Hopping my way to full cave...

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TIL
1. The line on Dive Rite reels is indeed attached to the spool at the end.
2. That it is hard to start a reel where you have let out all the line.
3. That the jump from Olsen to the Well is longer than a Dive Rite jump reel.

I wonder, if you attach two spools together, is that considered two jumps?

Whenever I jump to the well I carry a 200ft reel

Did you mean "reels" in that last sentence? If not, can you expand on that?

Also, while I certainly understand not *planning* to use two spools... If you're at the end of your spool and you're 25' short, what do you do? I see three options: 1) Tie two spools together. 2) Rewind the spool and re-run a longer spool/reel if you've got it. 3) If you don't, don't take the jump. I personally have never had this happen -- but that's because as a new cave diver I've standardized on 100'+ spools and 250'+ reels, and if I think it's greater than 50' I'm probably pulling out the reel... :) And I *have* had my much more experienced buddies come up short (three times I think) and in every case they've taken choice 1. What would you do?

I've standardized on the 130' spools because they're what I had.. Having said that, I haven't seen that using the longer spools has that much of a disadvantage: they're not that much larger than even a 70' spool. Maybe when I get to the point of needing a half-dozen or more, but for now they work well for me.

You could put two spools together but I presonally don't. I've had 2 instances in mexico where I was about 20ft short on jumps. Rather than people I don't know assuming I'm a stroke for putting two spools together, I just came back another day with a reel. Once in mexico I was also about 10 feet shy, so I went back and adjusted my tie offs and it gave me just enough line to complete the jump
 
Did you mean "reels" in that last sentence? If not, can you expand on that?

Also, while I certainly understand not *planning* to use two spools... If you're at the end of your spool and you're 25' short, what do you do? I see three options: 1) Tie two spools together. 2) Rewind the spool and re-run a longer spool/reel if you've got it. 3) If you don't, don't take the jump. I personally have never had this happen -- but that's because as a new cave diver I've standardized on 100'+ spools and 250'+ reels, and if I think it's greater than 50' I'm probably pulling out the reel... :) And I *have* had my much more experienced buddies come up short (three times I think) and in every case they've taken choice 1. What would you do?

I've standardized on the 130' spools because they're what I had.. Having said that, I haven't seen that using the longer spools has that much of a disadvantage: they're not that much larger than even a 70' spool. Maybe when I get to the point of needing a half-dozen or more, but for now they work well for me.

yes, meant reels not spools.
my option is come back with a bigger reel/spool if it's longer than my 100ft spools. If it is a known jump before hand you should know ahead of time and come prepared, if not, then come back later. If exploring, then you would tie off the end then start the next spool/reel
 
In my defense I was told "Oh 50 feet should be enough." It wasn't, it was about 10-15 feet too short. In the future if I jump to that line I will pull out a longer reel.
 
In my defense I was told "Oh 50 feet should be enough." It wasn't, it was about 10-15 feet too short. In the future if I jump to that line I will pull out a longer reel.
I never carry 50fts they are a waste.
I have a bunch of minis with #18 on them that are functionally 30ft spools and for MX where jumps are plentiful but often short.
In FL I wont carry less than 100ft spools and if its an unknown I bring a 250ft reel
 
I never carry 50fts they are a waste.
I have a bunch of minis with #18 on them that are functionally 30ft spools and for MX where jumps are plentiful but often short.
In FL I wont carry less than 100ft spools and if its an unknown I bring a 250ft reel

I need to get back to detailed dive logs. When I'm in Florida, I do a bunch of dives which all blend together, and then it's a few months (even assuming no pandemics!) before I can get back. I should probably mark a spool/reel or two for those unknown jumps so I can then *write* *down* how long the jump is... I was just telling @Manatee Diver how jealous I am of him, not just because he's diving, but because he gets steady, consistent, growing experience. The feast and famine way is not a great way for consistent development.

With the way technical and cave diving is going for me (fewer and longer dives), the difficulties of detailed dive logging is less than when it was 4-tanks-a-day boat diving, and the opportunities to get repeat dives in a single area (say, a specific jump or path) are also much less. Writing this stuff down means a lot more now.

But I'm also fine with the 100' spools/250' reel philosophy for my Florida diving.
 
It also helps to find out in advance what the jumps are like if you havent been to a section. Then plan ahead and at minimum carry an extra spool each and an extra reel per team. The extra reel comes in handy to just go off and check something out.
 
Went to Nicholson tunnel, ran it until it Ts onto another line. The river water intrusion was interesting, and the tunnel itself is pretty pristine. I am hoping that I left it that way.
 
Back at it again, trying to finish up this weekend. Did two dives in Peacock, 70 minutes and 2 hours. Did pretty well, had a few things to consider for my dives in Madison Blue tomorrow.
 
Hopped across the finish line.

Summary of the day:
7165B5FA-AB8C-4F97-ADC8-0740571D8DC3.jpeg


I think I will go to El Patio for dinner, I am craving some food that doesn’t come from Publix.
 
Back at it, final two days of full cave.

Day 1 - Circuits not just for electronics

Back at Peacock, first we talked about circuits, how much that they can suck particularly if not planned properly, and how to plan them properly to make them suck less. Goal was a Cisteen line to Nicholson circuit. We plan to swim up to the cisteen line, jump to the line, swim to the T take it to the Nicholson line, and run down that until thirds, swimming back when we reach thirds. We talk about the arrows, namely that the arrows at where the cisteen is would disagree with our exit direction, which leads into a conversation of the benefits and how to use REMs. No planned drills, but if I "earn" one it would likely be after we get to the mainline as they avoid drills on those lines. We talk about silting and how he wants to see me do a proper techniques appropriate for each hill and valley we will see on the lines, as these will be crucial when we go to Madison Blue tomorrow.

Dive 1 - Round and round we go
After the usual gear up, I lead us through the dive brief, and gear matching. Training dive which means we run a primary, that goes ok. I didn't like my first choice of secondary tie off, and had to redo it. Circle the reel "ok", then circle the restriction and start the descent. Since I knew I typically get down there faster than my dive buddies I spend a moment to fix the sign so it properly points forward followed by switching to my necklaced reg to ensure that it is still free. I started doing this after I started to dive with CCR divers, as I noticed that they go a lot slower due to having to manage loop volume.

The swim down was uneventful, the water was clear, and lights were bright. After the double arrows the jump quickly approaches. Chris circles the cisteen passage way. I pull out my jump reel, but he signals no, and pushes me a little further down the line. Once I am in the right spot, REM deployed, jump reel on the rem, and run it to the line. The swim to the T was nothing spectacular I tried to concentrate on each hill. We get to the T, I circle it and got a response back, cookie it, and proceed down the line to Nicholson a little. It seems like forever, so I turn around, big mistake that was a horrible plan to turn around. After I see he is right there I somehow manage to turn back around without any significant silt nor contact the wall with my fins, but that was a poor place to do it.

Now we proceed down Nicholson, thinking back on the cisteen I decide to slow down, as it seemed like I was always waiting after each hill, so might as well go slower. Proceed down Nicholson, as we get closer to my thirds I pull a cookie out looking for a good place to place it and turn around before I actually hit thirds but suddenly we are at the end of the line just as I hit thirds. Chris signals reel, so I pull out a jump reel and we jump back to the mainline. On exit we explored a little which included him showing me a couple of passages that are lined but really on the map. I didn't earn any drills, but I did earn some deco 4 minutes to be exact. We both clear our deco and ascend to the surface.

Debrief:
Most things went well, he mentioned that I needed to slow down in cisteen, but was happy when I slowed down in Nicholson. My turn around at the T was mentioned. He also mentioned that I need to stay a little higher in the passages as I was puffing a little. Beyond that it was a pretty clean dive.

We get out of the water to prepare to dive two.

Dive Profile:
Dive Time: 77 minutes
Bottom Time: 73 minutes
Average Depth: 51ffw
Max Depth: 69ffw
Screen Shot 2020-09-21 at 10.47.50 PM.png
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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