Hey you old farts...How did Sweet Surprise get its name?

[jj1987]

Figured the title would get some attention

My first dive to sweet surprise was an all out swim, so I didn't quite get to the "drop down". I had wondered what the sweet surprise was, and assumed that it was further into the tunnel. Today we swam to the first T, which I think is the mainland connection, and nothing really stood out as a "surprise".

Can anyone share where the name comes from?

Skid row, double lines, parallel lines, bats, ice room, white room, insulation rooms, wormhole, etc are all obvious. It seems like there's a lot of history in Ginnie that's going to be lost. Unlike peacock, there's no book about it, unlike chips hole and wakulla there's no dvd about it, unlike cow springs I haven't seen an nss-cds article about it....there's very little information out there in general on the exploration of Ginnie (or I'm missing it). It's a shame, I'd like to hear who/what started the bats, what order the passages were explored in, how the bear room, mainland, sweet surprise, etc got their names? Why are the two plaque's not considered cave trash in Ginnie? Was the exploration was done during floods with low flow, o2 deco, scooters, breathers, or other technical advances? How long did it take to find rooms like the ice room that's so low and at an odd angle from the existing line? What about the white room, where it's fairly low and far from the existing line off a tunnel with milky viz?

[FW]

Can anyone share where the name comes from?

It was discovered by Dale Sweet. The surprise was that it had been missed by other explorers, and who are you calling an old fart?

[Kelly Jessop]

It was discovered by Dale Sweet. The surprise was that it had been missed by other explorers, and who are you calling an old fart?

Everybody had passed that area many times,but consistently never noticed it. At one time it used to be solid black and very easy to miss,now the tale-tell signs of atttrition make it obvious. Sweet sink in the LB system is named after Dale,including Kitty (his wife).

[jj1987]

Everybody had passed that area many times,but consistently never noticed it. At one time it used to be solid black and very easy to miss,now the tale-tell signs of atttrition make it obvious. Sweet sink in the LB system is named after Dale,including Kitty (his wife).

Was mainland found at that point and not penetrated far enough to connect? I'm guessing the two weren't found at the same time since it's not called the "Sweet Surprise Circuit", plus that restriction looks a bit wallowed out over time?

Also were they swimming back there at this time, or was this all scooter exploration? Nitrox dives with o2 deco, or air? Just trying to get an idea in my head where these technology advances played in the cave exploration....

If anyone has early maps or history they could share, it'd be much appreciated. Other than discovering the keyhole, and the current stuff, I haven't heard a whole lot about Ginnie exploration.

[Capt Tim]

Figured the title would get some attention

My first dive to sweet surprise was an all out swim, so I didn't quite get to the "drop down". I had wondered what the sweet surprise was, and assumed that it was further into the tunnel. Today we swam to the first T, which I think is the mainland connection, and nothing really stood out as a "surprise".

I first dove Sweet Surprise in 1997 and shot video of the entire tunnel in 1998. I stuck the camera in that connection tunnel to Mainland, but, only got in a few feet and thought it did not go anywhere. Back then Sweet Surprise was all black walls and pristine. The lines were also moved a few times and are not quite what shows on the maps I have seen. Some divers I know started making that Sweet Surprise to Mainland circuit in the early 2000's. It was called the "Ninja Turtle Tunnel" back then due to a green Ninja Turtle statue that was placed in it. The statue was removed in 2004. I hear that connection tunnel referred to as the "Boogeyman Crawl" now. BTW, I was just back there 3 weeks ago exploring some of the side tunnels and the Boogeyman Crawl connection tunnel to Mainland is not a "T" unless someone has put a jump line between it and the Sweet Surprise line. The lines back there are pretty old and brown, sort of hard to see at times. I'll be there this week starting Friday for several days and have Sweet Surprise on my dive agenda.

[apitkin]

If anyone has early maps or history they could share, it'd be much appreciated. Other than discovering the keyhole, and the current stuff, I haven't heard a whole lot about Ginnie exploration.

There's quite a lot written about the early exploration in the older volumes of UWS, which you can buy on DVD. It may take you a while to find it though.

[aainslie]

Hey young fart - you're going to have to learn the difference between its and it's before filling out any grad school applications.

(Sludge... I'm doing your job again...)

[Slüdge]

(Sludge... I'm doing your job again...)

You're an hour late.

[jj1987]

Hey young fart - you're going to have to learn the difference between its and it's before filling out any grad school applications.

(Sludge... I'm doing your job again...)

1:25am in the morning after the superbowl...I have a valid excuse!

[aainslie]

You're an hour late.

huh - I must have had an old page loaded when I hit reply...