Lafayette Blue dive - Novembe 20th

After working on the stairs at Martz on Saturday, I wanted to get in a dive before heading to the Keys.

I went in at Trap, as the water level was below the last step at Kitty and Trap was clear, while Kitty was covered with Duckweed.I I Tied into the mainline right past the T rather tying into the downline. The vis was 20-25' as I headed toward Kitty. Iurned the dive somewhere before Stevens sink. I saw Sweet sink, but no ambient light was coming in. On the way back I tied in and did a quick peak around kitty without breaking through the surface. Basin was clear but the weed cover was so thick minimal light was making it through.

I did a very short upstream swim before making my exit. This was my first real dive at Lafayette and I was surprised how big the passages were.

All in all a great day.

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/galle.../trap_sink.jpg

200' downstream from kitty is a spring tunnel. Great dive.

We caught it one day when the vis was 30ish feet. Went in the main spring and dove up through snake and green sink and upstream a pretty good ways. Honestly if that system were ginnie clear I would be up there every weekend.


It's a beautiful cave but the normal 5-10 foot vis makes it a very well hidden treasure. I think Green sink is probably the prettiest sink I've ever seen. If you can ever catch it when it's clear do not turn down the opportunity.

Thanks for posting the report. I've read about Lafayette but never even considered diving it because I hear it always has bad vis. Now I wanna go. Anything particular gave you the suspicion it's clear (aka cause Madison is good now, river levels, etc)?

I've seen that there's multiple sinks. Any tips for a first timer as to which sink to shoot for or where to go. No one I know has been in it either, probably because we've all always heard vis is 5 feet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rddvet

Thanks for posting the report. I've read about Lafayette but never even considered diving it because I hear it always has bad vis. Now I wanna go. Anything particular gave you the suspicion it's clear (aka cause Madison is good now, river levels, etc)?

I've seen that there's multiple sinks. Any tips for a first timer as to which sink to shoot for or where to go. No one I know has been in it either, probably because we've all always heard vis is 5 feet.

---

While working at Madison on the Martz steps, Kelly mentioned that the vis had been decent at Lafayette (not sure the basis) and as also mentioned that Trap was another good entry point. Somebody else suggested that marking the line with cloths pins would be a good idea due to inconsistent markings and frequent arrow change of directions. I did a recon walk late on Saturday to get my bearings. I went in at Kitty once during my cave class with TJ, but my buddy and I turned the dive before we hit the main passage based on sub 5'vis.

I did silt up the basin a bit getting in, so it took me a minute to find the entrance but nothing too complicated. As noted, I ran my line farther in the cave than I normally would as I didn't know what to expect. I also was very conservative with my gas, turning at 30 minutes vs getting close to 3rds. I did use multiple line markers as suggested.

I'll definitely go back soon if the vs stays at this level. One more note, Bill told me he gave permission for a guy to hunt deer (I saw some corn thrown down near Trap), so be careful out here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kidsdream

....Somebody else suggested that marking the line with cloths pins would be a good idea due to inconsistent markings and frequent arrow change of directions....

....One more note, Bill told me he gave permission for a guy to hunt deer (I saw some corn thrown down near Trap), so be careful out here.

---

Please don't touch any lines or markers, there is an active survey going on in there right now.

Also, the guy hunting out there typically goes on Wednesdays and Saturday mornings and lately has been posted up on a hunt stand in the clearing near trap. He's super friendly, and even offered to help carry gear, so as a courteousy be mindful of the noise levels which could scare away game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cmint

Honestly if that system were ginnie clear I would be up there every weekend.


.

---

The irony is that the Ginnie's, Peacock's, Little River's with clear water are the major minority of the cave systems. Since most people subscribe to anything less than "x" feet of visibility is not desirable, this leaves a huge number of cave systems never dove, or by a very few number of people. Ask Woody Jasper, he will tell you he has dove well over 100 systems in Florida, so you can imagine what is being missed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rddvet

. Anything particular gave you the suspicion it's clear (aka cause Madison is good now, river levels, etc)?

---

Dry, very dry. There are so many karst windows that visibility changes very quickly. This dryness has opened up some other systems and made them spectacular

Quote:

---

Any tips for a first timer as to which sink to shoot for or where to go. No one I know has been in it either, probably because we've all always heard vis is 5 feet.

---

Probably one of the most unique experiences is going through the head spring in the park. It will take you through two insurgences/resurgences which is something not seen anywhere else- take a few extra reels. Stay in the main conduit from there and you will pass multiple sink holes. If you can dive with the sun directly overhead, Stephens 1,2,and 3 will illuminate so you can see all three.

Warning- don't ridgewalk this time of year. A lot of deer hunters, and the bag limit of cave divers is two per day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kelly Jessop

Probably one of the most unique experiences is going through the head spring in the park. It will take you through two insurgences/resurgences which is something not seen anywhere else- take a few extra reels. Stay in the main conduit from there and you will pass multiple sink holes. If you can dive with the sun directly overhead, Stephens 1,2,and 3 will illuminate so you can see all three.

Warning- don't ridgewalk this time of year. A lot of deer hunters, and the bag limit of cave divers is two per day.

---

Extra reels to gap the sinks you mean?

I guess I don't fully understand what feature I would be encountering passing through two resurgences? My limited hydrology knowledge tells me that a resurgence is an opening in the karst from which the spring discharges. But if we're passing through one or two from the main spring vent does it appear similar to a sink hole?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rddvet

Extra reels to gap the sinks you mean?

I guess I don't fully understand what feature I would be encountering passing through two resurgences? My limited hydrology knowledge tells me that a resurgence is an opening in the karst from which the spring discharges. But if we're passing through one or two from the main spring vent does it appear similar to a sink hole?

---

You go in the head spring, and about 200ft underground, and then swim 100ft on the surface,then drop back into the cave-repeat this again before dropping the last time into Green sink. There is one other system that does this,but not as spectacular as Lafayette does.

My son and I went in from the Head Spring in Oct and there were 3 places the line was buried.
We ran gap reels to maintain a continuous line.

Bill