After touring the flooded springs along the Suwanee on Saturday - check out the pics - I ended up at Ginnie to get in some last minute practice before my Intro to Cave class coming up. I expected there to be a mass of cave diver due to all the flooding, as Ginnie is usually diveable even in flood times. However, it wasnt as bad as I though. The Devils system was more packed than usual, but with OW divers, not cavers. The Ginnie Headspring was a place to stay away from, as the OW classes were all over the place.
At about 2pm I suited up and headed into the Devils system solo, and figured Id get some real practice, do some valve shutoffs, etc. The Devils Eye had a class going on, so I headed over to the Ear, which was looking quite tannic. It was only first few feet however. I pulled my way up to the sign, and hung around to check out the cavern. There was also a cave class going on, so I tried to stay out of there way. Since I was solo I didnt hang out long, and soon rode the flow out. I then headed over to the Ear to wait for the OW class to finish then went into the Ear and hung out in the cavern for another 20 minutes, practiced with my spool a bit, and did some valve shutoffs. 45min @ 55ft - Dive 1.
After that dive I went up for a fill and some lunch, then headed over to the Ginnie Headspring to do some more line running and general practice. I could see there were still a few OW classes in the basin, so I grabbed a book to wait them out. It was about 4pm, and theyd be gone soon. This is when a near drowning occured right in front of me. You can read about it over here . Well, after that I was reconsidering going for a solo dive in the cavern, but Im fearless (stupid?) and jumped in anyway. The cavern had cleared up, so I ran the line a bit, practice with my spool, did some valveshutoffs, no mask swimming, etc. I also lost my camera at some point, but it floated out and someone found it for me. That was lucky. 60mins @60ft. - Dive 2
All in all, it was a nice day, and good to get wet. Here are my complete rolls of film - http:/northfloridadiver.net/media/ginnie204.htm , and some slected pics below.
At about 2pm I suited up and headed into the Devils system solo, and figured Id get some real practice, do some valve shutoffs, etc. The Devils Eye had a class going on, so I headed over to the Ear, which was looking quite tannic. It was only first few feet however. I pulled my way up to the sign, and hung around to check out the cavern. There was also a cave class going on, so I tried to stay out of there way. Since I was solo I didnt hang out long, and soon rode the flow out. I then headed over to the Ear to wait for the OW class to finish then went into the Ear and hung out in the cavern for another 20 minutes, practiced with my spool a bit, and did some valve shutoffs. 45min @ 55ft - Dive 1.
After that dive I went up for a fill and some lunch, then headed over to the Ginnie Headspring to do some more line running and general practice. I could see there were still a few OW classes in the basin, so I grabbed a book to wait them out. It was about 4pm, and theyd be gone soon. This is when a near drowning occured right in front of me. You can read about it over here . Well, after that I was reconsidering going for a solo dive in the cavern, but Im fearless (stupid?) and jumped in anyway. The cavern had cleared up, so I ran the line a bit, practice with my spool, did some valveshutoffs, no mask swimming, etc. I also lost my camera at some point, but it floated out and someone found it for me. That was lucky. 60mins @60ft. - Dive 2
All in all, it was a nice day, and good to get wet. Here are my complete rolls of film - http:/northfloridadiver.net/media/ginnie204.htm , and some slected pics below.
