Photographs: http://www.geocities.com/tiswango/0928cave/
 

Friday 9/26 4:00 PM

After a full week at work, I skipped out an hour early to start prepping for the trip. Reserving temptation to give myself a "Norm Blitch Fill" (Quote from Norm, "I can't remember the last time I dove an Al 80 filled to 4600 psi?") I made sure to take advantage of the Fill Express hot fill policy and headed home to load the car. Andrea showed up 15 minutes early and we had the car loaded and ready to rock 10 minutes early and pulled out at 6:50 PM.

We headed up to pick up Gamba and Manny. We were supposed to hook up on the turnpike, but Manny was running late, so we went to Gamba's. Manny showed up at 7:45 PM after driving by Charlie's twice and trying to make a u-turn and ending up on the turnpike heading South. My Type A personality blood was boiling, but I remained calm and we decided to drive through McDonalds so we could make time on the road. After being asked to pull ahead in the drive thru we waited outside Micky D's for 15 minutes waiting for our food! We hit the turnpike at 8:18 PM and I was not looking forward to the 6 hour road trip ahead.

We stopped 40 minutes later for Manny and I put 3 gallons of gas in the truck. "We're never going to get there...." Is all I could think about. Andrea took over driving so I could nap and lead the caravan on the last leg through cave country. We had talk-a-bouts so we could communicate between the two vehicles. Andrea and Charlie started playing name that tune by singing Spanish Nursery rhymes and commercials to each other. I passed out.

The slowing of the vehicle for the toll plazas woke me up, but finally we were at exit 399 for High Springs. We pulled off again to fuel up and feed the other vehicle. I filled, shopped and emptied the bladder and hit the car. Charlie and Manny were taking forever, 5 minutes later Charlie walked out and said that Manny was explaining the concept of "mask squeeze" to the checkout clerk. I thought again, "Were never going to get there..."

We headed cross country to the Dive Outpost which is 50 miles away. The fog had settled in and the deer were out. 1 PM is not a good time to be driving in the country. William's directions were as I remembered and it was a relief to see the old steel bridge emerge out of the fog like a ship wreck, then the famous flashing yellow light at Loraville.

We greeted William and Joan, then headed for out room. Our names were on the outside door and our names were in a heart on our room door. Much better than a mint on a pillow! I set my watch for a 8 AM wake up call and passed out for good.

Weather:

It was 85 during the day at 68 at night. No rain, just perfect weather for cave diving. I was diving double Al 80s with 32% for all the dives. Cave water was 70 degrees on my Oceanic gauge and 72 on Jody's Vyper. Judy was diving double AL 80s with 30/30.

Saturday 8 AM 9/27

I awoke a little after 7 AM to my mind screaming, "I'm going cave diving....whoo hoo!" I really need to install a snooze button behind my ear. I ran over to the other trailer to take the breakfast order, two bowls of banana oatmeal, from Charlie and Manny. I had no cell phone service and knew I was running late so I parked my truck out front so Jody, my cave diving buddy, would see it and stop in. Right before 9 AM Cathy was yelling, "Matt, Jody is here." With a quick introduction to Jody's wife Kim and the puppies, we were off to Peacock 1. Andrea's Cavern class would catch up after running some line drills at the Dive Outpost.

Dive 1: Peacock 1 Pot Hole Tunnel

10:13 AM, 67ft ft for 30 mins on 32%

3200 PSI start, 2700 turn, 2500 ending, 50 minutes bottom time

Ascent: 40/1 30/1 20/5 10/1

We started with a safety drills. I pulled my inflator out to dump gas and heard a slight pop. Once I got down 10 feet, I couldn't put gas in my wing. The bungee had caught the inflator hose and popped it off. I put it back on and we continued with S-drills. Since this was our first dive would have also done a valve drill and bubble check, but we forgot. Back on the surface, Jody couldn't clip his SPG off, his belt was inside of his shoulder webbing. We sorted it out and got ready to dive. I would lead in, he would follow.

It was an easy swim in and I went down the right side of Pot Hole entrance. When I hit the bottom, it didn't look right, until I jogged left and saw the sign. We were the first line in for the day and everything was nice and clear. It was an easy swim to the gap and we got there in 11 minutes. We planned on not running the gap, so we stopped and smelled the roses. I stared up at Pot hole with the crack of green light. Jody signaled "turn around" and we started swimming out easy. At 2700 psi I thumbed the dive and Jody's eyes got bigger. He gave a thumb back and I gave an OK. I wanted to let him know I had reached a turn point and we were now exiting and not looking around.

I picked up the reel and Jody timed deco as he was on 30/30 and wanted a nice slow ascent. I noticed the little flounder on the way up. At 20 ft I picked up the O2 bottle for a 5 minute clean up. It was a great first dive with a new team member. On the surface we talked about the old school of training using "turn around" to end the dive with no problems. The "thumb" was used when there was an issue and you needed to get out of there. He was trained back in 1996. I explained that in my GUE training, "turn around" is for exploring in a new direction that is not further up the line. The thumb is thrown when you reach a turn point or problem.

Dive 2: Peanut Tunnel

11:25 AM, 31 min SI, 57ft for 39 minutes

2500 start / 2000 turn / 1900 ending psi

20/5 10/1

Kim and the puppies came down to visit with us while we floated through our surface interval (SI). I love floating there and eves dropping on cave instructors debriefs and suggestions to their classes. The instructor next to us has a manifold that I had never see before. There was no isolator and both valves pointed straight up with plastic knobs. Not that you should be hitting the ceiling of a cave, it sure is a possibility, and those knobs were at ground zero. Too bad I left the camera in the car!

Jody was leading this time and we dropped in and tied off. We parallel two other lines and tied into the main line. I love the peanut tunnel. We cruised through with little disturbance and then made the hard right turn at the exit, my favorite part. We went about 750 ft back in 17 minutes before Jody turned the dive. After clearing the Peanut Tunnel I gave Jody an OOA and we shared gas and swam back to the reel without a problem. I picked up my bottle for another 5 minutes of 02 and we exited.

After getting out of the cave, there was still no sign of the Cavern class. I left my rig together, but took off the 7 mil suit and gave it a quick rinse. Then the class appeared. I inhaled a quick sandwich and got suited back up to help with the open water cavern drills.

Dive 3: Peacock 2 Basin Open Water Line Drills

12:40 PM, 19ft for 34 minutes

This was a really pretty spot. The green algae was stringy and not slimy at all. It was very easy to stir up and I could tell we were going to make a fun mess like kids playing in mud. William started laying out his line course which was about twice as long as what I had to do in the clear, algae free waters, of Ginnie Ballroom in GUE Cave 1. I kept teasing William all weekend, this is PADI Cavern, not GUE Cavern! I buddied up with Manny so he would have a team and I wanted to test my skills. I swam it with my eyes open in 2 minutes 40 seconds. Andrea and Charlie got the first go eyes closed.

William put down and good course, but Andrea kept pulling up his placements! By the time Manny and I got there the course had changed. I made it around eyes closed at 4 minutes 44 seconds, the second time. The first time, I made it to the first placement, got confused, due to the thick algae and turned myself around. That's why there are line arrows in a real cave. Everyone was laughing hysterically!

Then it was time for Manny and I to do it sharing gas. With Manny in the lead and me donating we made it in 10 minutes 30 seconds. Manny gave me the touch contact signal for changing the side of the line we would follow, by placing the my hand on his elbow, on the line so that we would switch. I thought he was lonely and missed his girlfriend. We kept going, but that slowed us down for a couple of minutes. With me in the lead and Manny sharing it was 6 minutes 48 seconds. On my final lap the line was in ruin. It went slack and I went head first into an algae pile. I didn't keep my hand up blocking as I was going hand over hand through the field of goo. William gave me a "Judo Chop" to the forehead as a warning of rocks to come, but I just kept going! William said he was pulling gobs of the stuff off of us.

Dive 4: Peacock 1 Cavern Dive

5:18 PM, 25ft for 16 minutes

1000 start/ 800 turn/ 700 end

20/5 10/1

For the first Cavern experience dive William would run the reel in and lead the team. Andrea was in the middle and had to keep everyone together, and Charlie would be in third place. I got to go along as a "shadow" diver. I would keep off to the side and above the students with my light on, but covered against me so I didn't mess up the students light communication. William made good placements and headed for the Peanut tunnel. He kept his line to the far left as there were already 3 or 4 lines in. In the briefing William mentioned that the "stop" signs were sometimes in the cavern zone and others are back into the cave. William was going to go a little past this one and Andrea tossed him a quick thumb! We were 8 minutes into the dive. Surprised we turned around and headed out. I had a great time without my light out. You see so much more looking at others with their lights. It was a much wider perception then leading a dive with my own light. A couple quick stops and we were out.

During the debrief, William asked about the thumb at the stop sign? Andrea thought it was a drill and William was trying to get them to go into the cave. William asked if Andrea saw natural light? Andrea said, "I never see natural light!" And went on to explain, 'All I see is my buddies HID when I lead." After the dive Charlie had the juice, he wanted to see more. Andrea was enjoying the class, but she still wasn't full comfortable with the hole idea of going into the cavern zone of a cave.

While we were breaking down gear Christos came over to share his experience. He tried to be humble in catheter selection and found that medium was just to big to stay on. It seems he had some sloshing around in his right foot and he smelled worse than "Big John". We tried to explain that he needed to be a little more excited about his diving. William broke down his gear and took off his dry suit to find that "Fountain Willie" also sprung a leak. Seems the P-valve re-assembly after cleaning was not completly successful. This double whammy hindered my case for needing a "dry" suit with Andrea as everyone she meets seems to only have a semi-dry suit.

Dinner at Rhodes Pit BBQ

We rolled out of Peacock at 6:58 PM and the team gave up more diving for food. We headed to Mayo to Rhodes Pit BBQ. Christos and Bob Rowlette (starting DIR-Tampa@yahoogroups.com) also joined us for good company. All you can eat ribs and chicken for $6.99! I love dinning in the middle of no where. I thought the food was good and tasty. We had to explain to Charlie that there was different types of BBQ besides an Argentine asado. There were several sauces to choose from on the table. Charlie had to move his truck so a delivery could be made out back. The large, down home, African-America cook asked Charlie how he liked his BBQ? Charlie said the meat was dry. And I though cave diving was going to be the most dangerous activity on the agenda for the weekend! William needs to write a lecture on dealing with locals while cave or cavern diving.

As much fun as a night dive at Royal sounded, we all pulled out our thumbs in favor of a pillow.

Sunday 9/28/2003

Dive 1: Orange Grove Deep Tunnel

10:30 AM, 92ft for 21 minutes

3400 start / 2900 turn / 2900 end

20/3 10/1

William had showed me on the map that there were two entrances at Orange Grove, one at 60ft and one at 100 ft. Jody and I would try the deep one first and then do the shallow one on the second dive. We jumped in, ran through all the drills, S, Valve, and Bubble check. The surface water was 7 ft of vis and green. We tied off at the log and made a secondary tie of at 60 ft and the water was still a mess. We headed to the left side of cave and went down. It was beautiful! Vis retuned at 70ft and we hit the bottom at 92 ft for me and 105 ft for Jody. I saw a small hole that would count as a restriction (no go by Cave 1 standards). Jody gave me the "turn around" signal as we were not in the right place and were not going to go any further. Back up at 70 ft Jody did a stop for his 30/30 mix and I picked up the O2 bottle and extra reel. Then another dive team came over and got out their slate. "Where's the main cave entrance?" I thought to myself, "I know I look like I know what I'm doing, but this is only my second time in here and I'm lost too." Jody made an over the top gesture with his hand to the other side of the cave and they took off. While messing with gear and being distracted, Jody dropped the reel and it was not locked. I dive bombed for it and got quickly.

We still had plenty of gas and I was thinking of making this a cavern dive. It was cool place and we should go find the entrance to the 60ft section for the next dive. Jody pulled and thumb and I agreed that it would be good to cut our losses on this dive and give it another shot form scratch. At the surface we took a break, laughed, and got some better directions from William on how to get in the cave.

Dive 2: Orange Grove 60ft passage

11:24, 67ft, 35 min, 31 min SI

2900 start / 2400 turn / 2100 end

50/1 40/1 30/1 20/5 10/1

I decided to leave the O2 bottle at the surface as I wasn't familiar with this cave and didn't need it to slow us down. We started on the far right and followed some bubbles down to the entrance of the cave. We started our line on the far right and notice that there was a narrow passage at the beginning and there was already a line on the right wall. I reminded Jody to run our line under the existing one and headed in. There were 4 lines already run and we were number 5. At one critical point we needed a placement and I couldn't find one. I didn't want to use someone else so we tried to run the line next to a small rock to keep it spaced apart. It came off once Jody placed it and I fixed it. We were tied in, but I knew our line was not run very well. I relaxed assuming we would be the first team back out with our short penetrations.

I really like this cave. It was a little bigger than the peanut tunnel, but there were a lot of turns with nooks and holes to look it. I even made a couple of barrel roles to look at the ceiling. As we were coming to turn pressure I see another teams lights in the distance. I should have turned the dive, but we let them pass and continued a little further to about 450ft into the cave. It was my side mount friends that asked us for direction on the last dive.

We followed the other team out. Between our lights and theirs ahead the cave was really well lit up. The little bit of flow made our kicks feel more powerful and we cruised on out. They picked up their reel and we grabbed ours. Then I saw the mess! My weak placement came off and our lines were twisted together, crossed, crossed again, and our line was tucked back in a line trap. I was so embarrassed! My worst fear is my lack of experience running a bad line into a cave and if there had been an emergency I would have been tempted to follow another line out as our two lines were a mess and it was my fault, not Jody's. The other team patiently unraveled the two lines and we both reeled them in without a problem. We did our minimum deco and ascended.

The sidemount couple were parked next to us yesterday and I noted their good idea of taking suction cup shower baskets and sticking them to the back windows of their dive mobile to increase storage of little stuff, like mask defogger. They were up from Orlando. On the surface, embarrassed, I started the conversation with the joke. I'm glad you guys found the entrance to the cave, sorry we weren't more of help as this is out first time diving this system. She then asked if he line was loose when we came in? I apologized for not make a good key placement and that their line was fine, but ours came off and entangled theirs really badly. I told her we were new to cave diving and were getting practice in. She asked about our certification level and I said I was GUE Cave 1 and she said, "What's that?" in a genuine manor. I explained it was Intro to Cave, with doubles, and limited gas usage (500 psi) for penetrations. She thought that was a good idea.

Every time I go to Peacock I'm amazed at what a small percentage of DIR divers represent in diving.

Dive 3: Orange Grove Cavern

12:35 PM, 82ft for 32 minutes

2100 start / 1600 turn / 1500 end

40/1 30/1 20/3 10/2

The was Charlie's turn to lead the dive in. I got to be a shadow again. William's plan was to take them into the coliseum, but they had to stick to the ceiling so as not to heavily violate the 70ft depth restriction on cavern. There were no need to hit the bottom at 100ft plus and deal with narcosis. On the descent William headed for the entrance and Charlie started going the wrong way. Andrea got the team back together and headed in. At 40ft the vis really cleared up. The 8 openwater divers that hit this site in the morning were in the cavern and made a huge mess. It had finally cleaned up and was beautiful. Charlie's secondary tie off was weak and pulled off when he headed out. Andrea started re-wrapping the line right away and Charlie came back to put the final loop on it. The headed into the big cavern and it was wonderful watching everyone else's lights explore while I could step back and see the big picture. I kept my light hid so as not to distract the class and William and I check on each other several times through out the dive.

Then the class headed over to the right to the cave entrance. After going past the memorial William got a head and told them to turn around as they were entering the cave without seeing the warning stop sign yet. They turned around and headed out. Opps, there goes Charlie's light, he switched to back up and thumbed. Ops, there goes Andrea's light, she switched and repeated the thumb. Ops, Andrea's out of gas, time to share gas on exit. All the drills were no problem with no loss of trim or buoyancy and good communication.

On the surface there were big smiles all around. Andrea's first comment was, "I want to go back in!" And followed it with, "We can come back to cave country in two weeks!" I haven't seen her this excited since her open water class. There is something about cave diving that is like learning to dive all over again, only this time you know your going to love it, because you already do!

William took the holy jetfin (the right one) and baptized both Andrea and Charlie as Cavern Divers (see the last video).

We packed up, headed to the Dive Outpost to Seattle our bill, get some T-shirts. I purchased a paper map of the Peacock cave system to mark my progress and we headed for High Springs at 3 PM. We stopped at Floyds diner for a farewell dinner. William handed out his last award to all the divers, little packs of Kool-aid. For the non-internet-divers I had to explain where this reference came from, but it was funny all the same.

At 5 PM we rolled out for home. At 8 PM I made Andrea take over the driving and that'd when we hit accidents and heavy rain. We arrived home in Hollywood at 10:41 PM with 781 miles of adventure for this trip!
 

–Matt