The Ballad of "MB becomes a Grotto Guide..."

[The Chairman]

A dive report sung to the tune of "The Beverly Hillbillies"

Here's a little story 'bout our own MB
Got a little tired fightin' waves out on the sea
Said "Them springs is the place I ought to be!"
So he grabbed Joanne and drove so merrily...
To the Grotto that is...
Forty Fathoms...
A real deep hole...

Well first thing you know, ol' MB's finally there,
He even remembered to bring a little air
Listened to Tim how to dive the Grotto good,
Then he slapped on his fins, and pulled on his hood!
It's cold way up there...
40 degrees...
Like a Frigidaire!

At the first platform he had to flood his mask,
Did he do it right? Well you shouldn't have to ask.
Followed him a line down to the depth of one thirty!
But we couldn't see much, cause it was kinda dirty...
The water that is
Texas tea
Only ten foot vis!

Well he got to see biscuits and a dollar or two,
He became a Grotto Guide and the time really flew!
We got real chilled which made our lunch taste hotter,
And we made some more plans to dive at Alexander...
Springs that is...
Crystal clear and 100 ft vis...
Tomorrow.

 

[Cave Diver]

But we couldn't see much, cause it was kinda dirty...
The water that is
Texas tea
Only ten foot vis!

LOL NetDoc!

But I can tell you haven't been to Texas much! Ten foot vis is a good day for us!

 

[GotAir]

Thats to Funny NetDoc :rofl2:
Cave Diver PM me when the Vis gets that good down there, 10 ft awesome!
I think they should have a Cert for Brail Diving.

Mike

 

[MB]

I'll admit that there is some Hillbilly still floating thru my gene pool, but even a pig can learn to appreciate opera (if there's enuf corn to get him thru the refrain...).

We loved Alexander - very simple - very nice visuals. More turtles than I expected. For a small hole, the boil there is awesome. I had some serious manatee imitation going on after we covered the shallows and grassy plain.

It took 4 hours to get home at high speed and no traffic tho. (HWY 19 is nice, but slow.) A haul, but a very nice place to introduce divers to FL's natural beauty. This would be a beautiful place to camp.

The grotto has potential too, but I'll have to retune my banjo before I head back.

A nice couple of days experimenting with springs - two new ones (new to me) and firmed up some sites for future classes. Nice to get away for a couple of days, and nice to get to spend some time swapping ideas. Many mahalos for your input and for getting wet with us.

 

[Natasha]

NetDoc:
There is no end to your talent! Loved it.

 

[The Chairman]

The vis at 40 Fathom is usually in excess of 60. When you swim the line under the overhang and pass the Bonzai line, your light follows it for a long way as it melts out of site. You are @ 60 or so, and there is no bottom in sight so it usually is kinda eiree. Saturday you couldn't follow the line more than 10/15 feet so it took the spookiness right out of it.

So Mike, would you say that there is a "plethora" of sand dollars in the grotto?

BTW, did you catch any vortex action in Alexander's boil?

The turtles there are simply dense... I have never seen that kind of concentration of them anywhere. Snappers, sliders, soft-shell, Painted... I have even seen one alligator snapper in there. Did you see any mudfish in the weedline? AND... how many varieties of sunfish did you count?

Then there are the freshwater mullet, shad, plekostomas, catfish, shiner, fancy tailed guppies, neon tetras, mosquito minnows, crappie (not your trim, Mike), largemouth bass, sunshine bass, needle fish (every now and then) freshwater flounder, and the list goes on. I even saw a goldfish in there once! Who needs an aquarium???

I only wish I could have dove with you there at Alexander Springs. At least I got to give you the fifty cent tour.