and the ball room were crowded with divers, swimmers, and tubers alike. This was where the finger prints started to vanish - pulling and gliding, all the while getting kicked by a swimmer here and there, and bumping into the entrance-exit of the ball room. I managed to loose a fin spring, got it back on, but managed to foul my reel in the process. Luckily I didn't get myself all tangled up - but I did get to the point where I knew if I was in a cave the reel would get left if fouled - so I put the reel down and followed the line out. While your reminiscing about past times - just think of the diver with his eyes closed swiping his arm around in a big circle checking for that obstacle while swimming in the basin with swimmers just overhead - could have been a real Kodak moment
Then it was off to the Ear. Don drew the lucky straw and was lead diver the first dive. (Don and I took turns leading the various dives). In this case it was nice going in second as I was able to mentally pick out a few potential tie off points for my "opportunity" at running the primary.
The rest of the afternoon we continued to Dive the Ear running the usual drills, light failures, ooa, entanglement etc. I managed to find the gold line on my first lost line drill, I was so happy I forgot to tie into it with my safety reel before I pulled off the "Fickle Face Mask of Fate". It took me a while though; first going right and then coming back to my tie off and moving left until I hit it. Rick gave me my mask back and then it was a primary light failure - I was already on the line and had my hand on a primary reel - and as soon as Don got near enough for touch contact I had managed to foul a fin in another line - somehow it had one turn around the fin - not in the straps - Don did a great job of getting me untangled and we managed to find our way out. Don and I both thought it was a no viz drill, but during the debrief Rick asked why we never went to a back-up light.
They day went well but it was a struggle for me - I did reflect back a bit on my Cavern Class remembering some of the mumblings that Jeff Toorish made through his reg. In fact it was on a lost line drill in the Ear back then that I learned some new Canadian phrases
Sunday it was round 2 - the dive site was Don's choice and Don choose to dive the Eye. Sunday's dives all went much better than Sat. Don did a great job of finding the gold line on his lost line drill! Rick tried to lure us into the cave after we hit our 6th's but Don was wise to the trick and didn't budge - I did go have a peak over the rock that Rick was hiding near and gave another thumbs up and out we went.
The next to last dive had us once again in a no-viz situation - I did strike my backup light, but that lasted about a nano-second - this one was going to be lights out all the way ooa with me in the lead. We didn't have the long hose routed quite right which kept Don pretty close. I did motion for him to cross over so we could straighten it out - which I learned later didn't work out so well. I pulled my fins in as close as I could get them but I know I still bumped him with them. Then we get to the cavern zone and I am trying to pass through this restriction that I know I came in through
always seems more difficult exiting...after I cleared I had room to turn and I did so I could try and help Don and there he was - without a mask - drat I just knew I had kicked it off and felt horrible - later Don explained that he took it off, it was just annoying every time my fin tip would bump it. And all along I really thought I wasn't finning - my lack of finger prints showed I was pulling and gliding - I guess I have to work more on no fin movement.The last dive had me in the lead and in we went, then on the exit all was well until Rick pulled off to the side where Don and I both missed him - I think it's an instructor trait to be able to blend in to the cave
. We did notice him missing and turned back for him - and or course there he was - all grins. ( yes you can see a grin through a reg)In my mind I was anticipating another weekend of diving, but then Rick motioned for the hand shake and wow what a relief. It was the best feeling one could have!
But Rick hadn't had enough fun yet - so off with a fin and a little dolphin kicking was in order. Just as my leg was starting to cramp up - Don goes flying by like he'd been dolphin kicking all day long
Then Rick had Don drop down into Little Devil and deflate his wing and make the swim up to the surface. A great effort - Don almost made it to the surface several times and then Rick brought him up for a rest. Then it was my turn - Don gave me way too much credit on this one - there is nothing easy about swimming up a set of double steel tanks with no air in the bladder. It was a lot easier in open water where I did it the last time, doing it this time in a small opening like Little Devil makes me think I know what a pin ball goes through. After catching his breath Don dropped down and made it to the surface on the next attempt!
It was a great weekend. Don is a great dive buddy and helped make the class a lot of fun. Fred (Fgray1) gave us a lot of support on Sat.
I owe a lot to my lovely wife (Andrea) for tolerating all of my dive-habits. Most of all for being so supportive. She is great as surface support - someday she will be a great divemaster
She dives but she isn't into wet rock and likes the water temps more on the tropical side. I can never say enough about how great it is to have Rick as a friend, a dive buddy, and an instructor!
This Sunday Fred and I are going to see what the cave looks like at Paradise!. Always wanted to go beyond that sign ....and now - I will
Cheers
Steve
