We have 2 more cave divers in our midst. Glen (GLENFWB) and Larry (he’s on the boards but I don’t know his screen name) complete their Intro Cave Diver course this weekend! They both did a great job, only killing their instructor (me) 3 times… We met at Cave Adventurers Saturday morning to sign into Jackson Blue and headed over before any of the swimmers arrived at 11. Steve (whodunit68), aka Pennywise (ask him about that), who had suffered through my cavern and intro class before came back for more…err, to tag along - an invitation I extend to all my students in hopes they will continue to learn, especially when they aren’t the ones being tested and under stress. Jen was along interning for her IANTD Dive Supervisor rating. After spending some time among the trees working on line drills, we suited up, geared up and headed into the water. And did that feel great! Air temp was a blistering, humid mid to high 90s all weekend. After doing our pre-dive safety and talking a bit about the dive, we began our dive. We headed into the cave with Glen running the line. Glen could have done a little better job with the line placement. However, it didn’t help that Mat (SuPrBuGmAn) had gone in with Stasia (cmufieldhockey8) right before us and intentionally ran his line all over the cavern knowing we would be coming in right behind him. It’s nice to have friends like that helping you out before your cave class, isn’t it, Glen?!? After making it to the gold line, we continued on past the cavern, down the chimney and to the 1st breakdown. The dive was turned there on air pressure…and the fun began. I was a part of the dive team and somehow got lost… I kept an eye on Glen and Larry and they were pretty quick to notice someone was missing from their team. They began to make their way back to find me. I watched them swim right on past where I was. I finally came out and turned my light on, signaled them back and we continued our exit, doing a couple OOA drills on the way out. We surfaced and prepared for our 2nd dive. We again made it to the 1st breakdown and I was a part of the dive team again and somehow got lost again! And watched Glen and Larry swim right on past my location. Killed in the first 2 dives!!! I rounded them up and we began our exit completing some more OOA drills on the way out. Glen pulled the reel this time and we did some valve drills on our safety stop before heading to the surface to take our lunch break and top off our tanks.
Pennywise, err Steve, was gracious enough to have us load our tanks in his rental and take them over to Edd’s to top off so we wouldn’t lose our parking spaces in the now full Blue Spring Recreational Area park. Once he returned we suited and geared up and headed back into the water for the 3rd dive of the day. Since I was tired of being killed, I decided not to be part of the team this time. This time Larry led the dive and reeled in. Without Mat’s primary in, he was able to do an excellent job of placing the line. He did have the benefit of completing my cavern course a couple of months ago and learning good placement. We got back to just past the 1st breakdown before turning on air pressure and began our exit. On the way out we completed some more OOA drills.
Day 2 had us back at Cave Adventurers to take out one of Edd’s pontoon boats to hit Twin and Hole in the Wall. We were the first ones there, loaded up the boat and headed straight for Twin. We got in the water with Larry reeling in and made it to the T before turning the dive. We did a little OOA drill on the way out. I was part of the team again, and again got lost. Guess what? I died again! That’s 3 times!!! Glen’s reaction when I swam up behind them was priceless! I wish I had my camera with me at that time! We headed out, loaded up gear and headed back to Edd’s for fills and lunch. Technically, at this point, Glen and Larry had already completed all the requirements for Intro Cave. We had the bottom time and the drills. We reviewed the final exam and then headed back out on the Pond to Hole in the Wall for their graduation dive. We headed in the water with Glen at the reel. I decided I was done dying and let Glen and Larry be buddies without me. We headed downstream and almost made it to Alford’s Room before turning on air. One short drill on the way out and I was done drilling them (just because it was their graduation dive doesn’t mean they don’t get drilled). We exited the cave very satisfied with the accomplishments of the weekend. After 5 dives and 253 minutes of dive time, we had 2 new cave divers. Glen and Larry did a great job and are definitely ready to handle anything they come across in the caves…just don’t get lost if you buddy up with either of them…
Glen and Larry deserve a hearty congratulations on their accomplishments this weekend! They were both motivated and had the right attitudes, the most important thing about cave diving, and performed their skills extremely well showing improvement from dive to dive. Congratulations!!!
Pennywise, err Steve, was gracious enough to have us load our tanks in his rental and take them over to Edd’s to top off so we wouldn’t lose our parking spaces in the now full Blue Spring Recreational Area park. Once he returned we suited and geared up and headed back into the water for the 3rd dive of the day. Since I was tired of being killed, I decided not to be part of the team this time. This time Larry led the dive and reeled in. Without Mat’s primary in, he was able to do an excellent job of placing the line. He did have the benefit of completing my cavern course a couple of months ago and learning good placement. We got back to just past the 1st breakdown before turning on air pressure and began our exit. On the way out we completed some more OOA drills.
Day 2 had us back at Cave Adventurers to take out one of Edd’s pontoon boats to hit Twin and Hole in the Wall. We were the first ones there, loaded up the boat and headed straight for Twin. We got in the water with Larry reeling in and made it to the T before turning the dive. We did a little OOA drill on the way out. I was part of the team again, and again got lost. Guess what? I died again! That’s 3 times!!! Glen’s reaction when I swam up behind them was priceless! I wish I had my camera with me at that time! We headed out, loaded up gear and headed back to Edd’s for fills and lunch. Technically, at this point, Glen and Larry had already completed all the requirements for Intro Cave. We had the bottom time and the drills. We reviewed the final exam and then headed back out on the Pond to Hole in the Wall for their graduation dive. We headed in the water with Glen at the reel. I decided I was done dying and let Glen and Larry be buddies without me. We headed downstream and almost made it to Alford’s Room before turning on air. One short drill on the way out and I was done drilling them (just because it was their graduation dive doesn’t mean they don’t get drilled). We exited the cave very satisfied with the accomplishments of the weekend. After 5 dives and 253 minutes of dive time, we had 2 new cave divers. Glen and Larry did a great job and are definitely ready to handle anything they come across in the caves…just don’t get lost if you buddy up with either of them…
Glen and Larry deserve a hearty congratulations on their accomplishments this weekend! They were both motivated and had the right attitudes, the most important thing about cave diving, and performed their skills extremely well showing improvement from dive to dive. Congratulations!!!
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