PfcAJ
Contributor
Since some of ya’ll had expressed some interest in more trip reports, Litehedded and I decided to write one up about our last dive at Manatee Springs.
We had initially planned to do a four stage, double scooter dive with a bottom time between 150 and 200minutes, depending on how things were going. We planned to place 3 stages and 1 scooter each at Friedman’s Sink, then run slick through the lower vis/ higher flow sections between Catfish and Sue’s Sink. Due to the two day nature of this dive, we camped out at Manatee.
On Saturday, we did a setup dive at Friedman’s sink, placing a total of 6 stage bottles in the cave. In our experience, carrying a large payload through Sue’s Sink isn’t always a practical or efficient idea. We couldn’t place the scooters due to the low water level of the sink. The risk of falling or dropping the scooters just wasn’t worth it.
After that quick jaunt at Friedman’s, we went back to camp and enjoyed rib-eye steaks and grilled corn on the cob for dinner. We we’re really roughin’ it out there.
At noon on Sunday, we left from Catfish Hotel. We went in on a single stage with 1 tow scooter each, and placed our 20ft bottles, 70ft bottles, camel baks and some food inside the cavern. From there, we motored 18 minutes up to Friedman’s T. Here we picked up our cache of stages, switched to a fresh bottle, and hit the trigger. This was probably less than ideal since we still had over 2000psi left over in those first stage bottles.
The next phase of the dive was rather slow going. The flow was certainly kicking, and that 3rd stage adds some noticeable drag. After another 20minutes, we swapped stages and scooters.
Unfortunately, one of Brian’s stages lost some gas either on the way to Manatee, during the setup, or during the dive. We dropped at only 15mins. After a quick break to take a drink from a camel bak, we were back on the trigger.
Another 20ish minutes (around 80mins total dive time), and it was time to go. By this point, the cave had changed dramatically. The large passage of the first few thousand feet of the cave was no more. It became smaller (though easily scooterable), reminiscent of Cow Spring. The flow was still howling back there, and the walls remain that dark brown color found in the front of the system. There are dramatic cracks and tighter spots simply not found in the front, but the ups and downs still persist.
Right as we were stopping to turn around, Brian’s light went out. Light failure at max penetration… I had a spare 18w slug on an E/O in my pocket. Brian plugged it in, and it fired right up. Taking spares on dives like this is prudent. In addition to the slug, I took an extra canister, an adjustable wrench, and a multi-tool with pliers and a few screwdrivers. Being able to fix things is much better than exiting on a backup light when you’re almost two miles from the door.
We swapped scooters, pitched down some, and began the ride out. The exit is generally faster due to the flow, even when we slow the scooters down.
After 135 minutes of bottom time, we we’re back at Catfish and on deco, still with full 104s on our backs. We switched to out 50% bottles, and we were greeted by some friends who were doing some cavern diving. They offered to take our stages and tow scooters from us, and we didn’t hesitate They really helped us out a lot and made our deco much more comfortable. We took our time on deco and surfaced at 180 minutes of dive time. A few minutes of surface deco, and it was time for dinner! Grilled burgers and baked beans really hit the spot after the 3hr dive.
While the dive went smoothly, we took some lessons home with us. While Friedman’s might be convenient, we need to take bottles farther upstream to maximize the gas we have. Future dives will need a more involved set up. Of course, having all the bottles full would help too
I am very grateful to Emily and Michelle for running the show at camp, and to Ryan, Will, and Matt for helping us in water and moving the gear up to the trucks for us. They made the entire weekend not only more fun, but safer for Brian and I.
We had initially planned to do a four stage, double scooter dive with a bottom time between 150 and 200minutes, depending on how things were going. We planned to place 3 stages and 1 scooter each at Friedman’s Sink, then run slick through the lower vis/ higher flow sections between Catfish and Sue’s Sink. Due to the two day nature of this dive, we camped out at Manatee.
On Saturday, we did a setup dive at Friedman’s sink, placing a total of 6 stage bottles in the cave. In our experience, carrying a large payload through Sue’s Sink isn’t always a practical or efficient idea. We couldn’t place the scooters due to the low water level of the sink. The risk of falling or dropping the scooters just wasn’t worth it.
After that quick jaunt at Friedman’s, we went back to camp and enjoyed rib-eye steaks and grilled corn on the cob for dinner. We we’re really roughin’ it out there.
At noon on Sunday, we left from Catfish Hotel. We went in on a single stage with 1 tow scooter each, and placed our 20ft bottles, 70ft bottles, camel baks and some food inside the cavern. From there, we motored 18 minutes up to Friedman’s T. Here we picked up our cache of stages, switched to a fresh bottle, and hit the trigger. This was probably less than ideal since we still had over 2000psi left over in those first stage bottles.
The next phase of the dive was rather slow going. The flow was certainly kicking, and that 3rd stage adds some noticeable drag. After another 20minutes, we swapped stages and scooters.
Unfortunately, one of Brian’s stages lost some gas either on the way to Manatee, during the setup, or during the dive. We dropped at only 15mins. After a quick break to take a drink from a camel bak, we were back on the trigger.
Another 20ish minutes (around 80mins total dive time), and it was time to go. By this point, the cave had changed dramatically. The large passage of the first few thousand feet of the cave was no more. It became smaller (though easily scooterable), reminiscent of Cow Spring. The flow was still howling back there, and the walls remain that dark brown color found in the front of the system. There are dramatic cracks and tighter spots simply not found in the front, but the ups and downs still persist.
Right as we were stopping to turn around, Brian’s light went out. Light failure at max penetration… I had a spare 18w slug on an E/O in my pocket. Brian plugged it in, and it fired right up. Taking spares on dives like this is prudent. In addition to the slug, I took an extra canister, an adjustable wrench, and a multi-tool with pliers and a few screwdrivers. Being able to fix things is much better than exiting on a backup light when you’re almost two miles from the door.
We swapped scooters, pitched down some, and began the ride out. The exit is generally faster due to the flow, even when we slow the scooters down.
After 135 minutes of bottom time, we we’re back at Catfish and on deco, still with full 104s on our backs. We switched to out 50% bottles, and we were greeted by some friends who were doing some cavern diving. They offered to take our stages and tow scooters from us, and we didn’t hesitate They really helped us out a lot and made our deco much more comfortable. We took our time on deco and surfaced at 180 minutes of dive time. A few minutes of surface deco, and it was time for dinner! Grilled burgers and baked beans really hit the spot after the 3hr dive.
While the dive went smoothly, we took some lessons home with us. While Friedman’s might be convenient, we need to take bottles farther upstream to maximize the gas we have. Future dives will need a more involved set up. Of course, having all the bottles full would help too
I am very grateful to Emily and Michelle for running the show at camp, and to Ryan, Will, and Matt for helping us in water and moving the gear up to the trucks for us. They made the entire weekend not only more fun, but safer for Brian and I.
