aw
06-23-2007, 04:56 PM
This was my first dive in Emerald Sink. Lots of work had been done on the steps and now it’s open to diving. To dive it, you must be full-cave, 100 cave dives, trimix certified, Dan Master insurance, and approval from a panel who puts your name on a list once approved. You must fax the sign in form to Wakulla at least 5 days in advance. They will fax the sheet back to you signifying approval to dive the site if noone has taken the time slot.
Mine and Kelly Jessop’s reservation time for diving Emerald Sink was 8:30 AM on Saturday, 6/23/07. I got to Wakulla early, so I went down to the swim area. The WKPP were there getting ready to do the big dive trying to connect Wakulla to Turner Sink via the new section found in Wakulla. I saw JJ and Casey cooling off in the basin before they suited up for the dive. I really appreciated JJ taking the time to say hello as he passed by. I told him good luck on the dive, introduced myself, and shook hands. He was very friendly and even initiated the contact even though he was just about to do a crazy dive. I also got a quick glimpse of the exploration reels they were carrying for the dive. So if they do make the connection, at least I can say I saw the line they were going to lay. Anyway . . I had never been at Wakulla during the Team’s exploration efforts, even though I’d been following updates on their work for 10 years. So this day got started off really great for me.
Kelly and I met up at the Ranger Station to sign in, get the key to the gate, and leave our c-cards. We went over to Emerald and suited up. The basin surface was 5 ft vis. At about 20 ft, it clears up to 80 ft vis. We were diving one stage each and clipped oxygen bottles at the top of the debris cone at 60 ft. The line was tied in open water at the top of this cone to the tree that is standing straight up. I assume back when the sink collapsed, this tree was planted directly above the cavern and simply fell straight down and stuck standing up in the mud. One line goes towards Split and Cheryl Sinks and is shallow, while the other line goes to the deep section. We took the shallow section for this dive.
We proceeded into the cave. A STOP sign was posted at the entrance to the cave going towards Split Sink. The tunnel itself was quite large and covered with dark stain. The limestone is VERY fragile. So we made sure we didn’t touch anything. The bubbles from our exhaust would knock small bits off the ceiling. Depth in this section is no more than 62 ft. At 200 ft of penetration, there is a small sink on the left side going in. At 400 ft of penetration, we hit a T. Going straight takes you to Split Sink and going left takes you to Cheryl Sink. The line is marked every 200 ft with line arrows, distances, and which sink it is referencing. Back-to-back arrows are located at 750 ft. We made it 1,500 ft to Split Sink in 26 minutes. We looked at the duck covered hole and turned. When we reached the “drop” pressure for our stages, we simply stowed them and swam with them the entire dive. The cave is very fragile, so we didn’t want to actually leave them clipped on the line anywhere.
We returned to the T (at 45 minutes run time) and went to Cheryl Sink. The passage towards Cheryl is slightly smaller than that going towards Split, but still nice. There is a water sampling tube that runs a couple hundred feet in from Cheryl. Cheryl is 1,100 ft from Emerald. Although the line arrows change directions, there is no back-to-back arrow here. We looked at Cheryl (at 58 minutes run time) and then returned to Emerald. We made it back to open water at 76 minutes run time. As we were approaching open water, we shielded our lights to let the entrance glow define the walls and ceiling of the entrance. The opening is absolutely enormous!!!!!!!!!!!
We then took a quick dip into the deep section and turned at the STOP sign for the deep section. Max depth we bounced to was 142 ft. But this is by no means the deepest spot. We then began a slow ascent to the surface while looking around the cavern area. There is a shallow tunnel located on the opposite side of the cavern from the main tunnels, but it looks small and we didn’t poke in it.
I had used my MP3 player throughout the entire dive. Kelly had already started his stop at 20 ft and I was still closer to 60 ft when I looked up. It was a picture-perfect shot. Just wish I had brought my camera. The sun’s rays were cutting through the algae bloom and clay we stirred up on the surface. You could see Kelly hanging in free in the water column and I could see his silhouette against the surface light. About that time, the song “My Immortal” by Evanescence started playing on my MP3 player. It was absolutely great timing and the perfect song for what I was viewing.
I had no decompression requirements and surfaced at 95 minutes run time. Total penetration distance combined was 2,200 ft. Water temp was 69F. We stopped by Greg Stanton’s shop and went back back Wakulla Ranger’s station to get our cards back and tell the Ranger that we were out of the water.
Great dive!!! Can’t wait to go back. All the effort by many people to get access and install steps was definitely worthwhile.
Mine and Kelly Jessop’s reservation time for diving Emerald Sink was 8:30 AM on Saturday, 6/23/07. I got to Wakulla early, so I went down to the swim area. The WKPP were there getting ready to do the big dive trying to connect Wakulla to Turner Sink via the new section found in Wakulla. I saw JJ and Casey cooling off in the basin before they suited up for the dive. I really appreciated JJ taking the time to say hello as he passed by. I told him good luck on the dive, introduced myself, and shook hands. He was very friendly and even initiated the contact even though he was just about to do a crazy dive. I also got a quick glimpse of the exploration reels they were carrying for the dive. So if they do make the connection, at least I can say I saw the line they were going to lay. Anyway . . I had never been at Wakulla during the Team’s exploration efforts, even though I’d been following updates on their work for 10 years. So this day got started off really great for me.
Kelly and I met up at the Ranger Station to sign in, get the key to the gate, and leave our c-cards. We went over to Emerald and suited up. The basin surface was 5 ft vis. At about 20 ft, it clears up to 80 ft vis. We were diving one stage each and clipped oxygen bottles at the top of the debris cone at 60 ft. The line was tied in open water at the top of this cone to the tree that is standing straight up. I assume back when the sink collapsed, this tree was planted directly above the cavern and simply fell straight down and stuck standing up in the mud. One line goes towards Split and Cheryl Sinks and is shallow, while the other line goes to the deep section. We took the shallow section for this dive.
We proceeded into the cave. A STOP sign was posted at the entrance to the cave going towards Split Sink. The tunnel itself was quite large and covered with dark stain. The limestone is VERY fragile. So we made sure we didn’t touch anything. The bubbles from our exhaust would knock small bits off the ceiling. Depth in this section is no more than 62 ft. At 200 ft of penetration, there is a small sink on the left side going in. At 400 ft of penetration, we hit a T. Going straight takes you to Split Sink and going left takes you to Cheryl Sink. The line is marked every 200 ft with line arrows, distances, and which sink it is referencing. Back-to-back arrows are located at 750 ft. We made it 1,500 ft to Split Sink in 26 minutes. We looked at the duck covered hole and turned. When we reached the “drop” pressure for our stages, we simply stowed them and swam with them the entire dive. The cave is very fragile, so we didn’t want to actually leave them clipped on the line anywhere.
We returned to the T (at 45 minutes run time) and went to Cheryl Sink. The passage towards Cheryl is slightly smaller than that going towards Split, but still nice. There is a water sampling tube that runs a couple hundred feet in from Cheryl. Cheryl is 1,100 ft from Emerald. Although the line arrows change directions, there is no back-to-back arrow here. We looked at Cheryl (at 58 minutes run time) and then returned to Emerald. We made it back to open water at 76 minutes run time. As we were approaching open water, we shielded our lights to let the entrance glow define the walls and ceiling of the entrance. The opening is absolutely enormous!!!!!!!!!!!
We then took a quick dip into the deep section and turned at the STOP sign for the deep section. Max depth we bounced to was 142 ft. But this is by no means the deepest spot. We then began a slow ascent to the surface while looking around the cavern area. There is a shallow tunnel located on the opposite side of the cavern from the main tunnels, but it looks small and we didn’t poke in it.
I had used my MP3 player throughout the entire dive. Kelly had already started his stop at 20 ft and I was still closer to 60 ft when I looked up. It was a picture-perfect shot. Just wish I had brought my camera. The sun’s rays were cutting through the algae bloom and clay we stirred up on the surface. You could see Kelly hanging in free in the water column and I could see his silhouette against the surface light. About that time, the song “My Immortal” by Evanescence started playing on my MP3 player. It was absolutely great timing and the perfect song for what I was viewing.
I had no decompression requirements and surfaced at 95 minutes run time. Total penetration distance combined was 2,200 ft. Water temp was 69F. We stopped by Greg Stanton’s shop and went back back Wakulla Ranger’s station to get our cards back and tell the Ranger that we were out of the water.
Great dive!!! Can’t wait to go back. All the effort by many people to get access and install steps was definitely worthwhile.