FIXXERVI6
Contributor
I haven't posted trip reports or anything in a while so I thought I would share.
Some of the actions I discuss below would be considered not "PC" by some, thats cool I don't care flame if you feel the need.
I finished un packing the truck at 5 am this morning and got the kids up for school just after 6 am and made it to the office by 8:30 am, now I just have to fake it real good so that no one notices Im a worthless zombie today
Stopped off at vortex and the basin was dusty, vis was down quite a bit. Got down into the cave and it cleared a bit but the cave wasnt as clear as the last time I was there, and none of the lights in the cavern were working. The sand was not as clean white like the first time I was there. Heading in I noticed I was going through my gas pretty quick, at first I just thought it was because it was our first dive and I was still tired from the drive and was having trouble getting into the zone. I stopped and turned the dive in the first deep room, the room with the T in it that starts at about 125 feet of depth. On the way out I figured out why I was burning through my gas so fast, that sucker was pumpin out water like a fire hydrant.
Drove on in to JB and met up with a chap we dove with from the UK about a year ago, so we figured we would hook up for some more dives. Got our fills signed in and headed out, the place was crowded as word was it was the only place open. The basin vis was down as well, all dusty like vortex was, maybe due to so many people being there, I think there was a cavern class going on too. Anyway got all geared up and I was eager to get my Mako in there and have it prove its worth in something besides a texas mud hole, scootered over to the opening then turned to go in and I just hovered in the flow. My first thought was that of disappointment thinking the mako just didnt have the juice to git-r-done. About that time Kurt rolled down with his Mako and went right in the entrance, so I was like what the heck, checked the prop made sure it was on 9, hit the trigger again and I was going backwards that time, shortly after that I felt parts of the prop hit my leg. I went over and told Andrew (UK dude) that I was SOL that they needed to go without me while I did a search and recovery for the ass end of my scooter. Started swimmming after that and I was still on my way in when Kurt and Andrew were on their exit, they stopped off to check on me and say hi as I flashed them the universal texas driver sign language signal you see on highways around here.
Ed looked at my scooter and said he had the parts but didnt have time to fix it that he could get to it that night, I said that was fine and rented an SS, not sure which model but it was one of the NiMih ones. We hit for it again, this time I had a scooter that worked but it had issues, the prop was super stiff and had two speeds, 0 and 9, when I set it on any pitch other than 8 or 9 it would just spin in the water. This may not seem like a big deal but I didnt want to overtake the other scooters so at times I had to bump the scooter on and off to keep pace, it also felt a lot more rigid than my mako, harder to steer I had to wrestle with it a bit. I figure its not fault or design flaw of the machine, more the fact I am used to a mako and this was my first SS ride, I did good I didnt make any cave loaf or anything. We went in quite a ways dropping safetys every 1000 feet (left in the system for all dives), looking back at the strength of the flow at the time I consider this to have been overkill but better too much than not enough. I couple of spots where the cave pinched down the flow was strong enough that the SS was pulling me at a snails pace, its like we were all 3 were motoring along, turned a corner then just stuck there hovering for a minute, I knew that it was going to be a cannon ride out - it was, lots of fun.
On the way out we were moving at a very good clic, at one point I barely nicked the ceiling with the top of my hood (just my hood), it very quickly removed my hood. Note to self, watch my head clearance. At some point during the dive Andrew ran out of suite inflation gas and decided that the scooter would be a great way to assist with buoyancy (I turely don't know the real deal, guess being out of drysuit gas wacked his trim, it was just funny), it was strange to watch scooter 1 plow up a cloud, then scooter 2 to suck that cloud into its prop making pretty spinning patterns of brown water behind it, then me on scooter three flying into a brown cloud at high speeds (letting off the trigger at that point doesnt slow you down). I was told it was neat to see the brown cloud start to glow from a 35 watt HID then have a scooter and diver pop out of the glowing cloud. Good times!
Dropped the SS scooter off with Ed and picked up my mako, good as new, and eager to dive on something I was familiar with. Got all geared up and we were off, I was leading. Right off I felt how much more relaxed I was on the mako, I was so much more relaxed and streamlined I was going faster on the mako than I did on the SS sidenote, when I got streamlined out with the SS it was clear the power was there, I easily overtook Kurts mako several times where the real difference came in is when I cleared a break down or made a turn I didnt have to wrestle with the mako to get back into a streamlined position so I was able to easily maintain my speed, I knew it was going to be a GREAT dive was very impressed with how well the mako was pulling into that crazy flow, life was good again. At exactly 500 feet Andrew got my attention for me to stop, I let off the trigger and saw we got a little spread out so we were gathering back up, I turned to go again, hit the trigger and I hear a really high pitched WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and I didnt move, I looked down and my prop was laying on the floor
I asked Kurt for his wetnotes, first thing that went through my head was this was our last dive and I have bottles in the system. We had a short conversation there, they finished the original planned dive and were going to bring my tanks back out too, but I was going to leave my scooter there and swim to 1000 to get that one so they wouldnt have to haul that out too. I easily reached the cylinder and noted I had a LOT of gas left, I figure I might as well dive, grabbed an 80 and kept going. I went in quite a was taking every left I came to. Turned around and started breathing my 80 down, figured I would save my sidemount gas to check out a jump I was eyeballing. Came up to one of the breakdowns (I'm pretty sure the first one coming back out from the first "Y" at 900), you know, right where it goes straight up and the flow hits the rock right there at a 90 degree angle, I looked over to the right and saw a line and I had a less than brilliant idea. Dropped my 80 there and got my jump reel out, tied off and headed for the white line I saw, it is hard to explain but it was kind of up under a ledge, you had to be low to the floor and look upward to see it. Just as I got to it I turned sideways to reach up and tie off to it, it was about then that flow pinned me flat against that rock it was like in the perfect spot for it. So I was trying my best not to create spaghetti and was hoping I could recover the situation before someone saw me and caused me embarrassment. In my struggles I got my head up where the line was and saw it continued on in both directions but ended on top of the break down, thats when I realized I chose probably the dumbest place to try to tie in, so I started to pull the reel. I was flat up against the rock so as I was reeling it in I had to spin 180 degrees to get turned around to crawl back out where I could swim, while I was turning flow caught my fins and flipped me around upside down against the rock with my fin hooked on the line. I was kind of stuck there, with my fin hooked on floss like line yea, I know this is why your suppose to tape your fin straps, thats another story I struggled to back up to get my fin off the line without breaking it. My concern wasnt around danger or really an entanglement, I just really didnt want to snap that line, it took a bit of work but I got it, then got back out to my 80 which I also dropped in a bad spot, flappin in the breeze right where the flow pushes straight up into that breakdown room. I quickly grabbed it, went up into the breakdown and off to the side to unscrew my situation and to also look around to make sure no one saw (got my ego to think about ya know, have to maintain!) easily tied into the jump that time, just then I saw lights coming and I knew they had to be Kurts and Andrews, I just did get out of a situation that would have left me getting ribbings for months so the timing was great. They stopped by to check on me, I was like Im good Im gonna check this line out see you later. That line quickly became a low bedding plane with clay floor, definitely sidemount only. On my way in I was super careful to not contact the floor and to preserve visibility as I didnt want to add to the marks that were all over the bottom. I went for a bit and realized the line was making a hard turn to the right back to the main line so I decided to turn around at that point as I didnt think it was really going to go it was more of just a parallel side hole to the main line. When I turned I realized my careful efforts to keep the vis were for nothing, I was not successful at not adding marks, as I couldnt really see, that made it difficult to pick a path through with the most ceiling clearance, I just went were the line took me, I was just real careful about getting the clay off of me when I got back to the reel, if no one sees it, it never really happened, right?
At 500 feet picked up my scooter, and had to carry the prop in my hand as it was still in one piece and wouldnt fit in my pocket. I sheepishly wanted to flip off every scooter that flew by me gawking and giving me the ok symbol as I tried to hide my prop from view. I had to look on the bright side, I was getting REAL experience of swimming out a broken scooter
Come to find out the screw just wasnt tight and it came off, put it back on with lock tite, should be good for the future (I hope!)
Some of the actions I discuss below would be considered not "PC" by some, thats cool I don't care flame if you feel the need.
I finished un packing the truck at 5 am this morning and got the kids up for school just after 6 am and made it to the office by 8:30 am, now I just have to fake it real good so that no one notices Im a worthless zombie today
Stopped off at vortex and the basin was dusty, vis was down quite a bit. Got down into the cave and it cleared a bit but the cave wasnt as clear as the last time I was there, and none of the lights in the cavern were working. The sand was not as clean white like the first time I was there. Heading in I noticed I was going through my gas pretty quick, at first I just thought it was because it was our first dive and I was still tired from the drive and was having trouble getting into the zone. I stopped and turned the dive in the first deep room, the room with the T in it that starts at about 125 feet of depth. On the way out I figured out why I was burning through my gas so fast, that sucker was pumpin out water like a fire hydrant.
Drove on in to JB and met up with a chap we dove with from the UK about a year ago, so we figured we would hook up for some more dives. Got our fills signed in and headed out, the place was crowded as word was it was the only place open. The basin vis was down as well, all dusty like vortex was, maybe due to so many people being there, I think there was a cavern class going on too. Anyway got all geared up and I was eager to get my Mako in there and have it prove its worth in something besides a texas mud hole, scootered over to the opening then turned to go in and I just hovered in the flow. My first thought was that of disappointment thinking the mako just didnt have the juice to git-r-done. About that time Kurt rolled down with his Mako and went right in the entrance, so I was like what the heck, checked the prop made sure it was on 9, hit the trigger again and I was going backwards that time, shortly after that I felt parts of the prop hit my leg. I went over and told Andrew (UK dude) that I was SOL that they needed to go without me while I did a search and recovery for the ass end of my scooter. Started swimmming after that and I was still on my way in when Kurt and Andrew were on their exit, they stopped off to check on me and say hi as I flashed them the universal texas driver sign language signal you see on highways around here.
Ed looked at my scooter and said he had the parts but didnt have time to fix it that he could get to it that night, I said that was fine and rented an SS, not sure which model but it was one of the NiMih ones. We hit for it again, this time I had a scooter that worked but it had issues, the prop was super stiff and had two speeds, 0 and 9, when I set it on any pitch other than 8 or 9 it would just spin in the water. This may not seem like a big deal but I didnt want to overtake the other scooters so at times I had to bump the scooter on and off to keep pace, it also felt a lot more rigid than my mako, harder to steer I had to wrestle with it a bit. I figure its not fault or design flaw of the machine, more the fact I am used to a mako and this was my first SS ride, I did good I didnt make any cave loaf or anything. We went in quite a ways dropping safetys every 1000 feet (left in the system for all dives), looking back at the strength of the flow at the time I consider this to have been overkill but better too much than not enough. I couple of spots where the cave pinched down the flow was strong enough that the SS was pulling me at a snails pace, its like we were all 3 were motoring along, turned a corner then just stuck there hovering for a minute, I knew that it was going to be a cannon ride out - it was, lots of fun.
On the way out we were moving at a very good clic, at one point I barely nicked the ceiling with the top of my hood (just my hood), it very quickly removed my hood. Note to self, watch my head clearance. At some point during the dive Andrew ran out of suite inflation gas and decided that the scooter would be a great way to assist with buoyancy (I turely don't know the real deal, guess being out of drysuit gas wacked his trim, it was just funny), it was strange to watch scooter 1 plow up a cloud, then scooter 2 to suck that cloud into its prop making pretty spinning patterns of brown water behind it, then me on scooter three flying into a brown cloud at high speeds (letting off the trigger at that point doesnt slow you down). I was told it was neat to see the brown cloud start to glow from a 35 watt HID then have a scooter and diver pop out of the glowing cloud. Good times!
Dropped the SS scooter off with Ed and picked up my mako, good as new, and eager to dive on something I was familiar with. Got all geared up and we were off, I was leading. Right off I felt how much more relaxed I was on the mako, I was so much more relaxed and streamlined I was going faster on the mako than I did on the SS sidenote, when I got streamlined out with the SS it was clear the power was there, I easily overtook Kurts mako several times where the real difference came in is when I cleared a break down or made a turn I didnt have to wrestle with the mako to get back into a streamlined position so I was able to easily maintain my speed, I knew it was going to be a GREAT dive was very impressed with how well the mako was pulling into that crazy flow, life was good again. At exactly 500 feet Andrew got my attention for me to stop, I let off the trigger and saw we got a little spread out so we were gathering back up, I turned to go again, hit the trigger and I hear a really high pitched WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and I didnt move, I looked down and my prop was laying on the floor
I asked Kurt for his wetnotes, first thing that went through my head was this was our last dive and I have bottles in the system. We had a short conversation there, they finished the original planned dive and were going to bring my tanks back out too, but I was going to leave my scooter there and swim to 1000 to get that one so they wouldnt have to haul that out too. I easily reached the cylinder and noted I had a LOT of gas left, I figure I might as well dive, grabbed an 80 and kept going. I went in quite a was taking every left I came to. Turned around and started breathing my 80 down, figured I would save my sidemount gas to check out a jump I was eyeballing. Came up to one of the breakdowns (I'm pretty sure the first one coming back out from the first "Y" at 900), you know, right where it goes straight up and the flow hits the rock right there at a 90 degree angle, I looked over to the right and saw a line and I had a less than brilliant idea. Dropped my 80 there and got my jump reel out, tied off and headed for the white line I saw, it is hard to explain but it was kind of up under a ledge, you had to be low to the floor and look upward to see it. Just as I got to it I turned sideways to reach up and tie off to it, it was about then that flow pinned me flat against that rock it was like in the perfect spot for it. So I was trying my best not to create spaghetti and was hoping I could recover the situation before someone saw me and caused me embarrassment. In my struggles I got my head up where the line was and saw it continued on in both directions but ended on top of the break down, thats when I realized I chose probably the dumbest place to try to tie in, so I started to pull the reel. I was flat up against the rock so as I was reeling it in I had to spin 180 degrees to get turned around to crawl back out where I could swim, while I was turning flow caught my fins and flipped me around upside down against the rock with my fin hooked on the line. I was kind of stuck there, with my fin hooked on floss like line yea, I know this is why your suppose to tape your fin straps, thats another story I struggled to back up to get my fin off the line without breaking it. My concern wasnt around danger or really an entanglement, I just really didnt want to snap that line, it took a bit of work but I got it, then got back out to my 80 which I also dropped in a bad spot, flappin in the breeze right where the flow pushes straight up into that breakdown room. I quickly grabbed it, went up into the breakdown and off to the side to unscrew my situation and to also look around to make sure no one saw (got my ego to think about ya know, have to maintain!) easily tied into the jump that time, just then I saw lights coming and I knew they had to be Kurts and Andrews, I just did get out of a situation that would have left me getting ribbings for months so the timing was great. They stopped by to check on me, I was like Im good Im gonna check this line out see you later. That line quickly became a low bedding plane with clay floor, definitely sidemount only. On my way in I was super careful to not contact the floor and to preserve visibility as I didnt want to add to the marks that were all over the bottom. I went for a bit and realized the line was making a hard turn to the right back to the main line so I decided to turn around at that point as I didnt think it was really going to go it was more of just a parallel side hole to the main line. When I turned I realized my careful efforts to keep the vis were for nothing, I was not successful at not adding marks, as I couldnt really see, that made it difficult to pick a path through with the most ceiling clearance, I just went were the line took me, I was just real careful about getting the clay off of me when I got back to the reel, if no one sees it, it never really happened, right?
At 500 feet picked up my scooter, and had to carry the prop in my hand as it was still in one piece and wouldnt fit in my pocket. I sheepishly wanted to flip off every scooter that flew by me gawking and giving me the ok symbol as I tried to hide my prop from view. I had to look on the bright side, I was getting REAL experience of swimming out a broken scooter
Come to find out the screw just wasnt tight and it came off, put it back on with lock tite, should be good for the future (I hope!)
