scubafool
Contributor
JahJah Warrior was on his way back to UCF from Gainesville, and agreed to go diving with me at our unfavorite mudhole today. He showed up at my place (a little late), and we loaded his gear into my little truck.
We got to the sink within 40 minutes, and were pleased to find that the recent heavy rains had packed down the sand well enough to allow us to get much closer to the water. The hike does get strenuous with doubles on, and we agreed that someone needs to build some sidewalks for us.
The first time that we dove here, we had surface swam out to the center, and dropped down a descent line that I ran from a surface float. This time, we followed the bottom contour down until we reached about 25', than turned right and followed the edge around. We noticed that the viz was considerably better when we stayed up above about 28', often as much as 6 or 7 feet. You could see a hazy cloud in the water, and if you dropped down into it, the viz would drop to 2 or 3 feet, being generous.
As we were dropping down along the slope, we came upon a section of pallet on the bottom. Immediately next to it we located a pair of sunglasses, multiple beverage containers, and a broken snorkeling mask. JJW tried on the shades, while I attempted to make the mask fit over the one I was already wearing. I soon realized that was a fools errand, and we continued exploring. JJW next found a sunshade cap, you know, a ball cap without the head covering. In the same area, I found a shotglass. If I had only found a bottle of tequila next to it, I might still be there.
We came across a ridge running out into the sink. Crossing over it brought us up to about 16 feet of depth, and then we dropped down almost to 30 on the other side of it. It was not long after that we found the prize, the piece d' resistance, the Holy Grail of mudhole diving. I swam up to it slowly, hardly believing that it was real, but the shape was unmistakable. Even as it materialized out of the gloom, I had a sense that I was onto something big. I stopped, mesmerized, but JJW, unaware of just what we had found, swam on.
I carefully, reverently, started to clean the mud and algae and silt off of it. JJW, finally realizing that I was not leaving this prize, returned and helped me. Shortly, we had our proof. There, emblazoned in bold lettering outside of the telltale white ring, was P205/75R15 LTX MS. I screamed through my regulator in delight! I can't wait to return with a lift bag to claim our prize!
As we proceeded along, JahJah found several more pairs of sunglasses, and another ballcap. On one side of the sink, many of the bottles had a strange green growth on the outside. It seemed more durable than any algae that I have seen before, standing up to rubbing with a finger quite well. Eventually, JJW found the plastic model rocket fins that we had seen on our last dive, so we knew that we had now been around the circumference of the sink. We continued on, and I recognized a couple of the logs from the last time we were here.
The next big find was an intact rod and reel, which JJW picked up and cleaned off. It appeared to be nearly new, so he kept it. Shortly thereafter, we tired of the good viz, and headed for deeper waters. The plan was for me to practice shooting my new safety sausage from the deepest part of the sink, and then we would use that line to ascend on. An ascent line is helpful, as in that area, the light and viz is so limited, and the bottom is so dark, that you can't see it if you aren't dragging your nose in it.
Practicing using new gear on the surface before you try it out underwater is a wise idea. I have lots of ideas, but not many that one might recognize as wise.
I get the sausage and my spool out of my thigh pocket, and get the sausage clipped to the line, easy-schmeezy. I am feeling quite proud of myself, I can see that I am going to ace this. I'm a
. Then I try to inflate it. This is one of those that you inflate by blowing through this little tube. I try to blow through the tube. No good, I blow harder. No good. I look at the tube. Oh, that's right, you have to pull back on that little collar, and THEN blow through the tube. I can't get the collar to move, and I STILL can't blow through the tube.
By this time, task loading and a winter of very little diving have combined to wreak havoc with my bouyancy and trim, and by extension, the silt. I can't see JJW, I can't see the glow of my light, and I can't see that blasted little tube on my sausage. I decide to come up off of the bottom a little, and see if I can find JJW. I get above my silt cloud, and the viz opens up a little. I can't see my buddy, but I can see that little tube. I quickly realize what I need to do, and put a good breathe into it. I let it head topside, and do my rendition of a helicopter turn to try and locate JahJah. No luck. I notice that the line off of my reel has grown slack. I glance at my computer, and I realize that I have went from 32' to 20' in the space of a few seconds:11:. I bog my head and give a couple of kicks to get back down.
Almost immediately, a red fishing pole presents itself, and on the other end is JahJah. Cool. We start our ascent, and try to perform a safety stop. It is remarkable how hard it is to do this in low viz with no reference besides your depth gauge. Finally, we surface. I have a bruised diving ego, and JahJah has a nifty new fishing pole and 4 pairs of sunglasses.
Surface water temp was about 69 degrees, and it was 63 degrees down at the bottom. Dive time was 47 minutes, and we both used about 45 cubic feet of gas. Getting cold was the limiting factor on this dive. Even in my semidry, I was starting to shiver towards the end of the dive.
I can't wait to go back!
We got to the sink within 40 minutes, and were pleased to find that the recent heavy rains had packed down the sand well enough to allow us to get much closer to the water. The hike does get strenuous with doubles on, and we agreed that someone needs to build some sidewalks for us.
The first time that we dove here, we had surface swam out to the center, and dropped down a descent line that I ran from a surface float. This time, we followed the bottom contour down until we reached about 25', than turned right and followed the edge around. We noticed that the viz was considerably better when we stayed up above about 28', often as much as 6 or 7 feet. You could see a hazy cloud in the water, and if you dropped down into it, the viz would drop to 2 or 3 feet, being generous.
As we were dropping down along the slope, we came upon a section of pallet on the bottom. Immediately next to it we located a pair of sunglasses, multiple beverage containers, and a broken snorkeling mask. JJW tried on the shades, while I attempted to make the mask fit over the one I was already wearing. I soon realized that was a fools errand, and we continued exploring. JJW next found a sunshade cap, you know, a ball cap without the head covering. In the same area, I found a shotglass. If I had only found a bottle of tequila next to it, I might still be there.
We came across a ridge running out into the sink. Crossing over it brought us up to about 16 feet of depth, and then we dropped down almost to 30 on the other side of it. It was not long after that we found the prize, the piece d' resistance, the Holy Grail of mudhole diving. I swam up to it slowly, hardly believing that it was real, but the shape was unmistakable. Even as it materialized out of the gloom, I had a sense that I was onto something big. I stopped, mesmerized, but JJW, unaware of just what we had found, swam on.
I carefully, reverently, started to clean the mud and algae and silt off of it. JJW, finally realizing that I was not leaving this prize, returned and helped me. Shortly, we had our proof. There, emblazoned in bold lettering outside of the telltale white ring, was P205/75R15 LTX MS. I screamed through my regulator in delight! I can't wait to return with a lift bag to claim our prize!
As we proceeded along, JahJah found several more pairs of sunglasses, and another ballcap. On one side of the sink, many of the bottles had a strange green growth on the outside. It seemed more durable than any algae that I have seen before, standing up to rubbing with a finger quite well. Eventually, JJW found the plastic model rocket fins that we had seen on our last dive, so we knew that we had now been around the circumference of the sink. We continued on, and I recognized a couple of the logs from the last time we were here.
The next big find was an intact rod and reel, which JJW picked up and cleaned off. It appeared to be nearly new, so he kept it. Shortly thereafter, we tired of the good viz, and headed for deeper waters. The plan was for me to practice shooting my new safety sausage from the deepest part of the sink, and then we would use that line to ascend on. An ascent line is helpful, as in that area, the light and viz is so limited, and the bottom is so dark, that you can't see it if you aren't dragging your nose in it.
Practicing using new gear on the surface before you try it out underwater is a wise idea. I have lots of ideas, but not many that one might recognize as wise.
I get the sausage and my spool out of my thigh pocket, and get the sausage clipped to the line, easy-schmeezy. I am feeling quite proud of myself, I can see that I am going to ace this. I'm a
. Then I try to inflate it. This is one of those that you inflate by blowing through this little tube. I try to blow through the tube. No good, I blow harder. No good. I look at the tube. Oh, that's right, you have to pull back on that little collar, and THEN blow through the tube. I can't get the collar to move, and I STILL can't blow through the tube. By this time, task loading and a winter of very little diving have combined to wreak havoc with my bouyancy and trim, and by extension, the silt. I can't see JJW, I can't see the glow of my light, and I can't see that blasted little tube on my sausage. I decide to come up off of the bottom a little, and see if I can find JJW. I get above my silt cloud, and the viz opens up a little. I can't see my buddy, but I can see that little tube. I quickly realize what I need to do, and put a good breathe into it. I let it head topside, and do my rendition of a helicopter turn to try and locate JahJah. No luck. I notice that the line off of my reel has grown slack. I glance at my computer, and I realize that I have went from 32' to 20' in the space of a few seconds:11:. I bog my head and give a couple of kicks to get back down.
Almost immediately, a red fishing pole presents itself, and on the other end is JahJah. Cool. We start our ascent, and try to perform a safety stop. It is remarkable how hard it is to do this in low viz with no reference besides your depth gauge. Finally, we surface. I have a bruised diving ego, and JahJah has a nifty new fishing pole and 4 pairs of sunglasses.
Surface water temp was about 69 degrees, and it was 63 degrees down at the bottom. Dive time was 47 minutes, and we both used about 45 cubic feet of gas. Getting cold was the limiting factor on this dive. Even in my semidry, I was starting to shiver towards the end of the dive.
I can't wait to go back!
