Bob's Excellent Mini-Cave Vacation

[JamesK]

Ear beer?

A mixture of vinegar and alcohol to clean your ears with after diving. Some folks add hydrogen peroxide to it as well.

 

[offroadr1]

Ok that's what I suspected. I use the same concoction after quarry dives, but had never heard that term. Hopefully in a few years I might be able to meet some of you folks in cave country. Still a far goal for me at this point.

 

[mer]

Bob... it was great to meet you and discover what a small diving world it indeed is. I'll work on posting some links to video clips from Ginnie, but right now there is cave diving to do!

Come back to Florida soon for more cave diving funnnnnnnn!

 

[Rick Murchison]

Ok that's what I suspected. I use the same concoction after quarry dives, but had never heard that term. Hopefully in a few years I might be able to meet some of you folks in cave country. Still a far goal for me at this point.

Also known as "home brew" My particular concoction is roughly 25% vinegar, 25% hydrogen peroxide & 50% isopropanol (I use the 91% stuff rather than the regular rubbing alcohol (70%), but rubbing alcohol will do if you can't find the 'high octane' stuff).
Most ENT's I've talked with say 50/50 vinegar and distilled water is what they recommend, but I like the drying effect of the alcohol and the bubbling of the hydrogen peroxide gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that the mix is actually doing something
Rick

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob... it was great to meet you and discover what a small diving world it indeed is. I'll work on posting some links to video clips from Ginnie, but right now there is cave diving to do!
Come back to Florida soon for more cave diving funnnnnnnn!

It was a lot of fun meeting and diving with you, mer ... looking forward to seeing the video clips (I think ... )

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Welcome to the Hotel California!!

The link above is the place Bob stayed....

Yes..this is a shameless personal plug.

Our other place can be seen at: Cave Dive Florida - Rental property at Rum Island

 

[lv2dive]

A few months back, TSandM posted about a mini-cave diving trip she'd taken to Florida. Thinking it an excellent idea, I accepted an invitation from Katepnatl to fly to Atlanta, drive down to Florida together, get in three days of diving, and fly back home again ... what amounted to a 5-day Labor Day week-end trip.

So last week-end I flew in on Friday, and we pulled in to Jim Wyatt's Hotel California around 10 that evening. For anyone looking for nice, affordable accommodation in cave country, I can recommend this place ... considering it was just the two of us, it was a luxurious amount of accommodation ... located nicely between the two systems we'd be diving, Peacock and Ginnie.



The next morning we got organized, went into High Springs to Cave Country to pick up the tanks I'd be using. We ran into some old friends ... Marci (Baby Duck), Larry (DA Aquamaster) and Mark (Mark Vlahos). Then we headed over to EE so Kate could take care of some business over there, and headed off to Peacock. Due to the late start, we'd only be doing one dive this day. And since this would be my first time inside a cave since May 2011, we opted to keep it simple ... P1 to Olson and back, a dive I'm both familiar with and fond of.

After the dive, which was really enjoyable, Kate remarked how "murky" the water had been. Odd ... it seemed clear to me. I guess it's all a matter of what you're used to. That evening we hooked up with Marci, Larry and Mark for dinner in High Springs.

Next day it was back to Peacock, where we were joined by our three friends. Marci and Larry wanted to go down the Well. Mark would be diving with Kate and I ... and we decided to head down the Well, then come back, pick up stages, and head off to the Water Hole. Unfortunately, at the jump off the Peanut Tunnel to the Water Hole, I had a primary light failure and turned the dive. Since we'd be doing two dives this day, we decided to try for the Water Hole again. This time it would be just me and Mark ... and we didn't have stages, so we didn't know how far we'd make it before having to turn (I was diving sidemount on 85's). We made it almost to the end of the line before I turned it on gas ... for an enjoyable 105 minute dive. After the dive I ran into another fellow ScubaBoarder I was happy to meet ... JahJahWarrior.



That evening, Kate and I hooked up with another fellow ScubaBoarder ... Meredith (Mer). And we discovered that we have some common friends, including one young man she works with in Hawaii who I trained when he lived in the Puget Sound area. We had a very enjoyable evening, and she decided to join us at Ginnie the following day.

Although there had been some concerns about the crowds at Ginnie on Labor Day, we got there in the aftermath of the festivities, and all was peaceful and quiet ... there weren't even hardly any divers around. The water level is higher and the flow lower than I'd ever seen it before ... and the views were just awesome ...

The Ear was closed, so we headed into the Eye and made our way to the White Room and back ... for a lovely dive ... the most relaxing I've ever had in Ginnie.

After the dive we stopped by Cave Country, and then headed back to Atlanta. The following morning I woke up feeling pretty awful ... and it only got worse during the long flight home. By the time I got in to see my doctor the next day I was running a fever of 102 and had (as I suspected) a rather nasty case of UTI. I'm recovering, with the help of some good drugs, but that's a part of the trip I could skip next time I head down.

I'm appreciative of all the hospitality I always get when I visit north Florida ... and the good people who I always seem to find to dive with when I'm down there. I've yet to visit the caves in Mexico ... and I want to ... but it's the excellent folks I've gotten to know and dive with who always lure me back to Florida.

Thanks Kate ... and all the others who made this mini-trip memorable ... I'm looking forward to the next opportunity we get to share a dive ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob it was great to have you! Fun to dive with you as well as meet/get to know other new people/dive buddies. It's quite a trip for for three days but I am glad that you felt like it was worth it - next time don't be gone so long and stay longer when you do come <G>.

I hate that your trip was marred by illness there at the end and am so glad to hear you are all better now. I apologize for the delay in response on here... those pesky round trip drives from Atlanta to N FL throw off my SB posting time ;-).