Vortex and Morrison Springs 1-29-05

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I met up with Rich Murchison and Tom_Smedley today for a dive at Vortex Springs. They were there with several of their friends for some relaxed diving and camping out(in a cabin!). Weather wasn't all that great with gloomy, cloudy skies and periodic rain, but atleast it was really windy and really cold. :11: I managed to get a single dive in, lasting a bit over an hour before I got too chilly in my 3mm(most everyone else dove dry) wetsuit. Rich gave me some pointers and advice while we warmed up under the heater vents in the cabin, waiting on the rest of the group to finish their dives. The entire group was extremely welcoming and I apreciated the chance to dive with em. I couldn't bring myself to put that cold, soaked wetsuit back on and I was running short on time anyway so off I went by 12pm.

Vortex was relaxing and fun as always. Lots of fish(carp, bream, bass, crappy, freshwater eels, ect) to watch and chase. We poked around a bit in the cavern which is always fun, as well as swimming through the faux-caves. There were a ton of classes in the water, I figured they wouldn't be so busy with the weather - wrong.

I also stopped by Morrison Spring, before meeting up with everyone at Vortex. The water level looked lower than my previous dive at the site and there was waterlines further up the beach showing the water had receded atleast some recently(NOAA backs that up). It still had a tannic tinge to it, but it seemed atleast somewhat clearish. I would have guessed somewhere in the 15-20' at max vis, but I ran into Nuttz(cool guy as well - seems to be the trend with ScubaBoarders) at Vortex and they dove it Friday and he said vis was 10-12'(its possible the water had decreased slightly since - but with all the rain - I would doubt it - however NOAA still shows water levels decreasing??¿¿).

Either way, heres are some pics from above water at Vortex and Morrison.

 

[NUTTZ]

Hey BugMan

It was nice meeting you at Vortex today. I'm like you I was really surprised with all the classes there today. Danny told me when I checked in there were around 15 or 16 different classes there today. It seemed like it was summer time with all the students there, but old man winter told it different. I dove it in a 3mm full suit with a hooded vest over it as well and I froze my butt off after a while. When I got out around 11:30 the viz was terrible. I was kind of wishing I had went back to Morrison, it wasn't as bad as I had thought. Do you remeber what stage the river was when you guys dove Morrison and it was so clear? I dove it back in Oct. and it was gin clear then and I don't remember what the river stage was then.

I am not sure of the exact date when I will be back in the area next month, but I would like to try to meet up with you again and dive Cypress.

 

[jviehe]

Thanks for the update. No way was I leaving the house in this weather. Brrr.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I dove it in a 3mm full suit with a hooded vest over it as well and I froze my butt off after a while.

I dove the same, 3mm full suit, 2.5-.5mm hooded vest(under wet suit - is it better to wear the hoodvest over my full suit?) along with some gloves. An hour was enough, once I got warm, I couldn't bring myself to put the wetsuit back on. Usually on colder days, I would have taken a shorter SI and simply wouldn't have taken the suit off.

I was kind of wishing I had went back to Morrison, it wasn't as bad as I had thought. Do you remeber what stage the river was when you guys dove Morrison and it was so clear? I dove it back in Oct. and it was gin clear then and I don't remember what the river stage was then.

I don't remember(don't think I even knew about the river level site at the time), but I think I'm going to start recording river level in my log book to keep some kind of record. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ahps.cgi?tae&carf1 for the river levels - after poking around, I can't find a history of river levels past the range shown on that page - would be nice to go back and find out what level the river was during all of our gin-clear dives there eh? I think jviehe brought this subject up before as well.

Looking at the NOAA site, it looks like the water finally started rising again either late Saturday or earlier today. Luckily, if NOAAs predictions are correct, it doesn't look like the water levels will peak too high(only around 7.5). I'm really looking forward to the river levels getting low and staying low for longer periods of time...

I am not sure of the exact date when I will be back in the area next month, but I would like to try to meet up with you again and dive Cypress.

Next weekend is Mardi Gras, so I'll probably be getting an eye-full of "Mardi Gras 'spirit'" on Bourbon I would like to get a group together to dive the 2nd weekend of Feb at Cypress - probably on the 13th.

 

[darcy]

Sounds chilly. I hope they had a big fire built to warm up next to! I guess it was good that I had to work and got to stay warm! Count me in on the next Cypress dive.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

It was chilly, but the post dive temps were fine since we were indoors thawing out in the cabin.

Won't be too long before the next Cypress trip It'll be a blast like last time!

 

[outhole]

Hey SBM, wasup! FWIW, my wife and I dove Morrison Spring earlier today. As expected, visibility up to the cavern was round 10' at best, so wasn't able to see much wildlife. When we made it to the cavern, we were able to enjoy 20'+ vis. Burr was the word. The 3mil is just not enough for me anymore. Isn't winter officially over? Fortunately, a local diver brought along a propane heater and were kind enough to allow us to warm up between dives.

Just wanted ya'll to know that I had a good time diving last weekend. It was really neat to dive with cool folks that share the same enthusiasm for getting wet as I do. The weather was chilly for a Floridian, but hey, this group was ready. Speaking of ready, Kudos’ to yourself (SuPrBuGmAn) and others who helped coordinate the dive. I thought the event was executed with grace. I'm glad the pink tie wrap worked (looked?) well for your busted fin.

A couple of shout-outs are due. SeaYoda, your pictures are great, thanks for sharing them with us. Also, extended hellos to WaterDog, eanxgirl, Darcy and Jason. I look forward to diving with you all in the near future.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Anytime you want to join us, you're more than welcome. Gonna try to get some more dives in at Cypress on Feb 13th, check out the Trips-n-Happenings section of this forum It was nice meeting you on the last dive and the zip-tie came in handy!

Did you go into the cavern? Visibility inside is usually wall-to-wall, did tannic water flood all the way into the cavern(any flow coming out?)? Was the 20'+ vis just above the cavern, near the opening? Hope you guys had fun out there, I'm looking forward to diving Morrison again whenever the water drops back down.

 

[SeaYoda]

Sounds like I missed a SPINE CHILLING adventure . Glad you guys had fun.

Speaking of COLD, I've been getting too many leg cramps from staying in the cold water during the SI at Cypress. I've decided (I think) to get a 3mm farmer john to wear under my 3mm full suit. That will give me a toasty 6mm torso and legs yet allow my arms to move with the 3mm sleeves. I'll have the 2/1 mm shorty to layer on top of that if it isn't enough. I hope I don't float away in all that neoprene . I'm gonna try some booties in my fins as well - can't hurt.

The gallery is up so I loaded it with pictures from the last Cypress trip. Thanks for the vote of confidence outhole. We'll have to meet the wife on our next dive.

The Destin Jetties may be calling my name on the 12th - high tide is 11:31 AM. If not, I'd be up for a Cypress dive on that Saturday.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Enjoyed diving with SuprBugMan Saturday very much. I wish more of y'all could have made it. Despite the cold and the rain we cooked enough for a small army and could have used some help eating it.
Maybe next time the weather will behave a bit better.
Rick