Chanb77's Weblog

Monday, November 9th, 2009 ~

Meeting time was 9am at EE, and Steve, myself, and George drove over to Ginnie Springs. This would be our first time in the Florida caves, and we were looking forward it. Our Cave 1 course had been in Mexico, and conditions in each place are very different.

Entrance to the water…

Hawk, guarding the entrance…

George debriefed us on the parts of the cave that we would encounter, tips on how to avoid being directly in the flow, and he would run the reel… Thank goodness for that, as I learned very quickly, that descending into the Ear at Ginnie, should not be done in trim… I have to admit, the flow kicked my butt! I had to really work, to get myself down there, and I know that I huffed and puffed a “bit.” Once we were down, George tied into the main line, and we ascended to the ceiling. We made our way along to the lips, and through the keyhole, and made it a bit further, when I turned the dive on gas. On the way out, George pointed out a few of the side tunnels to us, which was pretty amazing!

Now… to get out. Ay carumba… I guess I was in a funny position, and I felt the flow pushing my butt end straight up. I swear, I was going to flip over…lol. George gave me a little shove to make sure I didn’t… Thank you, George! Once I got past that little spot, I was able to brace myself a little bit better. When we surfaced, I couldn’t help but feel that I got my butt kicked… but… I still enjoyed doing the dive, and learing more. I wondered if I wanted to go back in or not, and decided that the only way to get better at it, was to get back in.

Entrance to the Ear, where the orange marker is…

We recalculated our gas, and went back in. This time, I went head down, and had a much easier and faster entrance into the cave. We had left the reel in, so we were a go. I found it so much easier this time around, as I knew what to expect in different areas, and was able to look at even more of the cave this time. We actually went farther this time, having less penetration gas. Coming out was a bit easier this time around as well, When we surfaced, I was happy that I had done the second dive, and I look forward to going back!

Two other divers were in the water, and when I heard my name, we saw Anne Marie and JP! We had hoped to run into them at some point, and did so right away!

What a fantastic day of cave diving goodness!