{Friday
13th April (Good Friday)
Two dives at Ginnie in the morning - both in Devils Ear. Place exceptionally
busy with it being Easter weekend - lots of rec divers there for the
weekend and plenty of other cave divers as well as river users - many
teenagers using inflatible rings to float down the river getting in
the way of us.. Had an 'all lights out whilst sharing air' situation
on the way out on the second dive. In places we got overtaken by other
divers with their lights on, so we kept our eyes shut. It was actually
quite pleasant to drift in the dark with the current just following
the main line. Exited and did safety stops on outside of cave. Dekitted
and headed back to High Springs for lunch and to do our exams. Both
of us passed. Main areas I need to improve on are my in-water trim
and line laying.
Rushed
back to the Motel to drop off Steve and head to Gainesvilles to collect
Paul from the airport. Got to airport and was unable to find a flight
that would have landed at the time Paul gave me.. called Steve to
be told that Paul had missed his connection and would not get in until
23:00. Returned to High Springs. Got showered and changed, then drove
back to Gainesville to meet Tamara for dinner at a Thai Restaurant.
Went to the cinema after that to watch 'Sleeping Tigers, crouching
Dragons' (excellent film) - Paul called to say he had arrived just
as the film ended so Steve and I quickly said our Goodbyes to Tamara
and went to collect Paul at the airport. Drove back to High Springs.
Saturday
14th April (Saturday)
Our day off (not). Paul woke me at 09:30. Got ready and called in
at the supermarket before going to the EE shop for some fills. Andrew
Georgitsis was due to arrive today at noon. Steve wanted to wait for
him before going on a dive at Ginnies. Hung about the shop all day
waiting for Andrew. Ordered some pizza at 15:00 when Andrew finally
arrived. He had missed one of his connections and then the flight
was delayed. To do the dive he wanted us to take two stages each..
spent the next two hours setting up Al80 stages with harnesses and
getting them filled before eventually going to Devils for a dive.
Ginnies was heaving with campers and divers. Spent some time in the
shallows fitting stages and doing valve drills whilst avoiding being
troden on by other divers and river users.
Trying to get into the cave against the current with two large stages
was no fun at all. Was stressed out all dive and didn't enjoy it,
though we did get further back than during the previous week working
on 1/3rd as turn pressure. Dropped the O2 stage near the entrance
and the 50% stage before The Lips. Steve was in the lead and I had
to flag him back several times as he was way too far ahead of Paul
and me. Carried on a bit further throught he Keyhole, then Steve turned
the dive.
Had lights failure before reaching The Lips again where we had a complete
CF when Andrew pulled several OOA scenarios on us - my brain totally
shut down and just went into drill mode without stopping to thinking
- leaving Paul gasping for air as I had shut down my long hose - doh!
Andrew 'saved' the situation, called off the drill and we headed back
out. Collected our 50% stage and headed out on one back up light between
the three of us. Steve on my long hose - how did that happen?. Paul
brought up the rear with his single small light. Drill ended in cavern
area. Collected O2 stage and found myself alone as the other two had
already left the cave… followed out and rejoined them to deco
on the log. Several other divers present too. Total dive time was
101 minutes, max depth 28m. Not a good start. Andrew thought we did
too much deco….
Sunday
15th April (Easter Sunday)
Meet at EE shop for 09:30 to spent the day at Grubers Sink. Collected
tanks. Stopped at Starbucks in Gainesville to buy breakfast. Drove
to Gruber Sink (Hall Watts 40 Fathoms Grotto) near Ocala approx one
hours from High Springs to find it was closed for Easter. Drove back
to dive in Ginnie where the Easter egg hunt was in full swing. Two
dives into Devils Ear using two AL80 stages each time. 28% backgas
in double 104's. Didn't find any easter eggs.
Dive 1: Did some stage handling drills in shallows, then entered cave.
Dropped O2 stage near entrance. Swam to Lips and spent some time handing
stage from one diver to the other in the room infront of the Lips.
On through lips to drop 50% stage after Keyhole. Got as far as mudflats.
OOA drill there till return to 50% tank, then out. The dives have
somehow blurred into one in my memory… Went for dinner in Gainesville
and met Tamara at another Thai place. Packed up that night to be ready
to drive to Fort Lauderdale the next afternoon.
Monday
16th April (Easter Monday)
Another drive to Gruber Sink. This time called ahead to check it was
open. Were only divers there that morning. Entrance fee $30-00 [!!!].
Registered and met Hall Watts (Mr DeepAir) in person just returning
from his morning jog.
The surface of the sinkhole is totally covered in duckweed. An airbubble
thing keeps an area free of weed for entry and exit (when they remember
to switch it on). Viz was comparable to Stoney on a sunny day. A large
pontoon was set up at the edge of the lake. To get to it we had to
walk down a steep set of rickety wooden steps. The sinkhole widens
out as it get deeper so the sides of hole are overhang by rock. Did
a briefing including some discussion of deco, then lugged our gear
down the steps to the platform by the lake.
Maps at http://home.tampabay.rr.com/mblitch/cave/fortyfathom.htm
Did
two dives. First one was shallow and mainly involved picking up and
handing off stages on the platform and to one another in mid water.
Ended dive with deploying dSMBs using our spool. Debrief sitting on
the surface.
Second
dive was full with other drills. Paul was leading and laying a line
along the left overhanging side of the pond. Steve was OOA -as I went
to donate my long hose Andrew pulled my mask off my face. Carried
on to give Steve air to then have Andrew simulate a valve failure
on my right post followed by my left post ;-). Ignored the right post
this time, closed the isolator and got Paul to check it out. Breathed
of his long hose for a while, which was leaking air at the second
stage - called the dive, but things got very complicated until we
went to our stages to breathe of them. Pulled out my spare mask which
wasn't much of an improvement, as it was totally steamed up - missed
that Steve had also lost his mask. Drill end -carried on with dive
then ascended on dSMB simulating deco. Andrew didn't like our ascent
speed at depth - too slow. Also didn't like my trim on deco stops,
but it felt all wrong to me with the double 104's on my back, and
two Al80 stages, plus getting used to using the wings for buoyancy
rather than the suit. Andrew tapped my knees a few time to make me
adjust my trim - I overbalanced and nearly kicked his mask off his
face - so he stopped the tapping… Anyway, I was desperate to
get out of the water after over 90 minutes in the drysuit ;-(
Lugged gear back up the steps and stowed it in the car. Drove back
to High Springs to return stages and get doubles filled with trimix
(21/35). Had dinner at the Outdoor Café, then hurtled down
I75 to I95 doing up to 90 miles/hour to get to Fort Lauderdale. Managed
to dodge any police cars and arrived at midnight. Checked into Marriot
Fairview Motel for the next two nights.
17th
April (Tuesday)
07:30 Alarm wakes us up.
07:45 Go for beakfast. Fairly poor buffet style affair.
08:00 Drive to Brownies Third Lung shop (http://www.browniedive.com)
to collect stages - was most grateful that they were Al40's! Thanks
to Fraser Purdon for providing the stages!!. On to meet boat at 09:30
for wreck dive in the sea. Cost $55 per day - ouch!. Boat was the
'Lady Go Diver' out of Cove Marina. It had plenty of deckspace including
an under cover area. There were eight other divers, all in wet suits.
It was a hot sunny day with little wind, flat calm sea. Air temp 26
degrees, water 23 degrees. There was some discussion between the dive
master and the other divers as to the order of entry. It was agreed
that those with the longest bottom time would go in last 'so as to
keep the shot line clear for those doing the longest deco'.
Journey only took 30 minutes to get on site via the canal and through
a couple of bridges to the sea. Lots of Pelicans about.
Dived the 'Miller Light' - a purposely sunk artificial wreck. 48m
to the sandy bottom. Average depth 40m. Nice cover of red sea fans
and other soft coral. Plenty of fish including a couple of large barracuda.
Steve was in the lead laying line from the shot which was tied to
the stern. Went along the port side to a large hole in the side of
the hull. Entered hold from there. Some silt on bottom under deck.
Steve was OOA and I donate my long hose then headed up to shotline.
Steve wanted to follow line out until Paul pointed up to the open
hold above. Returned to shot line then ended drill and investigated
wreck further forward. Returned to collect reel. Were last back at
shotline and disconnected it to drift with it for deco. Some delay
swapping to 50% stage. Overtook the last of the other divers at 6m
stop. Did 5 min at 21m, 2 min at 15m, 2 min at 12m, 4 min at 9m, 12min
at 6m, 3min at 3m then out. Lost some time during the ascent. Back
to Marina. No more dives today - pity, was feeling much more at home
on the sea dive.
Drove back to Brownies to refill tanks, then drove to Fort Lauderdale
beach to do our 400 m swim… Andrew measure out 200m along a stretch
of beach and then made us swim the distance twice, for good measure,
followed by the 25m free hold dive.. Messed up the first attempt to
freedive 25m.. was so buoyant in the sea that I had to struggle to
stay down and had nothing to aim for or gauge the distance by. Just
about managed the second time when Steve agreed to stand in the water
so I knew where to head for. We all did the swim in under 10 minutes
easily.
Went for a walk along the beachfront and had dinner and a drink in
a mexican place whilst watching the world drive by. Back at the hotel
for 23:00.
18th
April (Wednesday)
08:00 Breakfast at Einsteins Bagel shop - very nice, but too early!
09:00 meet boat to dive the HydroAtlantic - a proper wreck, not purpose
sunk - 300 foot freighter laying at 53m on a sandy bottom. Weather
sunny, not as warm as the previous days, clouding over. Wind freshing
up, some white tops - force 3 increasing.
Only divers on board. Divemaster tied shotline into wreck for us.
Down to wreck, good viz and only slight current, so dropped of line
to bows and followed along port side hull. Paul in lead wanted to
get up onto deck. Had some ear trouble on ascent and needed several
minutes to clear. Into hull, back out and along to stern to touch
bottom under propshaft. Large hole in stern with kichen stuff all
over ground. Back along hull and onto deck - ear still playing up
at times. Called dive after 30 minutes and released shotline. Then
Paul deployed dSMB. Called deco and started ascend. Better stage switch
at 21m. Paul lost control of his suit at 15m and ascended to 6m before
catching himself. Came back down and recommenced deco. I stayed with
original deco time as I had worked quite had at depth, but Andrew
thought we should have shortend it to the next 10 min plan. Steve
lost a fin when exiting the water. Sea was getting rougher. Returned
to Marina and got Nitrox fills at local store to try and make departure
of another vessel a bit further down the canal- rip-off at $16 per
set.
Went
for lunch at at a Japanese/Thai restaurant - had to gulp it down to
meet boat to then be told all dives for the afternoon and tomorrow
had been cancelled!
Returned
to Brownie's to decide what to do and agreed to go back to High Springs
to complete the course there. Called EE to arrange stage hire for
next day. Left FLL around 16:00, arrived High Springs 21:30 after
some delays due to road works and heavy traffic. Checked back into
HSCI at reduced rate of usd 30 per night. Drove to Gainesville for
dinner.
19th
April (Thursday)
Meet at EE shop for 09:30. Prepare AL40 stages for everybody and get
stages filled. Will be taking three [!] stages into cave today [gulp]
to do a staged dive using 32%. Tanks for the day were double 104's
with 32% filled to 230 bar, Al80 stage with 32%, Al 80 stage with
50%, Al 40 stage with 100%.
Dive 1 into Devils Ear: Hard struggle for me to get into cave entrance
- nearly gave up. Deposited 100% stage near entrance and held for
a moment to regain breath. On to lips. 'Lost' Paul at Lips and had
to return to regroup - luckily we spotted his disappearance very quickly
and Andrew was happy with our team awareness for once. Dropped 50%
after lips. On to keyhole. Dropped 32% stage after keyhole. Got as
far as sandbank with Steve in lead. Steve called the dive early due
to a confusion of when we started our bottom time - which should have
started after the 50% drop. Returned to 32% stage to find Steve's
stage empty (he had left his tank valve open and Andrew had purged
it dry..). Steve wanted to head straight out, so Andrew called an
OOA on Steve. Donated my long hose, Paul rearranged our team order
and then went on to collect our 50% stage. Put Steve on his stage.
Now we were on only backup lights again and headed out. Collected
100% stages and did deco on way out.
Dive 2: Devils ear again, only two stages (50% and 100%). Dropped
deco stages as before. Paul in lead this time. Got nearly as far as
on first dive. Paul OOA this time. Donated my long hose again - been
doing a lot of that this week. All lights went out. Exit in dark via
keyhole and lips - interesting exerience - tugged my head in behind
Pauls arm so I wouldn't hit anything. Got to drop point for 50% stage
and put Paul on his, then on through main Gallery in complete darkness
to cave exit. All went smoothly for once. Collected 100% and deco'd
on way out. Got out of water, dekitted, debrief and repacked car.
Returned stages to shop and got fills for next day. Course END.
Don't know yet if we passed or failed. Back to HSCI to find Andrew
and Steve had arranged for us all to meet Tamara for dinner in Gainesville.
No time for a shower or to get changed - piled into one car and headed
for Gainesville. Had dinner in another Thai Restaurant. Went to a
Tecno club after dinner, played some pool, danced a bit, plenty of
drink was had by the group. Left the club at 01:00 in a merry state.
Steve drove Tamara home in her car with us trailing behind. Short
stop at Tamara's, then I drove us all back to High Springs. In bed
at 02:00.
20th
April (Friday)
Steve and Andrew off home to Seattle today. Paul and I went for a
dive at Ginnie again. Nice late start in the morning. Got to Ginnie
at 14:00 to go diving. Took one Al 80 stage with 50%. Tried to get
into Devil's Eye, but Paul's stage got stuck on a rock in the entrance
restriction, so we abandoned and backed out. Went into Devils Ear
instead. Fairly busy again with plenty of other divers about. Managed
to enter cave without the usual hassle by sticking to the bottom of
the slope. Dropped stage after Keyhole and got as far as sanddune
at 1400 ft in. Turned on 1/3 of gas and returned to our stage. Felt
relaxed for the first time this week and enjoyed the dive, plus actually
noticed more of the cave this time. Finished the dive successfully
and returned to the shop to settle up and return the tanks.
Paul
was met by his guide for the next few days and I returned to the HSCI
for the night. I had hoped to maybe tag along with Paul on Satruday,
but his guide wanted $200 per person per day, so I declined.
21st
April (Saturday)
Woke up at 10:30 as the clearners were approachnig my room. Had forgotten
that I only booked in for three nights, so had to pack up and move
on. Bob helped me find another motel and I got there for 12:00. Dropped
off my cases and went for a drive to the Gulf coast. Visited a few
towns on the coast and had lunch by the mudflats - there was no beach
to speak of. Got back to the Motel after dark and went to sleep. Didn't
fancy sitting in a restaurant by myself so only had a snack in my
room.
22nd
April (Sunday)
Got up at 10:00 to packup. Left room at 11:00. Drove back to Manatee
Springs to stamp my logbook and maybe to glimps a manatee, but no
luck. Had lunch there sitting in the sun by the river (14:00) then
headed on to Cedar Key on the coast (15:00). Funny place out in the
mudflats trying to cultivate the appearance of remenants of a pirate
settlement with some rickety wooden buildings on stilts built into
the swampy sea and lots of pelicans sitting on the jetty - but now
are home to restaurants and bars with live country music coming from
the windows. A busy place with a crafts market on in the town centre
- some wired things on display and a lot of dross. Walked around for
a bit then headed back to the I75 at 16:00 to drive to Miami. Found
the car hire dropp off place by 21:40 and returned car. Got to airport
at 22:30 to be last to check in. Plane left slightly late at 00:20
23rd
April (Monday)
Landed late in Amsterdam. Manage to make connection to Manchester,
but my luggage didn't. Ade collected me at MAN airport. Had dinner
and struggled to stay awake until 21:00 then crashed out. Luggage
was delivered Tuesday night. Overall an interesting trip, though very
demanding.
Anke
Otto
Click
here for all contact details
for Anke's trip
A
terrific account of a diving trip with a difference
Anke
Otto