Vortex, beyond the grate

I dont know mark, if your scooter is ready for that kind of diving. I mean with all the adjustments that have been made from the first day of diving it can only mean you need to be in a much more challanging place.

Great meeting you and diving with you on all those dives. Hope you got it fixed, you were so close that it only takes minor adjustments to get it dialed in like you are sooooo close to doing. I say just give it to Roger for a few days and let him fix it to save you the time.

Good luck on the dive past the grate, it has been several years since I hve been in there so I am about the same. I do konw it does get to 160 not long after the grate but I betyou will be ready to get us a good report back after this dive.

SLIM

I have to be at Vortex this Saturday (4/26) with some Advanced Open Water Students. My plan is to show up early and get a cave dive in before they arrive. I'll look for you on the beach. I've got a white Nissan pickup pulling a black enclosed dive trailer.

Bil Lindstrom

Funny thing happened yesterday. At our annual inservice we were at the NAS Belle Chase, La. using the old runways for training our guys (Certs and recerts) in NAPD pursuit driving and TVI. I had the last new student for TVI (tactical vehicle intervention) and we were switching so he could drive. I walked..............no, almost ran, into the corner of the passenger front door and split my chin. I have four stitches that don't come out til next week. I guess I am gonna have to pass this weekend. I will make it over soon. Hopefully back to the millpond next month

Shouldn't you have just used super glue? That way you could dive this week...

Just put some super glue and some tegaderm to seal out the water, you be ok. Trust me, you trusted me on a dive so why not trust me on this one.

SLIM

I have never seen another cave with as many eels as Vortex, even more than Morrison springs..... and I've been diving since 1965. If anyone knows of another cave with this many eels please post.

This is reason enough to dive Vortex.

Richard
Tallahassee

The eel population has declined at Vortex over the years, I think. Anyone seen the cavern and cave floor so thick with them that you can't see the bottom? I've seen them like that twice in the last 10 years, but not in the last 5 or 7.

We have an eel in our local quarry. Just one. It's been there about 10 years now. Same species as the ones at Vortex. My understanding is that they are all hatched in the sargasso sea, swim to land where the females swim up-river as far as they can go, then return to the sargasso to breed. the males hang out in the saltwater, sometimes at the mouths of rivers, waiting for the females to return, then join them in the swim back to sargasso. Is this true?

-skip

skip - from what I've read, thats the way it goes.

Cypress also has a crapload of eels. I've seen Morrison quite covered as well.