Full Cave trip report

[loosebits]

Rick (fixxervi6) and I with a thrid buddy just got back from cave country. We all did IANTD/TDI Adv Nitrox and CDS Full Cave with Mike O'Leary. During our class, we did the Peanut - Crossover - Olsen traverse, the Cisteen - Nicholson circut, Peacock 3, Little River and downstream Cow. We got almost 8 hours of bottom time for the class over 4 diving days with the 1st day being all lecture. Except for 45 mins in the Orange Grove basin for some lift bag work, it was all in the overhead.

We did 3 lights out/air sharing drills. One of them was a simple follow the line in Peanut, the second involved navigating a jump and a change in direction in the permanate arrows (Cisteen to P1), the third was in a restriction I never thought I'd be in: downstream Cow... tanks bumping, shoulders scraping the walls... lots of fun.

Other drills included a lost line search in downstream Cow, a 500' one-fin swim from Pothole to P1 (Rick is actually faster with one fin), a 40' OOA no-mask swim (grab the buddy, flip him around, get air) and the occasional valve drill.

Anyway, we all got our money's worth. We all felt the class was excellent and would highly recomend Mike to anyone planning on taking any technical classes.

Well, my fingers are too raw to post anymore details than that.

 

[texdiveguy]

Awsome fellows!!! I know you just hit on the highlights,,,we will all want to hear and 'see' some of the details after you rest up. Congrats!

 

[Timeliner]

Welcome back !!

With all the rain here in Texas and the localized flooding you guys might be in demand. It probably won't actually happen "but" if Inner Space Caverns floods again like it did several years ago. Maybe you guys could do the inspection dives :05:

Now that would be way Cool :14:

 

[texdiveguy]

Welcome back !!

With all the rain here in Texas and the localized flooding you guys might be in demand. It probably won't actually happen "but" if Inner Space Caverns floods again like it did several years ago. Maybe you guys could do the inspection dives :05:

Now that would be way Cool :14:

You know Frank,,,you and I need to head SE and do a bit of this cave stuff,,,you being a 'rock' hound, and me just a hound.

 

[Debraw]

I totally admire the cave diver. I get claustrophobic in my closet much less all that gear and in a cave. Cave diving is a whole different aspect! Congratulations you guys! :hippy: Peace man...

 

[FIXXERVI6]

Cow is an awsome cave, I look at a drill we did in there, blind, sharing air, through restrictions in a syphon all the way out, talk about bump and grind, you could almost set a tempo with the "ting dong dings" on the way out of there in spots, silly me took my wallet for a ride in my drysuit pocket, I'm lucky I didn't lose it as I was pulling spools and crap out of that pocket during drills (don't ask how it got in there thats another story).

Peacock III syphon was neat looking but talk about silt! I've never seen anything like it, imagine it as a vacum that just sucks all the crap into it, that cave was coated, proper finning required!

Mike was great as that guy has been around the block a few times, he wouldnt' just say "do it this way" he would say "do it this way, this is why, here are some accidents that occured because it was not done this way". And that man can see in the dark, seriously!

 

[Dive-aholic]

I think all cave instructors can see in the dark. My cave instructor swam backwards, lights out, through Peanut, while we were doing a lights out share air drill.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Did Mike say why he resigned from the CDS Board?

 

[FIXXERVI6]

Did Mike say why he resigned from the CDS Board?

No he didn't say, didn't really push to ask but I assume it has something to do with politics, from some comments he made before he seamed to me like a man that does not like politics, that is my speculation however.

 

[loosebits]

I don't think he resigned from CDS but rather the NACD presidency. Happened just before we got there. When people saw we were taking a class with him, they'd ask if we knew why he quit. There's a thread building over at TDS on it but whatever it was, he just didn't want to mess with it anymore as it was distracting him from his teaching and diving.

Oh, I agree, cave instructors can absolutely see in the dark, its amazing.. they must also have some secret tunnels in the caves they use to go from behind the team to in front of the team with no one noticing.