OP
NSS-CDS Full Cave: The Live-Blog
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OP
(Part 1 of ?)
Day 2: Eyes and Ears
I hope you have your snuggest pairs of briefs on today, because if I’ve learned anything this week, it’s that there are NO DANGLIES in the cave.
Based on yesterday’s dives and debriefs, we started the morning at Cave Country Dive Shop to make some gear changes. I picked up a 22” hose for my secondary regulator so that there’s no dangling slack when I’m in horizontal trim. I bought new backup lights that are about the size of a deluxe Sharpie that put out 800 lumens. These new lights are a much better size relative to my torso and I could reach for objects in greater comfort.
We meandered over to Ginnie in the late morning, set up in a leisurely fashion, and launched for our first dive at about 12:30.
Day 2: First Dive
We planned our first dive as a simple introduction to the Devil’s Eye/Ear entrances. We entered through the basin in the Eye, which is a really beautiful and serene place. I have small envy for the advanced divers hanging around deco who can extend their appreciation.
We dropped down and entered the cave, swam a short distance, and then encountered a second descent point called “the manhole.” This is a naturally-occurring hole in the floor not much larger than an actual manhole, but it has a significant drop on the other side.
As an OW wreck diver, I’m not accustomed to careening head-first into dark places. My survival instinct just doesn’t approve of the practice. I chickened out on my first attempt to pull through. After taking a few deep breaths, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and slingshotted myself through. Reggie informs me that my managing to control my buoyancy and not hit the floor like a gravel dart is a positive sign.
I think we made our secondary tie-off in here (but I could be confusing the timeline). We continued onward, which meant continuing downward in flow. Descending into flow is an interesting experience – I have to pause and think whether my sense of lost buoyancy is from being pushed up and out, which makes me want to add air to my BC. However, flow is typically weaker near the floor – I want to be able to drop out of the strongest current, which means going negative and dumping air instead. It’s a delicate balancing act to find the right altitude in the right places.
I felt pretty good about my pulling skills, because kicking was expending a lot of energy and air. Things were going swimmingly…. until I saw three lights pointing back at me: exiting team. Oh no!
Exiting teams generally have right-of-way in this part of the cave. While I was planning handholds for a lateral move, one of the arrows on my retainer snagged a line running through the cave. I tried to wedge an elbow down to hold my position, unhooked my stuck arrow, and then moved over. [If you were part of the team exiting while I was coming in, thank you for your patience with me as I learn.]
After the teams negotiated the passage, we proceed onward through the Gallery towards the Lips. I followed Reggie’s path through the lowest-flow part of the cave – up at the ceiling. I felt a little winded getting through here and checked my SPG frequently.
I was approaching the end of my first third for the dive (3300 psi). I worried that with my huffing and puffing, we weren’t going to make it to the Lips. Fortunately, it was right around the corner and I had a enough air left to get a good look.
I used about 800 psi getting in. With the magic of diving with the flow on the way home, I only used 200 psi to get out. The exit went smoothly, we did safety stop in the basin, and ascended for a surface break before Dive 2.
Day 2: Eyes and Ears
I hope you have your snuggest pairs of briefs on today, because if I’ve learned anything this week, it’s that there are NO DANGLIES in the cave.
Based on yesterday’s dives and debriefs, we started the morning at Cave Country Dive Shop to make some gear changes. I picked up a 22” hose for my secondary regulator so that there’s no dangling slack when I’m in horizontal trim. I bought new backup lights that are about the size of a deluxe Sharpie that put out 800 lumens. These new lights are a much better size relative to my torso and I could reach for objects in greater comfort.
We meandered over to Ginnie in the late morning, set up in a leisurely fashion, and launched for our first dive at about 12:30.
Day 2: First Dive
We planned our first dive as a simple introduction to the Devil’s Eye/Ear entrances. We entered through the basin in the Eye, which is a really beautiful and serene place. I have small envy for the advanced divers hanging around deco who can extend their appreciation.
We dropped down and entered the cave, swam a short distance, and then encountered a second descent point called “the manhole.” This is a naturally-occurring hole in the floor not much larger than an actual manhole, but it has a significant drop on the other side.
As an OW wreck diver, I’m not accustomed to careening head-first into dark places. My survival instinct just doesn’t approve of the practice. I chickened out on my first attempt to pull through. After taking a few deep breaths, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and slingshotted myself through. Reggie informs me that my managing to control my buoyancy and not hit the floor like a gravel dart is a positive sign.
I think we made our secondary tie-off in here (but I could be confusing the timeline). We continued onward, which meant continuing downward in flow. Descending into flow is an interesting experience – I have to pause and think whether my sense of lost buoyancy is from being pushed up and out, which makes me want to add air to my BC. However, flow is typically weaker near the floor – I want to be able to drop out of the strongest current, which means going negative and dumping air instead. It’s a delicate balancing act to find the right altitude in the right places.
I felt pretty good about my pulling skills, because kicking was expending a lot of energy and air. Things were going swimmingly…. until I saw three lights pointing back at me: exiting team. Oh no!
Exiting teams generally have right-of-way in this part of the cave. While I was planning handholds for a lateral move, one of the arrows on my retainer snagged a line running through the cave. I tried to wedge an elbow down to hold my position, unhooked my stuck arrow, and then moved over. [If you were part of the team exiting while I was coming in, thank you for your patience with me as I learn.]
After the teams negotiated the passage, we proceed onward through the Gallery towards the Lips. I followed Reggie’s path through the lowest-flow part of the cave – up at the ceiling. I felt a little winded getting through here and checked my SPG frequently.
I was approaching the end of my first third for the dive (3300 psi). I worried that with my huffing and puffing, we weren’t going to make it to the Lips. Fortunately, it was right around the corner and I had a enough air left to get a good look.
I used about 800 psi getting in. With the magic of diving with the flow on the way home, I only used 200 psi to get out. The exit went smoothly, we did safety stop in the basin, and ascended for a surface break before Dive 2.
OP
(Part 2 of ?)
Day 2: Second Dive
We planned our second dive to include all of the penetration in the first, but to continue past the Lips towards the Keyhole, which is the next major formation. Because I had just been in the same part of the cave, I felt significantly more relaxed on the second dive. I made it to the Lips on about 650 psi this time.
When we reached the Keyhole, Reggie stopped me for a lost buddy drill that we planned during our surface break. Reggie indicated “Point 1” on the line for me, at which I placed a cookie marker to show my maximum penetration. A few feet away, he tapped “Point 2” for me to place an arrow indicating the exit direction. He swam a few lengths away while I got ready to deploy my safety reel to conduct a search.
I couldn’t get to the damn D-ring back against my plate. I switched my primary light over to my left hand, hoping that bare fingers would be more nimble. However, having my light on my left hand (which I was using to hold my position in the flow) pushed it up against a rock and I was mostly in the dark. I turned on one of my shiny new backup lights so that I felt a little less plunged in darkness while fumbling for the reel.
I hit my third (2300 psi) before I could get to it. I light-signaled to Reggie that I had a problem, swapped my primary light back to my right hand, and pulled my markers. We followed the Gold Line (note: the permanent main line installed in the cave) back out. The exit went smoothly, and I also feel like it went faster than the first time. I had some idea of where my problems spots were on the first dive and attempted to do it better the second time.
I have no doubt that calling off the drill at my third was the correct decision. Violating thirds to finish the exercise likely would have constituted an automatic failure of the exercise and would have been a stupid idea anyway (for safety reasons). I also have no doubt that I would have quaked in my dive boots at instructor wrath for ignoring THE safety rule.
Day 2: Second Dive
We planned our second dive to include all of the penetration in the first, but to continue past the Lips towards the Keyhole, which is the next major formation. Because I had just been in the same part of the cave, I felt significantly more relaxed on the second dive. I made it to the Lips on about 650 psi this time.
When we reached the Keyhole, Reggie stopped me for a lost buddy drill that we planned during our surface break. Reggie indicated “Point 1” on the line for me, at which I placed a cookie marker to show my maximum penetration. A few feet away, he tapped “Point 2” for me to place an arrow indicating the exit direction. He swam a few lengths away while I got ready to deploy my safety reel to conduct a search.
I couldn’t get to the damn D-ring back against my plate. I switched my primary light over to my left hand, hoping that bare fingers would be more nimble. However, having my light on my left hand (which I was using to hold my position in the flow) pushed it up against a rock and I was mostly in the dark. I turned on one of my shiny new backup lights so that I felt a little less plunged in darkness while fumbling for the reel.
I hit my third (2300 psi) before I could get to it. I light-signaled to Reggie that I had a problem, swapped my primary light back to my right hand, and pulled my markers. We followed the Gold Line (note: the permanent main line installed in the cave) back out. The exit went smoothly, and I also feel like it went faster than the first time. I had some idea of where my problems spots were on the first dive and attempted to do it better the second time.
I have no doubt that calling off the drill at my third was the correct decision. Violating thirds to finish the exercise likely would have constituted an automatic failure of the exercise and would have been a stupid idea anyway (for safety reasons). I also have no doubt that I would have quaked in my dive boots at instructor wrath for ignoring THE safety rule.
I think this is a good conversation to have with Reggie about training standards vs practical application. There are several schools of thought about digging into your reserve in order to solve a problem, buddy separation being one of them, and I think it would be a good discussion to have about just what constitutes an emergency worth breaking thirds as there are many factors involved (mental, physical environmental, etc).
This isn't to question your decision making in the least, but this is one of those grey areas that it worth exploring. Keep up the good work!!!!
OP
I'm fortunate that we've talked about it in a few different contexts on the early days. I think the expectation at my current level of proficiency is to allocate all gas remaining in the Third to the search and then exit on the two-thirds reserve (but bailing sooner to preserve my own safe exit is okay).
Perhaps at a more advanced level, violating thirds in a specific situation could be an option - but I wouldn't think it's appropriate for me now.
Scuba Lawyer
Contributor
First, I wish you all the best in your cave course. Sounds like you are, and will continue, to have a blast.
Second, I too did a concentrated cave course. I and two friends did the 0-hero 12 day full cave course (NSS-CDS, IANTD and NACD) about 20 years ago with Steve Gerrard in Akumal, Mexico. It was intense with 2 full cave dives each day, surface work, academics.... Graduation was a 3+ hour double stage dive. I certainly would not recommend going that route without a substantial diving resume. We were all OW instructors with 30+ years of dive experience each and thousands of dives each. We quickly learned that our OW experience meant absolutely nothing when it came to an overhead environment. At least we were smart enough to realize that. The only advantage our experience gave us was comfort in the water. (I could add that we were also humble, laid back and drank lots of beer which may or may not be good traits for a cave diver). Our real "learning" came from our post-certification dives, first with guides, and then on our own, and over many years at that. Still learning on every cave dive actually. I think there is a place for 0-hero full cave courses but it is not for everyone. I've rambled on too long. My 2psi. Mark
Second, I too did a concentrated cave course. I and two friends did the 0-hero 12 day full cave course (NSS-CDS, IANTD and NACD) about 20 years ago with Steve Gerrard in Akumal, Mexico. It was intense with 2 full cave dives each day, surface work, academics.... Graduation was a 3+ hour double stage dive. I certainly would not recommend going that route without a substantial diving resume. We were all OW instructors with 30+ years of dive experience each and thousands of dives each. We quickly learned that our OW experience meant absolutely nothing when it came to an overhead environment. At least we were smart enough to realize that. The only advantage our experience gave us was comfort in the water. (I could add that we were also humble, laid back and drank lots of beer which may or may not be good traits for a cave diver). Our real "learning" came from our post-certification dives, first with guides, and then on our own, and over many years at that. Still learning on every cave dive actually. I think there is a place for 0-hero full cave courses but it is not for everyone. I've rambled on too long. My 2psi. Mark
Efka76
Contributor
Super interesting blog! I also have intention to do some cave related training in the future. It is very interesting to hear about your detailed impressions related to cave training.
OP
(Part 3 of 3)
Day 3: Third Time, Not Necessarily the Charm
After another surface break, we embarked upon our third and final dive of the day. When we got in, we had to abandon our original plan of going to an area called the Catacombs, because another team had placed a reel heading in. Because we didn’t want to have to negotiate another team’s movement with our drill, we activated Plan B and headed to the Ear.
Looking up from the bottom, the Ear seems like a steep, chimney-like formation. The current running up and out through here felt stronger than almost any other point in the cave. We prepared to conduct an exercise where I would simulate running a primary reel out to the main line.
While I was concentrating on unlocking the reel without losing my handhold, I relaxed my ankles. The flow caught my fins immediately and flipped me upside-down, tanks back against the wall. I grabbed onto whatever handholds I could reach to avoid be carried away blindly into the darkness above me.
The current was so strong that I didn’t think I could let one hand go for more than a few seconds. I tried getting to my LP inflator, but I was too slow on the draw – the air in my wing and drysuit had already migrated up to my feet. I couldn’t get an arm up to my left side butt-dump, which might have been pinned out of his reach.
I experienced a couple of seconds of fleeting terror. As time dilated around me, I revisited my drysuit class from June. I tried a tuck-and-roll and a fold-twist, but neither worked. I was breathing so heavily upside down that I started getting wet breaths, which was absolutely no fun.
Instead of my life flashing in front of my eyes, I saw light up above me – blue water, and then orange. I realized that I could see up the Ear and managed to see a few shadowed boulders. I played the odds in my head for a minute, and then I let go.
The current blew me up the wall feet first, but I was able to catch a ledge with my right hand. I yanked hard and managed to pull myself horizontal. I managed the catch pretty quickly – I think I was no more than 10-15 linear feet from Reggie.
I pulled myself back down but took the skin off the middle three fingertips on my left hand doing it. Reggie pulled me out of the flow into a protected spot, I caught my breath for a few moments, and we thumbed the dive. The rest of the exit was uneventful.
The critique that I expected at the surface was, “The last time someone effed up that badly, the presidency turned tannic!” The actual feedback was that Reggie thought that I handled the recovery fairly well. We discussed how to avoid the situation tomorrow by anticipating flow changes and using negative buoyancy for low-to-floor travel.
We’ll be back at the Ear tomorrow for additional drills, so I have the opportunity to conquer this spot.
Coming tomorrow… hopefully nothing upside-down.
Day 3: Third Time, Not Necessarily the Charm
After another surface break, we embarked upon our third and final dive of the day. When we got in, we had to abandon our original plan of going to an area called the Catacombs, because another team had placed a reel heading in. Because we didn’t want to have to negotiate another team’s movement with our drill, we activated Plan B and headed to the Ear.
Looking up from the bottom, the Ear seems like a steep, chimney-like formation. The current running up and out through here felt stronger than almost any other point in the cave. We prepared to conduct an exercise where I would simulate running a primary reel out to the main line.
While I was concentrating on unlocking the reel without losing my handhold, I relaxed my ankles. The flow caught my fins immediately and flipped me upside-down, tanks back against the wall. I grabbed onto whatever handholds I could reach to avoid be carried away blindly into the darkness above me.
The current was so strong that I didn’t think I could let one hand go for more than a few seconds. I tried getting to my LP inflator, but I was too slow on the draw – the air in my wing and drysuit had already migrated up to my feet. I couldn’t get an arm up to my left side butt-dump, which might have been pinned out of his reach.
I experienced a couple of seconds of fleeting terror. As time dilated around me, I revisited my drysuit class from June. I tried a tuck-and-roll and a fold-twist, but neither worked. I was breathing so heavily upside down that I started getting wet breaths, which was absolutely no fun.
Instead of my life flashing in front of my eyes, I saw light up above me – blue water, and then orange. I realized that I could see up the Ear and managed to see a few shadowed boulders. I played the odds in my head for a minute, and then I let go.
The current blew me up the wall feet first, but I was able to catch a ledge with my right hand. I yanked hard and managed to pull myself horizontal. I managed the catch pretty quickly – I think I was no more than 10-15 linear feet from Reggie.
I pulled myself back down but took the skin off the middle three fingertips on my left hand doing it. Reggie pulled me out of the flow into a protected spot, I caught my breath for a few moments, and we thumbed the dive. The rest of the exit was uneventful.
The critique that I expected at the surface was, “The last time someone effed up that badly, the presidency turned tannic!” The actual feedback was that Reggie thought that I handled the recovery fairly well. We discussed how to avoid the situation tomorrow by anticipating flow changes and using negative buoyancy for low-to-floor travel.
We’ll be back at the Ear tomorrow for additional drills, so I have the opportunity to conquer this spot.
Coming tomorrow… hopefully nothing upside-down.
Interesting read, but are you saying this is your first time ever in doubles? And by day 2 of ever being in doubles your diving to the keyhole? I must be a wet noodle or something, but man that sounds quick. My cavern instructor required competency in doubles prior to class (he mentored his students through doubles)' then a full day and a half of ow skills, then 2-3 days of cavern zone only before sending us out to get a minimum of 10 cavern dives prior to moving on. Maybe my instructor was overly cautious and strict and more instructors in cave country move at this pace, but it's way faster than I would expect.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding and you already have doubles down.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding and you already have doubles down.
Holy f***! 
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