So, JahJahWarrior and I decided yesterday to dive P1 today. We had our gas, we were both sidemount, our gear was packed (with plenty of redundancies) and we were off to Cave Country for the day. We had decided to head to The Crypt via the Nicholson Tunnel. I had decided to try my Drysuit again, though I know that the neck seal had issues. Gearing up was fast and easy... until I was putting on my tanks by P1. A nice lady helped me sort out my bungee issues, but it was not nearly as smooth as Sunday's dive. Still, I got my stuff together and splashed about the time JJW was finishing up his set up.
Cool.
Then, just as I was about to fire up my light, I spied a piece of glass: the HID bullb was broken. A quick flip of the switch verified that. So off came the tanks, and I popped out to get the other HID light I had in the truck. Did I mention that we traveled with redundancies? Slinging the tanks the second time went without a hitch: Yay! I splashed and immediately turned on my light. Yay! It works. JJW and I finished our pre-dive dance and head into the cave.
After my last forced march, I had asked JJW to lead on the way in, so I can learn his pace. It was nigh on perfect and it felt that we had dove together many times. We got to Pothole Sink and I spied the pile of deer bones. I got JJW's attention and he got some pics. A few minutes later and he was tying in the first jump into Nicholson Tunnel. Here the dive got neat. Isopods were everywhere as were the crawdads who feed on them. My drysuit was already sopping wet, but I really didn't care. The troglodytes had captured my imagination as we wound our way through to the next jump.
Now, saying that JJW's trim is excellent is an understatement. The incline from the end of Nicholson Tunnel is problematic, but he held himself in perfect position as he tied into the line. I saw the perfect transition piece to bring the line in contact with the floor and I moved in to place it. JJW, tied off to the main tunnel easily enough and we turned right for almost 5 feet. I had barely tapped my light head against my inflator hose as I was reaching for it and my light failed. Crap.
JJW, knew immediately that something was wrong and turned slowly giving me the OK sign. He could see me sorting out the issue and was very patiently watching me. I turned the light off for a full minute and tried to re-strike. Nothing doing. My second primary had failed, I had plenty of gas and we were nowhere near The Crypt. After the no-go on the light, I thumbed the dive, struck one of my backups and headed back to the last tie off.
It was at this moment that I felt at peace with the cave. A calm came over me that told me that I would be diving this way again in the not so distant future. I even felt my breathing relax, even though I was already relaxed during the dive. We made our way back stopping along the way to take pics of some of the Crawdads as well as to look at a few interesting features. I hit thirds just before the cave entrance.
To be sure, I felt good about our pace both coming and going. JJW felt the same way (yes, I asked). While I feel that the new HIDs are ultra-reliable compared to the tungsten lights of a few years ago, I just could not bring myself to go further without having all three lights functioning properly. I almost had a third primary, but my rebuilt LED primary is not very bright. It's going back to get really fixed this time.
What I really felt good about was my training and skills up to this point. Mind you, I see areas that I need to improve and I also see limits in what I am comfortable in attempting in terms of penetrations and tightness. But, it's evident that the training has become ingrained in my muscle memory. I was never startled or worried and I was not stressed by having such a dim light to get out with. On the contrary, I had a lot of fun on this dive and felt a certain satisfaction in having the discipline to turn the dive and staying icy calm as I sorted out my options.
BTW... JJW has some interesting pics of some budding cave divers. I hope he posts them for us to see.
Cool.
Then, just as I was about to fire up my light, I spied a piece of glass: the HID bullb was broken. A quick flip of the switch verified that. So off came the tanks, and I popped out to get the other HID light I had in the truck. Did I mention that we traveled with redundancies? Slinging the tanks the second time went without a hitch: Yay! I splashed and immediately turned on my light. Yay! It works. JJW and I finished our pre-dive dance and head into the cave.
After my last forced march, I had asked JJW to lead on the way in, so I can learn his pace. It was nigh on perfect and it felt that we had dove together many times. We got to Pothole Sink and I spied the pile of deer bones. I got JJW's attention and he got some pics. A few minutes later and he was tying in the first jump into Nicholson Tunnel. Here the dive got neat. Isopods were everywhere as were the crawdads who feed on them. My drysuit was already sopping wet, but I really didn't care. The troglodytes had captured my imagination as we wound our way through to the next jump.
Now, saying that JJW's trim is excellent is an understatement. The incline from the end of Nicholson Tunnel is problematic, but he held himself in perfect position as he tied into the line. I saw the perfect transition piece to bring the line in contact with the floor and I moved in to place it. JJW, tied off to the main tunnel easily enough and we turned right for almost 5 feet. I had barely tapped my light head against my inflator hose as I was reaching for it and my light failed. Crap.
JJW, knew immediately that something was wrong and turned slowly giving me the OK sign. He could see me sorting out the issue and was very patiently watching me. I turned the light off for a full minute and tried to re-strike. Nothing doing. My second primary had failed, I had plenty of gas and we were nowhere near The Crypt. After the no-go on the light, I thumbed the dive, struck one of my backups and headed back to the last tie off.
It was at this moment that I felt at peace with the cave. A calm came over me that told me that I would be diving this way again in the not so distant future. I even felt my breathing relax, even though I was already relaxed during the dive. We made our way back stopping along the way to take pics of some of the Crawdads as well as to look at a few interesting features. I hit thirds just before the cave entrance.
To be sure, I felt good about our pace both coming and going. JJW felt the same way (yes, I asked). While I feel that the new HIDs are ultra-reliable compared to the tungsten lights of a few years ago, I just could not bring myself to go further without having all three lights functioning properly. I almost had a third primary, but my rebuilt LED primary is not very bright. It's going back to get really fixed this time.
What I really felt good about was my training and skills up to this point. Mind you, I see areas that I need to improve and I also see limits in what I am comfortable in attempting in terms of penetrations and tightness. But, it's evident that the training has become ingrained in my muscle memory. I was never startled or worried and I was not stressed by having such a dim light to get out with. On the contrary, I had a lot of fun on this dive and felt a certain satisfaction in having the discipline to turn the dive and staying icy calm as I sorted out my options.
BTW... JJW has some interesting pics of some budding cave divers. I hope he posts them for us to see.
