GLENFWB
Contributor
Didn't know if I should post a report of my cavern class. But, I wanted to post a few pictures and let everyone know what an awesome job Greg Stanton does with this class. So, I thought I would post what I was recording in my dive log for anyone that is interested.
I joined Wakulla Dive Club last month and found out about Greg Stanton and the Wakulla Diving Center. I decided to take the Cavern course that Greg Stanton offers which is done through IANTD. Greg's credentials and experience are impressive Training and I knew I would be challenged by taking this program with him...I was not disappointed.
I received the Cavern as well as the cave diving book a week before the class began. I read the cavern book and a portion of the cave book in preparation for the class. I traveled from Fort Walton Beach, to the big city of Crawfordville, FL late Sunday night. I met my classmate at the hotel Monday morning and he rode with me to Greg's place, the Wakulla Diving Center, to begin our Cavern course.
Wakulla Diving Center
The person taking the Cavern class with me made the trip all the way from Saudi Arabia. He was taking the cavern class on Monday and Tuesday with me, and then staying for another 9 or 10 days to do the rebreather training with Greg. Badea (sp?) was a great diving buddy and helped make the course enjoyable.
We met at Wakulla Diving Center, a location way out in the woods of Wakulla county. Let's just say you have to really be looking for the Wakulla Diving Center to find it. We arrived around 8 A.M. and after introductions and the usual paperwork and waivers, we started our class work. Greg is a gifted teacher and his experience adds credability to everything he teaches. I cannot begin to tell you all the things I learned in spending two full days learning, driving, and diving with Greg. Greg also has a partner from Germany who assists and teaches with him. York was a huge asset in helping me configure my gear for Cavern diving. He also brought a great deal of diving experience to our course work.
After going through the academic material, we headed to Greg's shop to configure our gear for the dives that afternoon. After getting my 7 foot hose configured, a new cave reel, and a LED dive light, we headed to the pool to practice a few skills. Greg put us through the paces in the pool, making sure we were weighted properly for our dives.
My biggest challenge throughout the two days was trying to grasp the correct execution of the Frog Kick. Greg was patient as he schooled me in the correct form for this kick. I have dove with other who use the frog kick, and I have observed it, I have also read the books, and watched the videos online. But, I still have a ways to go before I really perfect this kick. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
After a full morning and afternoon of class work and activity, we began to pack my truck up for the long trip to Peacock Springs. We were heading specifically to the Orange sink. (I think I have that name right)
Because of the time frames at the park, we had to get in the water as soon as possible after arriving. We grabbed some food while driving and arrived at Peacock around 3 P.M.
We conducted a number of drills with the reels around the trees and the camping area. It was extremely hot and humid so I was looking forward to hitting the cool spring water. We walked down to the sink to look at the area. I had been told that this sink usually has duckweed in it....that was an understatement. I wish I could have gotten pictures with us in the water....needless to say, we spent a good amount of time Monday night rinsing our gear. I think I am still spitting a piece of duckweed out every now and then.
We hit the sink and descended beneath the duckweed. Obviously, visibility was limited until we made our way to the entrance of the cavern. We spent time in the cavern doing various skills and I enjoyed finally being in the water. I am used to the temeprature of most springs being 68 degrees. Oddly enough, my computer registered a temperature of 70 degrees for this dive. We hit a max depth of 94 feet, on a 40 minute dive.
We packed up and headed back to Wakulla Diving Center were Badea and I grabbed a quick Subway sandwich, so we could go back and watch some videos and do some more course work till around 10:30 P.M. It was a long but very informatiive day. Oh yeah, Greg had me stop at the Lauraville store. He took us inside to show us the great spring map they have on one of the tables. He wanted me to get a picture of it so he could have a copy. I have posted the picture here in case some of you haven't seen it.
We started again the next morning at 7 A.M. Wakulla Diving Center has the ability to fill your tanks with any kind of gas you desire...even Trimix. We got our cave fills and loaded up my truck for the trip to Marrianna, and Jackson Blue. Greg was suffering with a nasty case of poison ivy, but he still stuck it out for all the dives...I could tell he was in pain, especially where his dry suit seal rubbed on the irritated skin.
We decided to get on the road and take the written test after we arrived at Jackson Blue. We made a stop to meet Ed at Cave Adventures, then we made our way to the Sheriffs office to get checked in and get the key in case we were there late.
We took our written tests first. This was not a multiple choice or fill in the blank test. It required some critical thinking and was a challenge, but I think Greg prepared us well. Badea and I both passed with what I consider to be a very good score. We were proud to get that done and were looking forward to the dives ahead of us.
Space nor time allows me to record all the things Greg did to us in Jackson Blue for the rest of the day. It was the most challenging dives of my life....but I am so glad for the experience. Jackson Blue is an awesome cavern and I know I will spending a great deal of time there over the next few months as I refine my cavern skills.
We made four dives in Jackson Blue throughout the day. Each dive was a unique experience as Greg continued to challenge our skills. As many of you know, the lost line drill was the most intense time of the training. Preparing for the possibility of a silt out is not a fun experience, but it was a challenge to force myself to stop and think through each situation.
The last dive of the day was to retrieve our reels and take a little time to enjoy the cavern. I was able to take my camera on the last dive so I got a few pictures. Unfortunately, my camera began to flood so I only got a few pictures. Fortunately, I was able to keep the water away from the camera until we surfaced. Although this was "supposed" to be a leisurely dive, Greg still did a few things to us while in the cavern to make sure we didn't let our guards down at any point.
Well, this has gone on way to long. If any of you need a cavern buddy in the near future just send me a P.M. I still have a long way to go with many of the skills I was taught. I guess I knew I was bitten by the cavern/cave bug, when I found myself running my reel around the pool. It was done to dry the line out....but I couldn't help practicing some of the things Greg taught us regarding tieing off.
If you are interested in seeing any more pictures you can go to my Photobucket site, glenfwb - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
I joined Wakulla Dive Club last month and found out about Greg Stanton and the Wakulla Diving Center. I decided to take the Cavern course that Greg Stanton offers which is done through IANTD. Greg's credentials and experience are impressive Training and I knew I would be challenged by taking this program with him...I was not disappointed.
I received the Cavern as well as the cave diving book a week before the class began. I read the cavern book and a portion of the cave book in preparation for the class. I traveled from Fort Walton Beach, to the big city of Crawfordville, FL late Sunday night. I met my classmate at the hotel Monday morning and he rode with me to Greg's place, the Wakulla Diving Center, to begin our Cavern course.
Wakulla Diving Center
The person taking the Cavern class with me made the trip all the way from Saudi Arabia. He was taking the cavern class on Monday and Tuesday with me, and then staying for another 9 or 10 days to do the rebreather training with Greg. Badea (sp?) was a great diving buddy and helped make the course enjoyable.
We met at Wakulla Diving Center, a location way out in the woods of Wakulla county. Let's just say you have to really be looking for the Wakulla Diving Center to find it. We arrived around 8 A.M. and after introductions and the usual paperwork and waivers, we started our class work. Greg is a gifted teacher and his experience adds credability to everything he teaches. I cannot begin to tell you all the things I learned in spending two full days learning, driving, and diving with Greg. Greg also has a partner from Germany who assists and teaches with him. York was a huge asset in helping me configure my gear for Cavern diving. He also brought a great deal of diving experience to our course work.
After going through the academic material, we headed to Greg's shop to configure our gear for the dives that afternoon. After getting my 7 foot hose configured, a new cave reel, and a LED dive light, we headed to the pool to practice a few skills. Greg put us through the paces in the pool, making sure we were weighted properly for our dives.
My biggest challenge throughout the two days was trying to grasp the correct execution of the Frog Kick. Greg was patient as he schooled me in the correct form for this kick. I have dove with other who use the frog kick, and I have observed it, I have also read the books, and watched the videos online. But, I still have a ways to go before I really perfect this kick. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
After a full morning and afternoon of class work and activity, we began to pack my truck up for the long trip to Peacock Springs. We were heading specifically to the Orange sink. (I think I have that name right)
Because of the time frames at the park, we had to get in the water as soon as possible after arriving. We grabbed some food while driving and arrived at Peacock around 3 P.M.
We conducted a number of drills with the reels around the trees and the camping area. It was extremely hot and humid so I was looking forward to hitting the cool spring water. We walked down to the sink to look at the area. I had been told that this sink usually has duckweed in it....that was an understatement. I wish I could have gotten pictures with us in the water....needless to say, we spent a good amount of time Monday night rinsing our gear. I think I am still spitting a piece of duckweed out every now and then.
We hit the sink and descended beneath the duckweed. Obviously, visibility was limited until we made our way to the entrance of the cavern. We spent time in the cavern doing various skills and I enjoyed finally being in the water. I am used to the temeprature of most springs being 68 degrees. Oddly enough, my computer registered a temperature of 70 degrees for this dive. We hit a max depth of 94 feet, on a 40 minute dive.
We packed up and headed back to Wakulla Diving Center were Badea and I grabbed a quick Subway sandwich, so we could go back and watch some videos and do some more course work till around 10:30 P.M. It was a long but very informatiive day. Oh yeah, Greg had me stop at the Lauraville store. He took us inside to show us the great spring map they have on one of the tables. He wanted me to get a picture of it so he could have a copy. I have posted the picture here in case some of you haven't seen it.
We started again the next morning at 7 A.M. Wakulla Diving Center has the ability to fill your tanks with any kind of gas you desire...even Trimix. We got our cave fills and loaded up my truck for the trip to Marrianna, and Jackson Blue. Greg was suffering with a nasty case of poison ivy, but he still stuck it out for all the dives...I could tell he was in pain, especially where his dry suit seal rubbed on the irritated skin.
We decided to get on the road and take the written test after we arrived at Jackson Blue. We made a stop to meet Ed at Cave Adventures, then we made our way to the Sheriffs office to get checked in and get the key in case we were there late.
We took our written tests first. This was not a multiple choice or fill in the blank test. It required some critical thinking and was a challenge, but I think Greg prepared us well. Badea and I both passed with what I consider to be a very good score. We were proud to get that done and were looking forward to the dives ahead of us.
Space nor time allows me to record all the things Greg did to us in Jackson Blue for the rest of the day. It was the most challenging dives of my life....but I am so glad for the experience. Jackson Blue is an awesome cavern and I know I will spending a great deal of time there over the next few months as I refine my cavern skills.
We made four dives in Jackson Blue throughout the day. Each dive was a unique experience as Greg continued to challenge our skills. As many of you know, the lost line drill was the most intense time of the training. Preparing for the possibility of a silt out is not a fun experience, but it was a challenge to force myself to stop and think through each situation.
The last dive of the day was to retrieve our reels and take a little time to enjoy the cavern. I was able to take my camera on the last dive so I got a few pictures. Unfortunately, my camera began to flood so I only got a few pictures. Fortunately, I was able to keep the water away from the camera until we surfaced. Although this was "supposed" to be a leisurely dive, Greg still did a few things to us while in the cavern to make sure we didn't let our guards down at any point.
Well, this has gone on way to long. If any of you need a cavern buddy in the near future just send me a P.M. I still have a long way to go with many of the skills I was taught. I guess I knew I was bitten by the cavern/cave bug, when I found myself running my reel around the pool. It was done to dry the line out....but I couldn't help practicing some of the things Greg taught us regarding tieing off.
If you are interested in seeing any more pictures you can go to my Photobucket site, glenfwb - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
