back in the saddle ...

[Mark Vlahos]

Duplicate post deleted.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Bob, in your first post you forgot to mention that my low pressure inflator stuck open during the return trip from Challenge. The annoying part was that it would work for a while and then somehow fail at the worst possible times. The problem areas were only about 300 feet from Challenge, and then again at around 300 feet from Orange Grove. Even with the minor problems it was a very nice dive.

Today Dave and I headed out the Peanut tunnel toward Challenge. We turned on gas about 350 feet short of our quest. We had a nice leisurely dive with a total run time of 1 hour 54 minutes exiting back in P1. After a nice surface interval Dave and I headed down to the well line over on the Pothole side. We really took our time, making it out to the end of the line and returning. On the return trip we took the side trip over to the other well and came down and back to the main well line at the bottom of the well. We returned via our little side trip, and exited back to P1 with a total run time of 1 hour 20 minutes including a short deco on O2, with extra time for safety.

Mark Vlahos

 

[boulderjohn]

I haven't done that much kicking since the last time I was down here ... and I'm tired .... but more confident now about succeeding in this class. Tomorrow we visit my nemesis ... Ginnie. That place has kicked my ass every time I've been there ... hopefully all those workouts I've been doing since January will pay dividends when I have my date with the Devil ...

Ask Jim about my stellar (ha! ha!) job pulling out the reel at the Devil's Eye. I think all would have been great if I had shown something even resembling mastery on that the first time. I tired to do it with that beautiful, pretty, perfectly buoyant horizontal trim that had been drilled into me in the rest of my training, and I learned that at times being really negative is a benefit.

 

[Phreatic Fanatic]

Bob,

Nice job on the dive reports. I am glad I at least got to visit with you, Mark, and Dave at Peacock Springs yesterday, and I sure wish I could have joined y'all for a dive. I made it back to Houston about three hours ago after 13 hours of driving. I wish you success with your class and I am looking forward to your next cave diving reports!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Great read, I think all the mosquitos migrated to the panhandle, you're welcome

I don't know where the divers were, I didn't see them, but wouldn't expect to where I dived this weekend Unfortunately, I think I can probably account for every mosquito(and any otherwise stingy flying insectoid - and crawling tick) in Florida.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, today was a ugly reminder of what a cave can do to the casual cave tourist. Maybe it's a psychological thing ... maybe when you go into a dive expecting to get your ass whupped, it turns out that way. And it did.

My day started early ... I woke up at 2 AM and never got back to sleep. I think if today were not a class, I might have considered modifying my day, or doing a single dive ... or maybe not diving at all. I didn't bring my A-game today.

First dive we were setting another circuit ... into the Ear, up to the Park Bench, cross to the Bone Line, up to a crossover tunnel, and eventually back to the gold line. Total of four jumps. I vaguely remember doing this circuit last August, when I initially tried passing this class ... and made some of the same mistakes today. Guess I just need to get down here more often or something. I learn best by doing, and doing it once every six months or so just ain't going to make me a cave diver.

Anyway, some things went better. I wasn't working as hard as I remember setting the reel and working my way up through the flow. Maybe all those workouts I've been doing these past few months helped ... maybe it's just that I had a better idea how to approach it. The reel work still wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. We got up on the ceiling, worked our way through the Gallery, slithered through the Keyhole, pulled our way through the Cornflakes to the park bench, jumped, set our spools, and made our way around the circuit in pretty good shape. My two dive buddies, Dave and Mark, volunteered to "help" by being my class team mates, and they enthusiastically made as many mistakes as possible to give me a chance to practice making decisions and managing the team. I made it through those tests OK. Had a few minor issues, mostly due to having to deal with the flow ... things that went smoothly yesterday weren't going so smoothly today ... but it wasn't anything major, and it gave Jim some things to point out for the second dive. We did some OOA drills on the way out ... and then he had me pull the reel, to give me another go at placing it for dive 2.

Second dive, things started out smooth enough. My reel work was much better ... recent experience helps a lot. I was leading, and feeling a bit "frisky" ... in that I was tending to get a bit farther ahead of my buddies than I should. At one point, just after I rounded a turn, Jim held the other guys back and had them cover their lights. OK ... thanks for the reminder ... slow down, keep close. Got it. Pulled the first spool OK. Got to the second spool, my buddies cross over, exchanged positions, and headed up the wrong way on the line. I was so intent on wondering why they switched positions I completely missed the fact that they were going the wrong way. Jim turned on his light and shined it on the arrows ... oh, my, God ... significant screw-up. I know better ... should've caught it much sooner ... like before I even started pulling the spool. No excuses ... I was so intent on thinking past the situation to our next jump that I let myself get careless. The rest of the dive was hard ... I was sure Jim was going to tell me I didn't belong in a cave. I had to remind myself to not dwell on it and to keep my head in the game ... we still had a lot of cave to cover before the dive was over. Jim threw another lights-out drill at me, then at the Lips he had me go out of air, take Dave's long hose, then handed me a black-out mask. The next several minutes were just brutal. Trying to deal with flow, restriction, no vis, unstable buoyancy control and OOA ... all while Jim kept reaching out and tugging the line out of my Ginnie-conditioned fingers. Well ... it took my mind off my previous mistake alright. Finally ... after what seemed like way too long, he put my mask back in my hand, and I was able to see again. We were nearly to the sign. Handed Dave back his reg, got on mine, grabbed my O2, pulled the reel, and exited the cave.

Deco was long ... not time-wise, but thoughts-wise. Do I really belong here? Is this really something I can do? Am I a menace to myself and my dive buddies? Should I just pack it in and catch an early flight home?

Fortunately, Jim doesn't think so ... yet ... we're going back tomorrow to face the Devil one more day. Maybe I'll get a better night's sleep. Maybe I'll be able to apply the awareness I know I'm capable of to this environment that's so different than what I'm used to. Maybe tomorrow I'll make the right decisions.

This is the same gremlin that kept me from completing Full Cave last August ... and today it messed with my head. That's where the answer is ... not in how well I can set a reel, or manage my buoyancy control, or even deal with the flow ... but in making the right decisions.

I've got two more days to either kick that gremlin to the curb or admit to myself that maybe cave diving isn't for me. 'Cuz there ain't no caves where I live ... and I can't practice my skills by swimming into a fire hose. It's either make it work now, or pack up and go home ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[boulderjohn]

Deco was long ... not time-wise, but thoughts-wise. Do I really belong here? Is this really something I can do? Am I a menace to myself and my dive buddies? Should I just pack it in and catch an early flight home?

Fortunately, Jim doesn't think so ... yet ... we're going back tomorrow to face the Devil one more day. Maybe I'll get a better night's sleep. Maybe I'll be able to apply the awareness I know I'm capable of to this environment that's so different than what I'm used to. Maybe tomorrow I'll make the right decisions.

...

I've got two more days to either kick that gremlin to the curb or admit to myself that maybe cave diving isn't for me. 'Cuz there ain't no caves where I live ... and I can't practice my skills by swimming into a fire hose. It's either make it work now, or pack up and go home ...

Bob,

Your description is an oh-so-painful reminder of my own feelings all-too-recently.

I remember well the problems I had exiting the ear and getting the reel tangled, knowing Jim was watching and I was failing that particular experience. I knew that the dive was going to have to be repeated at least one more time, and I had better show better skills the next time. The thoughts that went through your head during he deco went through mine as well.

While struggling with a skill I knew I had already failed, I said to myself, "OK, it's not going to work this time, but I can't stop here. I have to show the ability to work through this and make it work." I think that was a microcosm for the entire course. If I had beat myself up for my failure to the point that I was psychologically unable to go on, I would have shown myself to be unfit for cave diving. I needed to show that no matter how badly I had F---'d up what went before, I could think clearly in the here and now and turn a bad situation into a good one.

You (and I) did well in choosing an instructor like Jim. When I did the aforementioned gaffe, I was so thoroughly beaten at the end of the dive that I probably looked like I was about to die. Jim said nothing during the surface stop. We went back to the cars, broke down our equipment, and ate lunch. I still probably looked like I was going to die. Still he said nothing. Finally he came to me and said something along the lines of, "It wasn't that bad. Let's go get it this time."

And I did.

If I had had one of the drill sergeant types who would have been screaming at me for my incompetence, who knows where I would be now?

 

[ucfdiver]

Well, today was a ugly reminder of what a cave can do to the casual cave tourist. Maybe it's a psychological thing ... maybe when you go into a dive expecting to get your ass whupped, it turns out that way. And it did.

My day started early ... I woke up at 2 AM and never got back to sleep. I think if today were not a class, I might have considered modifying my day, or doing a single dive ... or maybe not diving at all. I didn't bring my A-game today.

First dive we were setting another circuit ... into the Ear, up to the Park Bench, cross to the Bone Line, up to a crossover tunnel, and eventually back to the gold line. Total of four jumps. I vaguely remember doing this circuit last August, when I initially tried passing this class ... and made some of the same mistakes today. Guess I just need to get down here more often or something. I learn best by doing, and doing it once every six months or so just ain't going to make me a cave diver.

Anyway, some things went better. I wasn't working as hard as I remember setting the reel and working my way up through the flow. Maybe all those workouts I've been doing these past few months helped ... maybe it's just that I had a better idea how to approach it. The reel work still wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. We got up on the ceiling, worked our way through the Gallery, slithered through the Keyhole, pulled our way through the Cornflakes to the park bench, jumped, set our spools, and made our way around the circuit in pretty good shape. My two dive buddies, Dave and Mark, volunteered to "help" by being my class team mates, and they enthusiastically made as many mistakes as possible to give me a chance to practice making decisions and managing the team. I made it through those tests OK. Had a few minor issues, mostly due to having to deal with the flow ... things that went smoothly yesterday weren't going so smoothly today ... but it wasn't anything major, and it gave Jim some things to point out for the second dive. We did some OOA drills on the way out ... and then he had me pull the reel, to give me another go at placing it for dive 2.

Second dive, things started out smooth enough. My reel work was much better ... recent experience helps a lot. I was leading, and feeling a bit "frisky" ... in that I was tending to get a bit farther ahead of my buddies than I should. At one point, just after I rounded a turn, Jim held the other guys back and had them cover their lights. OK ... thanks for the reminder ... slow down, keep close. Got it. Pulled the first spool OK. Got to the second spool, my buddies cross over, exchanged positions, and headed up the wrong way on the line. I was so intent on wondering why they switched positions I completely missed the fact that they were going the wrong way. Jim turned on his light and shined it on the arrows ... oh, my, God ... significant screw-up. I know better ... should've caught it much sooner ... like before I even started pulling the spool. No excuses ... I was so intent on thinking past the situation to our next jump that I let myself get careless. The rest of the dive was hard ... I was sure Jim was going to tell me I didn't belong in a cave. I had to remind myself to not dwell on it and to keep my head in the game ... we still had a lot of cave to cover before the dive was over. Jim threw another lights-out drill at me, then at the Lips he had me go out of air, take Dave's long hose, then handed me a black-out mask. The next several minutes were just brutal. Trying to deal with flow, restriction, no vis, unstable buoyancy control and OOA ... all while Jim kept reaching out and tugging the line out of my Ginnie-conditioned fingers. Well ... it took my mind off my previous mistake alright. Finally ... after what seemed like way too long, he put my mask back in my hand, and I was able to see again. We were nearly to the sign. Handed Dave back his reg, got on mine, grabbed my O2, pulled the reel, and exited the cave.

Deco was long ... not time-wise, but thoughts-wise. Do I really belong here? Is this really something I can do? Am I a menace to myself and my dive buddies? Should I just pack it in and catch an early flight home?

Fortunately, Jim doesn't think so ... yet ... we're going back tomorrow to face the Devil one more day. Maybe I'll get a better night's sleep. Maybe I'll be able to apply the awareness I know I'm capable of to this environment that's so different than what I'm used to. Maybe tomorrow I'll make the right decisions.

This is the same gremlin that kept me from completing Full Cave last August ... and today it messed with my head. That's where the answer is ... not in how well I can set a reel, or manage my buoyancy control, or even deal with the flow ... but in making the right decisions.

I've got two more days to either kick that gremlin to the curb or admit to myself that maybe cave diving isn't for me. 'Cuz there ain't no caves where I live ... and I can't practice my skills by swimming into a fire hose. It's either make it work now, or pack up and go home ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

As for going the wrong way, if every one in the team drops a cookie on the exit side of the jump line, each of you are forced to recognize the exit side. Each team member grabs the cookie and heads down the exit side, so there is none of this grabbing a cookie, spinning around, and wondering which side is home. Furthermore, if you split up, you'll know if your buddy has reached the last jump, and it can help narrow the search range. This wasn't something covered in my class, but it was introduced to me by a dive buddy who's instructor demanded it. I did it off and on at first, but after Bruce died it really solidified the practice in my mind.

It sounds to me like you're rushing the drills and that results in doing things that you know are wrong, and if you had the same situation on dry land after a good nights rest and weren't rushing, you know you wouldn't make the mistake. Remind yourself that you have oodles of gas to solve any problem he throws on you, so take it slow. My biggest mistakes during class were when I attempted to rush for no valid reason.

I was also taught during intro class that divers should remain in the same order the entire dive. That's fine and dandy, but if the cave is wide enough, I much prefer swimming side by side. It increases communication, provides a physical contact option during an emergency, and lights up more of the cave.

Good luck with the rest of your class. I've read enough of your posts to know that you have the book knowledge, I bet if you consciously slow down you'll do much better!

 

[TSandM]

Bob, oh, Bob . . . I didn't read this until 8:30 tonight (we didn't get home from Monterey until 7) and I started to call you, but it's midnight where you are.

You need helium in your gas. Ginnie is deadly on 32%; you can't think, and you make bad decisions. I know this SO desperately well . . . and if you are discouraged, and not sleeping, it's not going to help.

Rob and Allison did Cave 1 mostly in Ginnie, and they did the whole thing on 30/30 -- at the end, Rob tried one dive on 32% and says he will never do it again. I should have stood on my hind legs and demanded helium -- those of us of a certain age don't have nimble brains to begin with, and we don't need to be stupid in a cave.

Florida is hard. It's physically hard -- my body hurt every night of class. It's mentally hard, because it's so much more complex, with depth and flow. And as you said, you're forced into doing things in a class where, in normal vacation diving, you'd back off and say, "I'm not firing on all cylinders -- let's do something easier, or not dive today at all." But in class you try and you fail, and the lesson of backing off when you're tired is lost in the discouragement and demoralization of trying and failing.

I've been there. It hurt. It still hurts.

You probably can't get helium for tomorrow, but at least take my love and best wishes into the cave with you.

 

[Phreatic Fanatic]

The old Expressway Tunnel deeper into the cave trick.

Kick that gremlin to the curb! Bob, I know you can do this.