My Cave Diving blog... On my way to the Abe Davis Award.

[The Chairman]

Pete, you're tilting at windmills about promoting cave diving.

Hopefully, I'm promoting safe and conscientious cave diving! Which, brings me about to my last dive.

35: 10/03/2015, Ginnie Springs, High Springs, Fl. Solo. Bubble Trouble. A few dives back I had a problem with a bubbling regulator before the dive. Today, I took a stage bottle and went to look for the whale bone. Sam had told me simply to follow the fin gouges in the mud. Wow. My stage was not as full as I would like, and I hit thirds just after the Key Hole. I switched to primary gas and set a jump at Hill 400. I had just clipped the stage onto the line when I hear a keening sound. It almost sounded like a far off scooter or a leak. It turned out to be my left side first stage reg was bubbling. I turned off the tank and breathed out the last of the NitrOx and then switched to the right tank. I loosened and re-tightened the reg thinking that this was the end of my dive. Voila! No more leaks. No more noise. I was surprised at the loudness of the sound in regards to how small the bubbles were. In any event, I resolved the issue and I was on my way! I worked my way back to the 1000 ft jump and that went well. I then tied in a much longer reel and started to keep to the tunnel left of Double Lines. The river water intrusion was a bit worse and the passage was dark and gloomy. It didn't take long to find the gouges and I noticed I was about to hit the ceiling. I vented some air and came dangerously close to wallowing in the mud. I proceeded on when I realized I was about to hit the ceiling again. I re-adjusted and before I could continue I was starting to float up again. Looking at the inflater I could see some bubbles coming out. I vented and gave it a shot at the same time, hoping that I could clear what ever was causing the problem. Now I could hear it leaking, so I popped off the inflater hose, took a few moments and got very stable. I had plenty of gas, but with the poor vis, and a bit of silt stirred up from my buoyancy issues, I turned the dive. Everything went well on the way back... until I got to the steps. It was then I realized that I had drug my inflater hose through the mud. Damn. I spent an 1:45 on that trip.

10/03/2015, Ginnie Springs, High Springs, Fl. I did two additional dives today in the ball room with a friend. They were about a half hour each but I'm not going to count them as part of the Abe Davis Award. It was fun to poke around in there... lots of glass on the floor. Found the high pressure seat of a first stage. That must have been a fun dive! We also saw a fresh water eel and got to watch Capt Jim Wyatt teach a cavern class. Good stuff. Time to head home.

 

[rddvet]

Interesting read. It makes me think how different all of our personal limits are. I've had a few loose din fittings which lead to nice sized leaks. That has an effect on my decision making in a situation as yours. My thoughts when I read about the bubbling first was: I'm heading to the whale bones which is silty, solo, I'm calling it on a bubbling first stage. I'd have in the back of my mind that maybe that reg loosened because of a loose din fitting. I could hit the reg very slightly and have a massive bubble which would suck in that little area near the bones. Not that it'd be catastrophic, just annoying zero vis exiting when I could've avoided it.

Not saying your choice was wrong. It's just interesting how previous experiences shape how we all see the same situation.

 

[The Chairman]

It's just interesting how previous experiences shape how we all see the same situation.

I would agree, and not just cave experiences as well. When I went to UF, I got to work in a P-Chem lab where I was first introduced to O-Rings. We worked in high vacuum situations (10^-4 Torr) on a daily basis doing spectroscopy on isotopes of hydrogen with a Super Con magnet. I was nothing but a high tech plumber, isolating and sealing leaks using a variety of methods. I learned a lot about seals and o-rings in particular. They can still be a pain in the ass.

 

[kensuf]

Hopefully, I'm promoting safe and conscientious cave diving! Which, brings me about to my last dive.

35: 10/03/2015, Ginnie Springs, High Springs, Fl. Solo. Bubble Trouble. A few dives back I had a problem with a bubbling regulator before the dive. Today, I took a stage bottle and went to look for the whale bone. Sam had told me simply to follow the fin gouges in the mud. Wow. My stage was not as full as I would like, and I hit thirds just after the Key Hole. I switched to primary gas and set a jump at Hill 400. I had just clipped the stage onto the line when I hear a keening sound. It almost sounded like a far off scooter or a leak. It turned out to be my left side first stage reg was bubbling. I turned off the tank and breathed out the last of the NitrOx and then switched to the right tank. I loosened and re-tightened the reg thinking that this was the end of my dive. Voila! No more leaks. No more noise. I was surprised at the loudness of the sound in regards to how small the bubbles were. In any event, I resolved the issue and I was on my way! I worked my way back to the 1000 ft jump and that went well. I then tied in a much longer reel and started to keep to the tunnel left of Double Lines. The river water intrusion was a bit worse and the passage was dark and gloomy. It didn't take long to find the gouges and I noticed I was about to hit the ceiling. I vented some air and came dangerously close to wallowing in the mud. I proceeded on when I realized I was about to hit the ceiling again. I re-adjusted and before I could continue I was starting to float up again. Looking at the inflater I could see some bubbles coming out. I vented and gave it a shot at the same time, hoping that I could clear what ever was causing the problem. Now I could hear it leaking, so I popped off the inflater hose, took a few moments and got very stable. I had plenty of gas, but with the poor vis, and a bit of silt stirred up from my buoyancy issues, I turned the dive. Everything went well on the way back... until I got to the steps. It was then I realized that I had drug my inflater hose through the mud. Damn. I spent an 1:45 on that trip.

10/03/2015, Ginnie Springs, High Springs, Fl. I did two additional dives today in the ball room with a friend. They were about a half hour each but I'm not going to count them as part of the Abe Davis Award. It was fun to poke around in there... lots of glass on the floor. Found the high pressure seat of a first stage. That must have been a fun dive! We also saw a fresh water eel and got to watch Capt Jim Wyatt teach a cavern class. Good stuff. Time to head home.

It seems like it, taking things slowly is a great idea when learning this sport. I also like that you thought through the first problem on dive #35 and came to a solution calmly.

 

[victorzamora]

Hopefully, I'm promoting safe and conscientious cave diving! Which, brings me about to my last dive.

35: 10/03/2015, Ginnie Springs, High Springs, Fl. Solo. Bubble Trouble. A few dives back I had a problem with a bubbling regulator before the dive. Today, I took a stage bottle and went to look for the whale bone. Sam had told me simply to follow the fin gouges in the mud. Wow. My stage was not as full as I would like, and I hit thirds just after the Key Hole. I switched to primary gas and set a jump at Hill 400. I had just clipped the stage onto the line when I hear a keening sound. It almost sounded like a far off scooter or a leak. It turned out to be my left side first stage reg was bubbling. I turned off the tank and breathed out the last of the NitrOx and then switched to the right tank. I loosened and re-tightened the reg thinking that this was the end of my dive. Voila! No more leaks. No more noise. I was surprised at the loudness of the sound in regards to how small the bubbles were. In any event, I resolved the issue and I was on my way! I worked my way back to the 1000 ft jump and that went well. I then tied in a much longer reel and started to keep to the tunnel left of Double Lines. The river water intrusion was a bit worse and the passage was dark and gloomy. It didn't take long to find the gouges and I noticed I was about to hit the ceiling. I vented some air and came dangerously close to wallowing in the mud. I proceeded on when I realized I was about to hit the ceiling again. I re-adjusted and before I could continue I was starting to float up again. Looking at the inflater I could see some bubbles coming out. I vented and gave it a shot at the same time, hoping that I could clear what ever was causing the problem. Now I could hear it leaking, so I popped off the inflater hose, took a few moments and got very stable. I had plenty of gas, but with the poor vis, and a bit of silt stirred up from my buoyancy issues, I turned the dive. Everything went well on the way back... until I got to the steps. It was then I realized that I had drug my inflater hose through the mud. Damn. I spent an 1:45 on that trip.

10/03/2015, Ginnie Springs, High Springs, Fl. I did two additional dives today in the ball room with a friend. They were about a half hour each but I'm not going to count them as part of the Abe Davis Award. It was fun to poke around in there... lots of glass on the floor. Found the high pressure seat of a first stage. That must have been a fun dive! We also saw a fresh water eel and got to watch Capt Jim Wyatt teach a cavern class. Good stuff. Time to head home.

Sorry I missed you, Pete. I was at Ginnie diving Devil's 10/3 and in the ballroom 10/4.

 

[The Chairman]

Sorry I missed you, Pete. I was at Ginnie diving Devil's 10/3 and in the ballroom 10/4.

I must have seen you first! j/k I'll be back up the week before the Mega Dive for those who want to catch a dive with me. I do want to make it to some different systems just to round out my experiences. Edd Sorenson and Rob Neto have invited me to come dive with them up in the pan handle although not together.

 

[victorzamora]

I must have seen you first! j/k I'll be back up the week before the Mega Dive for those who want to catch a dive with me. I do want to make it to some different systems just to round out my experiences. Edd Sorenson and Rob Neto have invited me to come dive with them up in the pan handle although not together.

Well it was my first time in Ginnie, so I'm obviously trying to make it to some different systems as well.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Well it was my first time in Ginnie, so I'm obviously trying to make it to some different systems as well.

I was at Devils' yesterday..sorry I missed you.....

 

[The Chairman]

Diving different systems is good to do! The preponderance of my dives have been in Ginnie, but I have still made it to 7 different systems so far and 8 if you count Orange Grove as a different from Peacock. I really want to add Madison Blue (been there three times before full cave), Jug Hole and a few others in that area as well as some up in the pan handle.

So why Ginnie? It and Little River gave me the biggest physical challenge throughout training. I died once in Ginnie and twice in Little River. I usually stay with the Wyatts when in cave country so Ginnie is closer than Little River. Still, I want to explore more in LR.

Current goals...

• Easier reel/spool management. My arthritis makes reaching behind my back and unclipping things problematic and sometimes painful.
• Better stage management: eliminate the bump and grind from a buoyant tank.
• Learn Scooter diving
• Take a rebreather into a cave (Need a lot more OW time on a rebreather for this).

Feel free to share any insights/help on these. It's my opinion that the diver that loses the need to improve their diving has lost most of the fun.

BTW, Dive Rite's new Cookie Spool has made spool management easier. I have three of them attached to a single double ender and move it to a front D ring on the first jump. Maybe, I should just leave them there?

 

[victorzamora]

Per our messages, I figured I'd post this here:

Good work on progressing towards your Abe Davis! I'm about a dozen dives away myself, and steadily working towards it. Like you said, the journey really is the goal and Abe Davis is simply one milestone along the way. My only "destination" goals are seeing new cave and being a more proficient diver....but both of those are never-ending anyway.

One thing that's funny is it seems the closer I get the farther it is. When I was practicing for my Full Cave and then practicing immediately after my Full Cave, I was doing like 4 dives a day. My schedule was that I'd drive down Friday night getting in at midnight, get up bright and early Saturday for four dives. Then crash HARD, then two dives sunday morning before going home. This schedule meant my wife was running like a crazy person and setting my gear up for me and running around town while I rested and then usually having to drive the whole way home. I did this so I could "gain experience" and "not waste the trip." I'm much happier about my cave diving now that I've slowed to a more "normal" pace. I'm at 2x per day, and am sure I'll be moving to 1 or 1.5 per day in the not-too-distant future.

So again, good job working towards your Abe Davis....but don't forget it's a fairly meaningless milestone along a much longer and more meaningful journey. Cave diving is supposed to be fun, make sure you keep the fun more prominantly in your mind than some arbitrary milestone.