I have been meaning to write a trip report for a dive for quite some time, but my schedule stays busy with class and deco.
The cave system that I have been diving heavily the past month has a basic survey line that runs down the main passage at least 2200 feet. The first couple of dives were quite exciting.
On the first dive in the system, I entered the sink at about 11P.M. wearing 104's at 3800 (34%), an AL 80(34%), and my standard cave deco bottle AA72. As I had no idea of what the cave was like, I was using a computer (with backup 34%/accelerated deco tables.) The entry was very nice, but slightly un-nerving. There were fish everywhere, strange fish that I had never seen before. The cavern is shaped like a triangle with two tubes exiting opposite ends. The upstream side, I would later find, was a short run to another sink. I chose the downstream side. I had to do a line alteration at about 100 feet of penetration because the old line that was already in place was not in good shape and was covered with silt. I spliced in a new piece of #24 and reconnected downstream. The depth at this point was about 55 feet. The cave had lots of particulates in the water and viz was about 15-20 feet. What I could see of the walls indicated nice decoration for Florida. At around 400' the floor fell away and I descended to 90'. The drop didn't improve visibility, but did help my piece of mind. The cave grew much larger when the depth changed. Although I was at 90' at the ceiling, I couldn't see the bottom until I descended to 105'.
The cave continues on at 100' for a few hundred more feet, then BOOM, visibility goes to 150'+. The walls immediately went white and the floor fell away again.
The visibility improvement allowed me to get a fantastic glimpse of the beauty the system had to offer. The ceiling rose to 70' while the bottom fell to 140'. The room has 2 arches that descend out of the ceiling, one is about the size of a V W Beetle and the other is the size of a Blue Bird bus. There was a T in the line. The drop to the left was too deep so I continued onward for a hundred feet or so. The line ducks under a low spot that is back-mountable and I dropped my AL 80 for a quick look to see where it went. I turned after about 50 feet of passage and returned to my "buddy". I swam back to the "T" and wanted to go that way, but didn't have the right gas. I guestimated that it was 150 by dropping down to 120 and having a look around for about 45 seconds (For the few who may read this, do not do such things as push your PPO2 to 1.6) then came back up. I exited the siphon (stronger than I remember when coming in) and came out to do the rest of my deco before I had to lug the gear to the vehicle in the 30 degree weather.
This was the first dive in the system.
When I came back the next time, I had gas mixed for 150' in my doubles and an AL 80, an AL 80 with 34' (stage and deco), and my trusty 20' bottle. This dive would be a little longer.
I cut tables for 12 min @100, 45 min @ 150, then 15@100, then deco. After calculating bailouts and insuring that I had the extra gas needed to cover myself on the egress, I was off to swim again. The entry went smoother and the trip to the T was 11 minutes (just as planned). I switched to back gas, dropped down the line at the T (after properly marking), and dropped my stage on a nice rock in 145' of H2O. The tube here is beautiful. There is a lot of silt in areas, but the cave itself is spectacular. The line winds through the passage very nicely. I notice how well the line is laid for exploration line (whoever laid the line did a very nice job with the exception of the repair that I had to make near the entrance.) I immediately notice that none of the side tunnels (which are plentiful) are lined. I make a note to jump on that on the next dive.
After heading back another couple hundred feet, I come to another T. I go left and see a duck under that has a nice flow coming out of it (I noticed by swimming past it and feeling the burst of flow). "This is it!" I think and break out my line laying reel. I put in a spool, then headed down. I found a fabulous place to tie off and then connected the line to the main line with the spool. Finally, I was laying line in a high flow system with good visibility.
The passage reminded me a lot of the serpentine tunnel at Little River. I hit my turn time way too soon, tied my reel off, left it in place, then exited my new tunnel ( named the "Blossom Tunnel" for my wife), pulled the spool, and headed out.
I picked up the other AL bottle and had a nice slow ascent from 140' to 90' giving me lots of time to play with the bottles, switched gas at 100', and began the swim back against the thumping current. Two stage bottles are a pain in the ass when you are diving siphons. During the planning stage, I had to tack extra time onto the bottom depth to handle the exertion of the swim.
The deco was too short that night and the many nights since. It is hard not to dive there again tomorrow, but I have made plans to dive with a friend at another location.
Hope the report didn't bore you too much. I know naming tunnel after my wife may seem cheesy, but I have since named tunnels after my mother and my instructor from Alaska.
Cheers
The cave system that I have been diving heavily the past month has a basic survey line that runs down the main passage at least 2200 feet. The first couple of dives were quite exciting.
On the first dive in the system, I entered the sink at about 11P.M. wearing 104's at 3800 (34%), an AL 80(34%), and my standard cave deco bottle AA72. As I had no idea of what the cave was like, I was using a computer (with backup 34%/accelerated deco tables.) The entry was very nice, but slightly un-nerving. There were fish everywhere, strange fish that I had never seen before. The cavern is shaped like a triangle with two tubes exiting opposite ends. The upstream side, I would later find, was a short run to another sink. I chose the downstream side. I had to do a line alteration at about 100 feet of penetration because the old line that was already in place was not in good shape and was covered with silt. I spliced in a new piece of #24 and reconnected downstream. The depth at this point was about 55 feet. The cave had lots of particulates in the water and viz was about 15-20 feet. What I could see of the walls indicated nice decoration for Florida. At around 400' the floor fell away and I descended to 90'. The drop didn't improve visibility, but did help my piece of mind. The cave grew much larger when the depth changed. Although I was at 90' at the ceiling, I couldn't see the bottom until I descended to 105'.
The cave continues on at 100' for a few hundred more feet, then BOOM, visibility goes to 150'+. The walls immediately went white and the floor fell away again.
The visibility improvement allowed me to get a fantastic glimpse of the beauty the system had to offer. The ceiling rose to 70' while the bottom fell to 140'. The room has 2 arches that descend out of the ceiling, one is about the size of a V W Beetle and the other is the size of a Blue Bird bus. There was a T in the line. The drop to the left was too deep so I continued onward for a hundred feet or so. The line ducks under a low spot that is back-mountable and I dropped my AL 80 for a quick look to see where it went. I turned after about 50 feet of passage and returned to my "buddy". I swam back to the "T" and wanted to go that way, but didn't have the right gas. I guestimated that it was 150 by dropping down to 120 and having a look around for about 45 seconds (For the few who may read this, do not do such things as push your PPO2 to 1.6) then came back up. I exited the siphon (stronger than I remember when coming in) and came out to do the rest of my deco before I had to lug the gear to the vehicle in the 30 degree weather.
This was the first dive in the system.
When I came back the next time, I had gas mixed for 150' in my doubles and an AL 80, an AL 80 with 34' (stage and deco), and my trusty 20' bottle. This dive would be a little longer.
I cut tables for 12 min @100, 45 min @ 150, then 15@100, then deco. After calculating bailouts and insuring that I had the extra gas needed to cover myself on the egress, I was off to swim again. The entry went smoother and the trip to the T was 11 minutes (just as planned). I switched to back gas, dropped down the line at the T (after properly marking), and dropped my stage on a nice rock in 145' of H2O. The tube here is beautiful. There is a lot of silt in areas, but the cave itself is spectacular. The line winds through the passage very nicely. I notice how well the line is laid for exploration line (whoever laid the line did a very nice job with the exception of the repair that I had to make near the entrance.) I immediately notice that none of the side tunnels (which are plentiful) are lined. I make a note to jump on that on the next dive.
After heading back another couple hundred feet, I come to another T. I go left and see a duck under that has a nice flow coming out of it (I noticed by swimming past it and feeling the burst of flow). "This is it!" I think and break out my line laying reel. I put in a spool, then headed down. I found a fabulous place to tie off and then connected the line to the main line with the spool. Finally, I was laying line in a high flow system with good visibility.
The passage reminded me a lot of the serpentine tunnel at Little River. I hit my turn time way too soon, tied my reel off, left it in place, then exited my new tunnel ( named the "Blossom Tunnel" for my wife), pulled the spool, and headed out. I picked up the other AL bottle and had a nice slow ascent from 140' to 90' giving me lots of time to play with the bottles, switched gas at 100', and began the swim back against the thumping current. Two stage bottles are a pain in the ass when you are diving siphons. During the planning stage, I had to tack extra time onto the bottom depth to handle the exertion of the swim.
The deco was too short that night and the many nights since. It is hard not to dive there again tomorrow, but I have made plans to dive with a friend at another location.
Hope the report didn't bore you too much. I know naming tunnel after my wife may seem cheesy, but I have since named tunnels after my mother and my instructor from Alaska.
Cheers
