Fish_Whisperer
Contributor
- Messages
- 6,317
- Reaction score
- 23
- # of dives
- 50 - 99
I made the hellaciously long drive to Vortex Spring in Ponce De Leon, Florida, unloaded my gear, and took my tank over to get an airfill. Not much to write about, really. I was exhausted. I got checked into my room, got checked-in at the dive shop, drove to a nearby restaurant, had a burger, drove back, went over my gear one more time, took a shower, and went to sleep.
The next morning, Jimmy (my instructor) showed up. We went over to the dive shop and picked up 32 percent Nitrox tanks. It took quite a while for them to fill... Then we got suited up and plunged into the spring. Brrrrrr.... Burping the wetsuit for the first time, and the water begins to trickle to regions south of the waist.... WOW!!
We dove down and went through a swim-through. Visibility wasn't too bad on the first dive... After the swim-through, we dropped through a narrow section of rocks and then went down, down, down, until we landed at the mouth of the cave, at 45'. Jimmy motioned me to follow him and we entered the cave. The floor sloped sharply downwards. I put my right hand out and made the "OK" sign with my fingers around the guide line that had been anchored to the floor. We went down, down, down... Further in, there was a string of those flexible Christmas lights that had been strung, so that made it a little nicer. Up to that point, it had been pitch black, except for the beam of my light. I bent my knees at 90 degrees and did a frog-kick to keep from kicking up silt. Mostly, I kicked as little as possible and used my hands to haul myself down the line.
It's difficult to gauge just how far back we went, before coming to where the rest of the cave was blocked by a door. In the darkness, things get distorted. It felt like it was about fifty yards. Maybe a little less... We bottomed out at 109'. I checked my air, and then I led on the way back, hardly kicking at all, and feeling my way along after we left the white/gold glow of the Christmas lights.
We came out of the cave and I waited for Jimmy. He led and we went up and did a three-minute safety stop, and then surfaced. I was elated!! The cave was SUCH a rush, even though it wasn't true, hardcore cave diving... It gave me a taste of it, and I had a blast!! What's more, with the Nitrox, I came out of the water feeling GREAT! Usually, I come out of the water wanting a hamburger, a shower, and a nap, in just that order!
We hung out for a bit, had sandwiches, and I went over to the dive shop to trade out my tank. I picked up another Nitrox tank. We got set up again and went back into the water. This time, we went straight to the cave. I was over the cavern and dumped all of my air, and then, controlling my breath and posture, managed to glide down into the cavern, turn, and slip right into the opening of the cave without even slowing down. It was exhilarating!! Again, we went down, down, down, following the line, and ending up at the barrier at 109'. We stopped for a bit and I checked my air. I led the way back again, and here's where things get strange: As soon as we began the safety stop at 15', my head started POUNDING. I had one of the worst headaches I've ever had... The longer we went, the worse I felt. We finished the safety stop and went back to the dock. I came out of the water and walked up to our staging area. I dumped my gear off and began forcing myself to take long, deep breaths. I felt slightly nauseous and had an all-over malaise... Not nice. Not nice at all. In fact, for a brief moment, I felt like I was on the verge of unconsciousness, but kept breathing nice and slow and deep, and my head began to clear. I threw down some aspirin. After about fifteen minutes of breathing fresh air, my head cleared and the pounding headache began to fade. The only conclusion I can come to, is that the oxygen was contaminated. If the air would have been bad, I would have been able to taste it.
I mentioned it to Erica, the young lady running the dive shop, and she thanked me for letting her know. She said that if it would have been bad air, they would have had numerous complaints, but my tanks were the only Nitrox fills that they had done all day, so it was pretty easy to narrow the problem down. Anyway... No big deal. Bad fills happen occasionally and it's just a fact of life.
About an hour after coming up, one of the newer divers in our group wanted to go down and work on buoyancy skills. Everyone was pretty tired from the dives, but she needed a dive buddy, so I told her I would go. I suited up and off we went. We had a nice dive. Fairly shallow... She found that she could shed another couple pounds of weight out of her BC, so it was productive. She's only got ten dives. I'm still a brand new diver at 35 dives....
I went out to eat, then came back and filled out my logbook that night, took a shower, read for a little while, and then flopped down and started snoring. LOL
I made the interminably long drive back yesterday, dumped my gear in the middle of the living room, had a shower, grabbed something to eat, flipped through the mail, messed around on the computer for a little while, and then crashed.... Tonight, I'll hang up my gear, sort it out, and prepare it for the next trip. (Whenever that happens...)
All in all, it was a fun trip!
The next morning, Jimmy (my instructor) showed up. We went over to the dive shop and picked up 32 percent Nitrox tanks. It took quite a while for them to fill... Then we got suited up and plunged into the spring. Brrrrrr.... Burping the wetsuit for the first time, and the water begins to trickle to regions south of the waist.... WOW!!
We dove down and went through a swim-through. Visibility wasn't too bad on the first dive... After the swim-through, we dropped through a narrow section of rocks and then went down, down, down, until we landed at the mouth of the cave, at 45'. Jimmy motioned me to follow him and we entered the cave. The floor sloped sharply downwards. I put my right hand out and made the "OK" sign with my fingers around the guide line that had been anchored to the floor. We went down, down, down... Further in, there was a string of those flexible Christmas lights that had been strung, so that made it a little nicer. Up to that point, it had been pitch black, except for the beam of my light. I bent my knees at 90 degrees and did a frog-kick to keep from kicking up silt. Mostly, I kicked as little as possible and used my hands to haul myself down the line.
It's difficult to gauge just how far back we went, before coming to where the rest of the cave was blocked by a door. In the darkness, things get distorted. It felt like it was about fifty yards. Maybe a little less... We bottomed out at 109'. I checked my air, and then I led on the way back, hardly kicking at all, and feeling my way along after we left the white/gold glow of the Christmas lights.
We came out of the cave and I waited for Jimmy. He led and we went up and did a three-minute safety stop, and then surfaced. I was elated!! The cave was SUCH a rush, even though it wasn't true, hardcore cave diving... It gave me a taste of it, and I had a blast!! What's more, with the Nitrox, I came out of the water feeling GREAT! Usually, I come out of the water wanting a hamburger, a shower, and a nap, in just that order!
We hung out for a bit, had sandwiches, and I went over to the dive shop to trade out my tank. I picked up another Nitrox tank. We got set up again and went back into the water. This time, we went straight to the cave. I was over the cavern and dumped all of my air, and then, controlling my breath and posture, managed to glide down into the cavern, turn, and slip right into the opening of the cave without even slowing down. It was exhilarating!! Again, we went down, down, down, following the line, and ending up at the barrier at 109'. We stopped for a bit and I checked my air. I led the way back again, and here's where things get strange: As soon as we began the safety stop at 15', my head started POUNDING. I had one of the worst headaches I've ever had... The longer we went, the worse I felt. We finished the safety stop and went back to the dock. I came out of the water and walked up to our staging area. I dumped my gear off and began forcing myself to take long, deep breaths. I felt slightly nauseous and had an all-over malaise... Not nice. Not nice at all. In fact, for a brief moment, I felt like I was on the verge of unconsciousness, but kept breathing nice and slow and deep, and my head began to clear. I threw down some aspirin. After about fifteen minutes of breathing fresh air, my head cleared and the pounding headache began to fade. The only conclusion I can come to, is that the oxygen was contaminated. If the air would have been bad, I would have been able to taste it.
I mentioned it to Erica, the young lady running the dive shop, and she thanked me for letting her know. She said that if it would have been bad air, they would have had numerous complaints, but my tanks were the only Nitrox fills that they had done all day, so it was pretty easy to narrow the problem down. Anyway... No big deal. Bad fills happen occasionally and it's just a fact of life.
About an hour after coming up, one of the newer divers in our group wanted to go down and work on buoyancy skills. Everyone was pretty tired from the dives, but she needed a dive buddy, so I told her I would go. I suited up and off we went. We had a nice dive. Fairly shallow... She found that she could shed another couple pounds of weight out of her BC, so it was productive. She's only got ten dives. I'm still a brand new diver at 35 dives....
I went out to eat, then came back and filled out my logbook that night, took a shower, read for a little while, and then flopped down and started snoring. LOL
I made the interminably long drive back yesterday, dumped my gear in the middle of the living room, had a shower, grabbed something to eat, flipped through the mail, messed around on the computer for a little while, and then crashed.... Tonight, I'll hang up my gear, sort it out, and prepare it for the next trip. (Whenever that happens...)
All in all, it was a fun trip!
