Dive Log

Here is where I’ll log most all of my dives.

**B***** Slough – 5/31/10

James Garrett

Went with Allen and Dr Craiger around Wakulla Springs Road and found this Gem on the roadside (ok, I didn’t find it, but I would get my throat cut if I posted the exact location heh).  This is a site where you have to park on the public right of way, and walk up the slough to the spring vent.  I would advise that you attach a weight to a string and throw it into the cave when you first get there, as the basin will get mucky and quickly turn to zero viz, which will cause you to spend 10-15 minutes just finding the cave entry.  This cave has to be the most beautiful system I’ve ever seen, as it’s protected by an alligator 90% of the time.

Twin Caves – 5/30/10

James Garrett

After an interesting dive at Hole in the Wall, we had all of our back gas left, so we decided to do a swim dive over at Twin Caves.  Unfortunately a few people on scooters had blitzed the viz in the subway tunnel, so we’d have to deal with <15ft of viz in some places until we could drop down to the right side of the T, where we had been told there was clear viz until the double arrows.  This is my least favorite dive on the Mill Pond due to how little the first 900ft of the cave change, but it’s still a neat little dive to do if you want to kill time.

Hole In The Wall – 5/30/10

James Garrett

Another early morning to Cave Adventurers, as this morning we had rented a boat.  We got there around 8am, got our stuff loaded, and then our buddy Allen met us there shortly after.  We planned to hit up all 3 Mill Pond caves, but Hole in the Wall is my favorite, so it would have to be first!

Phillip ran the reel ahead of time, as it would be a pain to deal with when we each had scooters.  Since Hole in the Wall is a no flow cave, the plan was to use 2 stages as travel gas, reserve back gas, and tow a scooter “just in case”.  Once I get more DPV experience, I’m sure I’ll not be that conservative, but for now more gas and more scooters are never a bad thing.  Scootering this cave is an experience that just cannot be described, you’re cruising through crystal clear water with huge dome ceilings that are as white as can be, with the exception of a few iron colored ceiling formations.  If you can’t make it to the Mill Pond, you owe it to yourself to at least purchase Liquid Productions Mill Pond Experience DVD.

Jackson Blue – 5/29/10

James Garrett

After our morning adventure, we went back to Cave Adventurers for tank fills and to check into Jackson Blue.  A group of Texas A&M cavern divers were there packing up, but due to the rain, the park was fairly empty, a pleasant surprise!  We each placed our stage bottle, deco bottle, and scooter in the water and then proceeded to gear up.  Our plan was to take mainline past Court’s Squeeze, Hall of the Mountain King, Mystery Shaft, and then the Sweet Passage.  We turned around p3200ft at the 3rd “T”.

Click here for a map overlay of our dive.

Bozel Spring – 5/29/10

James Garrett

After waking up early the morning after our 5 hour drive from Orlando, we arrived at Cave Adventurers around 8am to get tank fills.  We were going to meet Matt Bull and Kevin Carlisle at Florida Caverns State Park since they only have 6 canoes, and we wanted to ensure we could get one with it being memorial day weekend.  We arrived at the park, where it’s $5 per vehicle to enter, and $15 for 1/2 day canoe rental.  The spring is located on your left after a little over 1 mile of upriver paddling, which was a semi difficult canoe trip compared to what I’ve experienced on the Wekiva and Ichetucknee Rivers.

Upon arriving at the spring, Matt showed us that we can enter at the main spring, swim to a karst window, surface in a pool, and then swim over about 50ft to an easy back mount entry to avoid beating the crap out of the cave and trespassing.  Tips like this are why it’s always a good idea to go with someone local if you can manage it.  We swam to just about the second T before turning the dive  to avoid having  much deco since we were on back gas (limited space in the canoe).  I’ve attached the dive profile to the gallery just for reference.  This dive is best done with 21/35 or 25/25 to limit o2 exposure and narcosis, as it reaches depths of 120ft quickly.  The cave has incredible white walls which have been preserved by the long canoe trip that it takes to access the cave and relatively few divers who come there.  I was told that the white walls are due to the fact that this spring almost never floods, which was good to know for when everything else is flooded.  Another nice feature of this cave is it’s large size.  After a restricted entry way, the cave seems to open up, and stay big enough for an easy back mount trip (larger than most of Peacock) at least until the second T, and I hear it keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Photos courtesy of Matt Bull.

Little River…Wakulla award at last…

James Garrett

Well, those of you that know me, know that I absolutely hate Little River.  About once a year, someone fools me into thinking maybe another dive will make it better…It never does.  Today was no exception.  The Orlando Magic played at 5pm, so we were in a hurry to get back to watch the game, and our cave scouting earlier in the day fell through.  We swam just beyond the FL room to about p1200ft.  My drysuit had a huge flood, so it’s going to Steve Gambles place on the way out of town tomorrow.  The one really cool thing about this dive is that it marks my 100th hour underwater since full cave, so I’m up to receive my Wakulla award!

Breathing Gas– 32% Backgas / 100% Deco
Max Depth– 108ft
Avg Depth– 100ft
Visibility– 20ft or so..
Water Temp– 72F
Dive Time: 63min

Devil’s – River Intrusion and Insulation Rooms

James Garrett

Met with Stacey after I got out of church to get a few photos for her graduate school presentation.  She has been doing research measuring pollutants in the Devil’s system for over 3 years, and is finally getting ready to present it!  The dive plan was to scooter to the insulation rooms, grab a few photos, then scooter back to the river intrusion rooms, take photos, and then exit.

Peacock Springs – Watersource Tunnel

James Garrett

Today Stacey and I went to the Watersource tunnel in Peacock Springs since it was just recently reopened due to flooding.  I had assumed that this would provide clear water, however I didn’t think about the fact that this tunnel is almost always nasty, and was even worse after the flooding!

Breathing Gas– 32% Backgas
Max Depth–
Avg Depth–
Visibility– 20ft Peanut Tunnel, 40ft Watersource tunnel
Water Temp– 68F
Dive Time: 71min

Devils – Sweet Surprise

James Garrett

Breathing Gas– 32% Backgas / 100% Deco
Max Depth– 104ft
Avg Depth– 85ft
Visibility– 75ft
Water Temp– 72F
Dive Time: 72min

Notes:
Met up with Stacey at Cave Excursions East to get fills and then headed off to Ginnie to do a quick dive before the super bowl.  Our original plan was to hit mainland, but another team was already in there, so we cut it back a bit and just went to Sweet Surprise.  According to Forrest Wilson here, Sweet Surprise got it’s name because Dale Sweet discovered it, even after it had been missed by other explorers.

To get there, simply scooter in on a stage until about p2100 and then look for a tunnel that looks like it “goes”.  The jump line is cut pretty far back here.  We made it back to the first T, which is the turtle tunnel and takes you to Mainland.  Due to recent rains and flooding, viability was poor for the Devils system.

Jug Hole at Ichetucknee Springs- Short but beautiful cave

James Garrett

Met with Michael Gibby and Jeff Marchand to drive out to Ichetucknee Springs State Park and drive the Jug Hole Cave.  This cave system requires a side mount entry, but is fairly large once you’re in, with two rooms that really stand out.  I dove side mount since this cave requires it, but I certainly don’t like it.