JT, I really enjoyed your report, but I have a question. You said that your cavern class was one of the most physically demanding things you've done . . . Is it the flow that made it so?
Full Cave Training With GDI Report
- Thread starter Jeff Toorish
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TSandM:
He probably meant lugging twin 130's from the parking lot to peacock 1.
Cheers
Mike
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I don't know about Florida, but it's the access to the cenotes that presents one of the major challenges down in Mexico. Loading and unloading gear, gearing up and then hiking through the jungle can be tough... and then you have the climb in and out of the cenote!
Some places like Carwash... where you will do a lot of your Cave 1 training are pretty easy well except the steps which can be very slippery. But you likely will do dives at places like Grand with doubles and maybe later in C2, a stage. Certainly, you will do Temple of Doom. The hike to Esquillito is 300 yards or so and then a jump from the slippery rocks 10 feet down to the water. The climb out is straight up a ladder and then, when you get to the top, you have to grab a tree to pull yourself out. After you get out, you have that nice hike back to the truck. Then, after a short break, you gear up and do it all over!
There are lots of places like that... who knows where Danny or Chris might take you . Its a jungle out there! Every cenote presents a challenge of some sort. We did the hike back to Ho Tul... geared up at Grand, crossed to Coba Road and then into the jungle... slugging through mud and climbing over boulders. It took every thing I had in some places.
In addition to that, there are the long exposures. Sometimes you are in the water for 3 or 4 hours at a time. The swimming seems easy but by the end of the day it adds up and if you arent thermally prepared, then that will suck the life out of you.
Maybe most demanding is the mental focus. I don't know how to explain it, but on every dive... after the pre-flight check, as I put my mask on, I thought of the look on George's face in the DIR video where he is in the water about to start his dive... somber, serious, and professional. I know that my dives were nothing in comparison, but the weight of these dives was incredible. I felt like an astronaut about to leave earth.
My suggestion start a serious workout regimen now! Weight training, diet, aerobics the whole enchilada. Muscle up! It will make the work much easier and might help prevent injury. Make sure that you have ample thermal protection (remember you will have some long exposures) and bring some complex carbs to eat during the breaks.
Some places like Carwash... where you will do a lot of your Cave 1 training are pretty easy well except the steps which can be very slippery. But you likely will do dives at places like Grand with doubles and maybe later in C2, a stage. Certainly, you will do Temple of Doom. The hike to Esquillito is 300 yards or so and then a jump from the slippery rocks 10 feet down to the water. The climb out is straight up a ladder and then, when you get to the top, you have to grab a tree to pull yourself out. After you get out, you have that nice hike back to the truck. Then, after a short break, you gear up and do it all over!
There are lots of places like that... who knows where Danny or Chris might take you . Its a jungle out there! Every cenote presents a challenge of some sort. We did the hike back to Ho Tul... geared up at Grand, crossed to Coba Road and then into the jungle... slugging through mud and climbing over boulders. It took every thing I had in some places.
In addition to that, there are the long exposures. Sometimes you are in the water for 3 or 4 hours at a time. The swimming seems easy but by the end of the day it adds up and if you arent thermally prepared, then that will suck the life out of you.
Maybe most demanding is the mental focus. I don't know how to explain it, but on every dive... after the pre-flight check, as I put my mask on, I thought of the look on George's face in the DIR video where he is in the water about to start his dive... somber, serious, and professional. I know that my dives were nothing in comparison, but the weight of these dives was incredible. I felt like an astronaut about to leave earth.
My suggestion start a serious workout regimen now! Weight training, diet, aerobics the whole enchilada. Muscle up! It will make the work much easier and might help prevent injury. Make sure that you have ample thermal protection (remember you will have some long exposures) and bring some complex carbs to eat during the breaks.
Yeah, I definitely thought a lot about the issues of access when we were doing our tours. It's one thing to walk up those steps or slopes in a single Al80, and it will be something entirely different to do it with two.
Thanks for the kick in the butt, Stephen . . . I came home all fired up to get to the gym, and keep saying I'll get there tomorrow.
Thanks for the kick in the butt, Stephen . . . I came home all fired up to get to the gym, and keep saying I'll get there tomorrow.
OP
Jason B:
Jason,
I did NOT use back-up lights with rechargable batteries. The backup lights used AA Lithium batteries. I don't use rechargable battery lights as backups...only for the primary.
As I mentioned, I now have Dive-Rite 4-Watt quartz-halogens for backup.
Jeff
OP
TSandM:
No, I think it was Rick that made it so.
J
Stephen Ash:You need one of these...
Where are these sold and for how much? I didn't have much luck with Yahoo searches on the model number.
Contact Rabbit Tools for the Nexcell chargers. I think I paid $110ish for mine.
http://www.rabbittool.com
http://www.rabbittool.com
limeyx
Guest
Stephen Ash:
Compared to beach diving down here, cenote access was a breeze for us.
Jardin of Eden -- just some wooden steps.
Carwash -- really easy
Temple of doom -- more steps and the shallow cenote makes getting out a bit tricky.
So that wasn't the problem at least
OP
Of course, there are cenotes that don't actually have names.
JT
JT
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