In May this year (2013) the
wife and I headed out to Florida to complete our TDI Full Cave Course with Guy Wallis of Deep-Tech followed by diving out of
Florida Keys (blogs here and here). This was to be our first
cave dives since our TDI Cavern and TDI Intro to
Cave with
Guy in May 2010 and our first
overseas cave dives.
This blog is a quick review
of the course along with some background and planning information for anyone
planning a cave trip to Florida. Unfortunately
2 months after the trip some of the finer detail may have been forgotten
however I’ve tried to describe the dives as accurately as I can using my
logbook. I’ve also tried to list costs
as accurately as I can but please remember in America all prices are excluding
tax.
Flights
Because we had decided to fly from Birmingham and RV with Guy in Columbus
where he worked before driving down to Florida we had
a bit of a long winded journey, however it was as follows:
Outbound:
·
Operator; KLM.
·
Itinerary; Birmingham
International – Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport – Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
·
Total flight time; 10 hours
45 minutes.
Inbound:
·
Operator; Air France.
·
Itinerary; Hartsfield-Jackson
Airport – Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris – Birmingham International.
·
Total flight time; 9 hours
50 minutes.
The cost was £593.74 (per
person) which included meals, drinks, TV, controller and USB charger located in
the headrest in front of you, 1 piece of hand baggage and 1 piece of hold
baggage (max 20kg). Additionally at a
cost of £46 (per person) we booked an extra piece of hold luggage. Cattle class offered sufficient legroom but
one day I vow to travel first or business class!
Unfortunately however our
trip was nearly ruined as on the way out Henrietta’s dive bag was left in
Amsterdam by the airline. Although we
managed to hire, beg, steal and borrow kit (see below) diving in equipment that
isn’t your own just isn’t the same. Long
story short, despite the airline stating the equipment would be delivered by
courier the following day we did not receive it until 4 days later. And this was only when we bypassed the
airline and contacted the courier direct at a significant cost to
ourselves. I can announce however that
the airline have since refunded all costs.
Transportation
Once we had arrived in
Altanta we took the Groome Transportation bus to meet up with Guy in Columbus. The buses run
every 30 minutes from just outside the domestic terminal at a cost of around
$40 each; the downside is that you have to get the free shuttle bus from the
international terminal.
Guy then picked us up from the bus terminal and we spent the
evening at his. In the morning we
collected our hire car from Hertz; a V8 Dodge RAM which cost around £280 for the week. We then added around 3 tanks of fuel on top
of this. Obviously if flying direct this
would be much less. We chose a pickup as
it could easily accommodate 3 twinsets in the back plus stages, suits etc… plus
there was plenty of room inside. And boy
was it a dream to drive. The only
downside was that the load bay did not have protective matting so as the days
progressed there was more and more paint missing and ever increasing red
stripes on our cylinders after dragging them in and out. Finally navigation was provided by Guy’s
satnav. Lastly, at the end of the week
we were dropped off at Gainsville to collect our hire car down to the Keys
whilst Guys headed back up North.
Accommodation and Feeding
We based ourselves at Dive Outpost (Cathy's) on the recommendation of Guy as he’s a regular there. We opted to stay in at cottage at $75 per
night ($55 single occupancy plus $20 per additional guest). Guy stayed in the bunkhouse at $20 per
person. All cottages are en-suite and
the bunkhouse has a communal wash facility and towels are included. There is also a full kitchen and BBQ for all
guests to use as well as free wifi.
For food we went to the
local supermarket and bought supplies, making the most of the kitchen. Breakfast was generally cereal, omelette or
toast, lunch was generally sandwiches however when at Ginnie Springs
we decided to go for a fat boys lunch which I can thoroughly
recommend and for dinner we made the most of the BBQ.
Cylinder Hire & Gas
We hired cylinders from Cathy's at a cost of $12 per set per day; we opted to use steel twin 94s
(15l in our money). These were fitted
with nice wide bands and Dive Rite valves.
Gas fills were excellent
with 32% banked. We would get bank from
the site, throw our sets in the bath and Tim or Cathy would fill them up whilst
we had lunch. By the time we had eaten
they were good to go with constant 240-250 BAR fills. The fills were $12 a set.
Cathy's also
has a well-stocked shop with dive equipment for sale and hire. The hardware is mainly Dive Rite and everything you need from arrows, cookies, spools and line,
p-clips etc… can be found. Henrietta
hired the majority of her kit until her bag was returned including a wetsuit
however she was fortunate as her back plate was in her other bag.
I can say that I will
definitely be returning to Cathy's. Very friendly, great service and cave divers
to boot. However be warned if you’re not
an animal lover; she has a number of dogs and a cat although all are very
friendly.
Weather and Temperature
May and June is a great time
to visit Florida. During both the day
and evening, we were in shorts. In fact
the only time I wore trousers/jeans was on day 1 when I was still in my kit
from the UK. The water temperature was
equally warm. I wore my O’Three drysuit
with a thin wicking layer underneath.
Henrietta and Guy wore a semi-dry until her equipment finally turned up
and then we were all diving dry.
Day 1
·
Route; Peacock 1 – Peanut
Tunnel – exit at Peacock 1.
·
Run time; 19 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 20m.
·
Gas; Rule of sixths, twin 94s,
32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
For the first dive of the
trip we planned to dive Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
State Park, only a 5 minute drive from
Cathy's. Peacock is a system of sinkholes and submerged cave passageway below a
wooded public State Park. The diving
facilities are very good with changing areas, kitting up and picnic benches
located throughout the park. There are
wooden walkways and steps going from the various parking areas down to the
water entrances along with information boards at appropriate points plus a
memorial to the legendary Sheck Exley. Generally Peacock is quiet during the week with only a few cars. It’s busier at the weekend but not
overcrowded. Entry fees are $4 per
vehicle. As you arrive, you place your
money in an envelope, tear off the receipt which goes on your dashboard and
place the envelope in the box. Also
whilst diving, your cavern or cave c-cards must be visible on your dashboard.
In addition to Guy,
Henrietta and I, we were joined by Eli who had already completed all his skills
and drills for his full cave but needed to get an additional few dives in. It was already afternoon by the time we
arrived so we knew we didn’t have much time.
The first day was just going
to be a shake out to get used to cave diving again based on rule of
sixths. Before we descended bubble
checks and s-drills were conducted. The
entrance to the system is directly below the entry steps. As a team of 4 we entered the cave; me
leading followed by Henrietta, Eli then Guy. There are 2 main lines at Peacock 1; 1 left
and 1 right. Although they’re only a few
metres in and well within the daylight/cavern zone I laid a primary line from
outside to the main line to the left. Whilst
in the cavern zone I dropped the emergency stage cylinder, through the low
passage and dropped down the shaft into the main system. The first thing I noticed about Peacock compared to the UK caves/mines I had dived was how silty it was,
and how easily the visibility could go. At the Breakdown Room I hit sixths so thumbed
the dive. Just before we surfaced we all
did a valve drill and just like the bubble checks and s-drills this process was
repeated on every dive.
Dive 2:
·
Route; Peacock 1 – Pothole
Sink – exit at Peacock 1.
·
Run time; 37 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 21m.
·
Gas; Rule of sixths, twin 94s,
32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
Following a quick de-brief we
descended back down. Henrietta laid the
primary line but this time we took the passage to the right. I again dropped the stage as we descended
in. The lines in Florida are either gold
or white cave line, not the blue polypro rope you seen in the UK so arrows and
cookies are used rather than clothes pegs.
As we got to the jump into Nicholson Tunnel I again thumbed the dive as I was on
sixths.
After 2 great but short dives we loaded the truck and headed back
to Cathy's. We finished off the day
with some theory followed by a BBQ.
Day 2
Dive 1/2:
·
Route; Peacock 1 – Peanut
Tunnel – The Crossover – Olsen Sink – exit at Peacock 1.
·
Run time; 78 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 20m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin 94s,
32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
Today was initially TEKCamp day; not only did I decide to wear my TEKCamp t-shirt but I also got to meet Dive Rite founder Lamar Hires. It wasn’t hard to figure him out as he was
dressed top to toe in Dive Rite, as was his buddy. Both were diving CCRs.
I led and laid the primary reel onto the main line, dropped the
stage and headed through Peanut. Once we
got to the double arrows at The Crossover the others waited whilst I jumped the
gap. Just as I had done so Lamar and his
buddy were exiting so as per protocol we pushed into the side to give exiting
divers the priority. So far the water
had been gin clear however as we passed through The Crossover the visibility
was very poor and the silt had been disturbed.
It was so bad I even contemplated thumbing the dive due to the risk of
diver separation.
Once past half way the arrows start to face the opposite
direction. This is important to remember
as although the Sink is a closer exit, we would have to travel back along the
‘proven route’ in the event of an emergency, and in the event of a silt out or
a lost line, not to follow the arrows in the direction of travel.
We jumped another gap and followed the line until we hit the
end. I then tied a line off to the surface
completing the loop to Olsen Sink. Although
you can surface here there are no steps leading directly to the water as
non-emergency entry/exits are forbidden however there is a viewing platform
above.
We descended back down in reverse order and headed back to Peacock
1 but left all our reels and spools in place for the next dive. One the way back I was given a primary light
failure.
After the dive we learnt that the poor visibility may have been due
to either Lamar or other divers trying to remove a reel that had been tied to
the main line in The Crossover which went into Dark Water Tunnel. Apparently the reel had been there since
earlier on in the year and locals want it removed to stop others from going
into the tunnel.
Dive 3:
· Route; Peacock 1 – Pothole
Sink – Nicholson Tunnel – The Crossover – Peanut Tunnel – exit at Peacock 1.
·
Run time; 42 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 17m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
This dive was to be a
complex circuit heading from Peacock 1 past Dark Water Tunnel, up to Olsen and back
the previous route recovering all the spools and reels. I had another primary light failure as did
Henrietta and Eli had an OOG with Henrietta being the donor. Oh, and I love the new Shearwater
Petrel (blog here).
So far so good. At this
point I should point out some of the kit I was using. My twinset and standard diving equipment was
the same as the UK except I was using the Halcyon 55lb Explorer wing instead of my 40lb Evolve wing. With regards to reels and
lines, I used a Pathfinder for my primary reel, everything else was a mixture of 30m and 50m spools.
This was Eli’s last day; his
Full Cave was complete and he had to
go back to work. A week or so later we
sent us a link to his video footage which can be viewed here.
Day 3
Dive 1/2:
·
Route; Orange Grove Sink –
Challenge Sink – exit at Orange Grove Sink.
·
Run time; 97 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 21m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
Orange Grove Sink is
approximately half a mile from Peacock 1, but much closer to the entrance of
the park. The sink itself is covered in
duck weed which isn’t shy to stick to your dive kit. Entering isn’t so bad as you’re about to
descend however before you exit ensure you clear an area above you with your
exhaust bubbles then you can walk out free of weed.
We descended into the sink
and headed to the entrance which is located at the far side. Henrietta did her primary and secondary
tie-offs before attaching the primary reel to the main line. The stage was dropped off and we followed the
main line. Once past half way the
direction of the arrows changed and after 39 minutes we could see the blue
window. Just before surfacing there is a
rise and a twist. Once through this I
noticed there was no continuous line so I stopped Henrietta and turned around
to place one only to find Guy behind us attaching his reel. We surfaced at Challenge Sink to receive our
bollocking. Always ensure you
have a continuous line to the surface.
We descended in reverse
order and headed back. Just before we
reached the danger sign by the entrance we stopped and simulated silt out/nil visibility
exit. Our masks were blacked out so it
was touch contact all the way.
Unfortunately whilst following the line we managed to get it caught in a
trap which needed a little manipulation to free it. Once we were by the exit the drill was cut,
the primary reel was left in place and we surfaced for lunch.
Dive 3:
·
Route; Orange Grove Sink –
Distance Tunnel – exit at Orange Grove Sink.
·
Run time; 112 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 21m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for emergency
use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
Henrietta led and followed our primary, then the main line to
Distance Tunnel and jumped the gap. As
we headed down Distance Tunnel the passage was very small, dark and silty but we
continued until we hit thirds and thumbed the dive. On the way back we stopped to conduct a lost
diver drill. Henrietta and I waited for
a minute whilst Guy got ‘lost’ before heading back into the cave to find
him. As we approached one of the side
passages we could see it was silted up so I attached a spool and an arrow to
mark the exit and jumped the gap. Just
before I headed into the passage I told Henrietta to hold whilst I went in and
there was Guy. Once the drill was over
all lines were recovered and we exited the cave. During our fizz off, as well as the valve
drill we replaced our primary mask with our backup.
Today was a great day and we looked forward to tomorrow. In addition to the diving I had also booked a
visit to the Halcyon factory (blog here).
Day 4
Dive 1:
·
Route; Main Line – Merry Go
Round – Florida Room – exit out of the Mainline.
·
Run time; 80 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 30m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
Out flow.
·
17 minutes deco.
Only one
dive today. We drove a little further
afield to Little River
Springs. Entry here is free and the car park contains
similar benches to Peacock. The site is also popular
for training and for tourists as there were both whilst we were there.
I led the
dive and laid the primary line in. The
flow was very strong and at one point I didn't think we'd make it in; less
finning and more pull & glide required. Once inside there was a steep drop to 30m and
we continued to follow the Main Line.
Once we hit the T at the Merry Go Round I marked it with a cookie and
went right. At the next T the process
was repeated and we entered The Florida Room. One thing that was noticeable was how much
deeper this cave was compared to Peacock so I kept a good eye on my gas.
In addition to the extra gas used at depth I ended up using more gas
than anticipated as I wasn’t pulling and gliding as much as I should have been
against the flow which resulted in us not exploring as much as we would have
liked. My bad! The way back was much easier as we let the
flow push us out however it didn’t stop me being given an OOG which also turned
into a simulated silt out (touch contact exit still breathing off the long
hose). We briefly paused in the Chimney
to off gas before finally exiting the cave.
Little River
Springs is a visually beautiful cave system; both above and
below the water. It’s all rock and heavy
gravel compared to the silt of Peacock Springs but
I don't think my GoPro mounted on my primary light will do it justice. Best dive so far and finished off with our
visit to the Halcyon factory (blog here).
Day 5
Dive 1
·
Route; Devils Ear – The Lips
– Keyhole Bypass – Hill 400 – Syphon Tunnel – exit at Devils Ear.
·
Run time; 105 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 29m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for emergency
use.
·
Out flow.
·
17 minutes deco.
Ginnie Springs is local to the town of High Springs where the Halcyon factory is located. It’s a commercial camping and watersports
area hiring kayacks, inflatable tyres and diving gear. There’s also a diving and tourist shop. The area was fairly busy, mainly with holiday
makers however there were a few other cave divers present. There are several springs at
Ginnie and today we would only dive 2; The Devils System and the
Ballroom. Despite some of the holiday makers playing
their music far too loud Ginnie is a beautiful place and I can see why it’s such a pull for cave
divers. The only thing that would deter
me is the $32 entrance fee.
Today was to be another
great day and hopefully we would complete our TDI Full Cave Course. The first dive of the day would be in the
Devils’ System; the main system within Ginnie. There are 2 entrances to
Devils; Devils Eye and Devils Ear. We
entered the water by Devils Eye but entered the system at Devils Ear. There was a very strong flow at the entrance
so Henrietta had an interesting job of tying off the primary line. As we dropped down the vertical slope we had
to pull along on the cave walls. Quite
often I’d have to jam myself in to re-tie one of the tie-offs. Once tied off onto the main line we followed it through The Lips,
past Park Bench and Keyhole Bypass. We then jumped from the Main Line to Hill 400 and finished at the
Siphon Tunnel. The key is to stay high and pull and glide
which I managed to better effect compared to Little River
Springs, so much so it was
Henrietta who thumbed the dive as she hit thirds first. On the way back we let the flow take us, just
using our fins like a rudder to steer. Just before we ascended
into Devils Ear we both did a lost line drill and another backup mask
replacement. The cave was spectacular and
I can see why so many people love it; I definitely need to go back.
Dive 2
·
Route; The Ballroom.
·
Run time; 23 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 15m.
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
The final dive
of the day was in The Ballroom, a nice little cavern dive located in a separate
area of the park. The cavern is quite
large with a metal grate at the far end preventing access to a small
silty cave. After about 10 minutes I had
seen all I wanted so I practiced valve drills, mask replacement back finning
etc…
So that was
it, our TDI Full Cave Course was complete and we were
certified Cave Divers. Additionally
Henrietta has succumbed and is getting rid of her bungeed wing and harness with
a break, and is replacing it with a Halcyon system. Also she’s no-longer bungeeing the long hose and
has decided hog-looping is a better option. After years of ignoring me she listens to
someone else and it’s suddenly a great idea! Go figure!
Day 6
Dive 1:
·
Route; Peacock 1 – Pothole
Sink – Nicholson Tunnel – Cisteen Tunnel – exit at Peacock 1.
·
Run time; 80 minutes.
·
Maximum depth; 21m
·
Gas; Rule of thirds, twin
94s, 32%. 7l stage cylinder, 32% for
emergency use.
·
No flow.
·
No deco.
Only one
dive today and last cave dive of the trip.
I led the dive. We started at
Peacock 1, went past Pothole Sink and jumped into Nicholson Tunnel and jumped
again into Cisteen Tunnel. At this point
the arrows we pointing away from us, again something to note in an emergency
and you have to follow the proven route out.
Finally we jumped back to the Nicholson Tunnel before retracing our
steps and recovering all spools. What a
lovely dive to finish off on. Tomorrow;
a visit to the SDI/TDI HQ at Jensen Beach before
heading down to the Keys.
Summary
A total of
12 dives in 6 days; 10 of those dives were on the course and Henrietta and I
are TDI Full Cave divers.
It was a great course and it’s been great to see Henrietta’s skills
improve over the week and see her mind-set change to the DIR approach.
Overall we dived for 673
minutes over 12 dives versus the minimum requirement of 240 minutes over 8
dives. Generally the run times were
between 90-120 minutes; I couldn’t imagine doing that in UK. Florida is an excellent place for training
with a variety of cave systems on offer.
Guy is a great instructor and Cathy's is an
excellent facility. Henrietta and I will
definitely be back but the question is will that be before or after the Cenotes
of Mexico?
The video of our week can be
found below;
unfortunately the GoPro mounted on top of my HID doesn’t do the cave systems
justice.
The overall cave coverage is
as follows:
Final plug
Just another
plug for SDI/TDI if you're thinking about
doing any training; the day after I completed my TDI Full Cave Course I received an email
confirming my application had been processed. One week later when I arrived back from
Florida the c-card is waiting for me on the door mat. SDI/TDI, and in particular SDI/TDI UK strive hard for their
divers. Why not find out for yourself?
The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my
articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines;
by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them. This article is for information only and
should not replace proper training.
Safe diving!
Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI and SDI/TDI
diver training
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