Americans 5, Canadians 4

So the plan was to do the Galaxy Dive at Ginnie. It would be my eighth consecutive year ringing in the New Year in an underwater cave (five at Ginnie, three at Jackson Blue).

But there was a snag - a bunch of folks planned to do it at Telford instead. So I posted that I would be there instead of at Ginnie. Then I got a PM that said a couple of folks were looking forward to doing it at Ginnie. So Ginnie it was.

Bob and Kim drove back up from Cocoa Beach, and Bob and I did a dive at the Devil System, mainly to pull the primary Forrest had run in the Eye so there wouldn't be a spiderweb all weekend (but few people got the word - there were spiderwebs all weekend). Then the three of us moved over to Ginnie after dark. For awhile it seemed it would just be the three of us.

Then Lorraine from Quebec came by, looking for three guys from Toronto. Then she went back to the Devil, hoping they were there.

Then Opal showed up, and then Allen. So we started preparing the bottles of glow juice for the dive. Before long, all four Canadians arrived. Did I mention it started raining around 9pm? First a sprinkle, then steady rain, then a downpour. Boy, was I glad I wasn't at Telford! No electricity, no restrooms, and more especially, no pavilion.

So we got in a few minutes to midnight. We had three bottles of twenty-four glow sticks' worth, red, orange and green. Everybody cut off their lights, and at 11:59:30 we let them loose. Hello, galaxy!

For most participants, it was their first time, and we all loved it. Three of them stayed in the cavern almost an hour. Make that the cave - there ARE no caverns at night!

It was still pouring when we got out. Kim had brought a HUGE bottle of Korbel champagne, but no glasses, so we all passed the bottle around like a bunch of winos.

From north of the border we had Lorraine from Quebec and three guys from Toronto (Opal's supposed to e-mail me their names). Representing the home team were Bob and Kim from Cocoa Beach, Opal from Gainesville, Allen from Miami, and me representing Georgia.

We got some pictures both underwater and topside, so I hope they get posted soon.

Next year, number nine!