Manatee Spring

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09-01-2007 07:06 PM
Bill Rotella

Manatee Spring

Can anybody give me an update on the conditions at Manatee Spring?

Thanks,

Bill
09-01-2007 07:32 PM
contender

Manatee Springs

I was there last Sunday, vis was about 40' more or less, mainly less upstream. Downstream to Manatee was ok, flow seemed to be down some. There was one team in before us but that was it. Obviously one of them was tougher than I because they were wearing a shorty. Overall conditions were ok.
09-02-2007 01:25 AM
jeandiver

Re: Manatee Springs

Quote:

Originally Posted by contender

I was there last Sunday, vis was about 40' more or less, mainly less upstream. Downstream to Manatee was ok, flow seemed to be down some. There was one team in before us but that was it. Obviously one of them was tougher than I because they were wearing a shorty. Overall conditions were ok.

Er , Diver wearing a shorty was me. :-D
We were able to swim from Catfish to Friedman's. That should tell you how down the flow is there.
(No stage and 85's)

Jeano Beano
09-02-2007 02:02 PM
sdenney

Was there the same time as Jean. Richard Dreher and I scootered upstream of Friedman's approx. 4000' and then drifted back to Catfish, completed our deco and then exited via the head spring. The vis clears up considerably past the Milk Tunnel (upstream of Friedman's about 1500 ft.)

Just curious, but does anyone know how far upstream the monitoring station is? How about the old "Prevent Your Death" sign holding the line to the floor?
09-02-2007 05:22 PM
Alan Owens

Broken well casing and monitoring station (if that is what you are talking about) is a fair piece in there. Only saw it once.
09-03-2007 04:13 PM
sdenney

That's the one. It has a bunch of metal rods coming out of it and a large metal pipe stick down from the ceiling. We scootered approx. 35 minutes up (which we estimate to be about 4000 feet) from Friedmans. As there don't appear to be any distance markers, I just wanted to ask if anyone knows the distances.
09-03-2007 07:20 PM
jdsffa

manatee

We went there today the vis was normal 40 to 50 ft very little water in freidmans right now but lots of spiders on the way there Gene and I went up aabout 500 ft from Freidmans then turned because of time. aka out by 5 rule. good dive though
05-02-2008 02:59 PM
saturation

Hello All:

I know this is an old thread, but the question I have is relevant to the discussion here.

How far upstream in the Manatee Springs Cave System is the well casing? In a push-for-distance dive on scooters we completed last week, we made it from Catfish to past the well casing [ passing several Larry Green arrows and signs] to a red-orange arrow that marks 3000' from Friedmans. Near the bend in the cave before the casing, I saw a silt covered line arrow that looked like it had engraved '24' on it, which didn't make much sense.

I am not sure of the distances, can any one clarify? Is this arrow really at 3000'? How far is the well casing from Friedmans?

We were trying to find the 'Blue Water' Tunnel, can any clarify its location from this casing?

I am using this casing just as point of reference for when we try again.

Many thanks!
05-02-2008 03:43 PM
kensuf

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturation

Hello All:

I know this is an old thread, but the question I have is relevant to the discussion here.

How far upstream in the Manatee Springs Cave System is the well casing? In a push-for-distance dive on scooters we completed last week, we made it from Catfish to past the well casing [ passing several Larry Green arrows and signs] to a red-orange arrow that marks 3000' from Friedmans. Near the bend in the cave before the casing, I saw a silt covered line arrow that looked like it had engraved '24' on it, which didn't make much sense.

I am not sure of the distances, can any one clarify? Is this arrow really at 3000'? How far is the well casing from Friedmans?

We were trying to find the 'Blue Water' Tunnel, can any clarify its location from this casing?

I am using this casing just as point of reference for when we try again.

Many thanks!

Well casing??

Well casing??

Damn, it has been a long time since I've been in Manatee..

At any rate, the blue water tunnel is on the left heading into the cave, approximately 1800' past Friedmans. You really can't miss it because if you're riding along the left side of the cave you'll suddenly hit clear water.

There's some neat stuff in there. The ceiling has some really beautiful fossils and other formations, plus there's one or two warm-water vents in there which will give you a little bit of a thermocline.

BTW -- the blue water tunnel is not appropriate for scootering. Drop your scooters and swim it.
05-02-2008 06:00 PM
saturation

Quote:

Originally Posted by kensuf

Well casing??

Well casing??

Damn, it has been a long time since I've been in Manatee..

At any rate, the blue water tunnel is on the left heading into the cave, approximately 1800' past Friedmans. You really can't miss it because if you're riding along the left side of the cave you'll suddenly hit clear water.

There's some neat stuff in there. The ceiling has some really beautiful fossils and other formations, plus there's one or two warm-water vents in there which will give you a little bit of a thermocline.

BTW -- the blue water tunnel is not appropriate for scootering. Drop your scooters and swim it.

Thanks so much for that, kensuf. That helps a lot. Could not find much about the Blue Water tunnel's location. Yes, given what little we heard of Blue Water and a few other side passages from mainline, we were [ and did for one side tunnel trip] 100% going to swim it, so much the better to take in the details.

The well casing is possibly one of the 'water sampling' wells that one sees on the hiking trail.
05-03-2008 06:47 AM
kensuf

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturation

Thanks so much for that, kensuf. That helps a lot. Could not find much about the Blue Water tunnel's location. Yes, given what little we heard of Blue Water and a few other side passages from mainline, we were [ and did for one side tunnel trip] 100% going to swim it, so much the better to take in the details.

The well casing is possibly one of the 'water sampling' wells that one sees on the hiking trail.

OK.. A few more specifics, and bear with me, it's been like 10 years since I've been there..

The blue water tunnel is right after the main tunnel jogs to the left, then to the right. Basically, the main passage will shift to the left a little bit but still head the same direction. The blue water tunnel entrance will be on the bottom left side of the cave.

There are some jumps you can scooter back in with no problems. The siphon tunnel and spring tunnel (both past 6000' from Friedmans) are easily scooter territory. There's also a tunnel right after Catfish on the right which goes back about 5000' before you hit some side-mount passage which eventually ties into the siphon tunnel.

I've got some maps of Manatee somewhere (or I did at least). I'll see if I can dig them up and scan them in, but it may be a few weeks because honestly I have no idea where they may be..

Manatee's a great cave, I used to have a lot of fun diving that place.
05-04-2008 10:13 AM
saturation

Quote:

Originally Posted by kensuf

OK.. A few more specifics, and bear with me, it's been like 10 years since I've been there..

The blue water tunnel is right after the main tunnel jogs to the left, then to the right. Basically, the main passage will shift to the left a little bit but still head the same direction. The blue water tunnel entrance will be on the bottom left side of the cave.

There are some jumps you can scooter back in with no problems. The siphon tunnel and spring tunnel (both past 6000' from Friedmans) are easily scooter territory. There's also a tunnel right after Catfish on the right which goes back about 5000' before you hit some side-mount passage which eventually ties into the siphon tunnel.

I've got some maps of Manatee somewhere (or I did at least). I'll see if I can dig them up and scan them in, but it may be a few weeks because honestly I have no idea where they may be..

Manatee's a great cave, I used to have a lot of fun diving that place.

Thanks! Why do you think folks don't dive it as much, at least to the further parts, far back?

Would love to see the maps.

The one's I have are from the net, and they are basically these:

http://www.floridacaves.com/manateestickmap.JPG

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...e_overview.jpg

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...atee_map_1.jpg

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...ee_profile.jpg
05-04-2008 04:37 PM
kensuf

The stick map's the most complete one I have. I know there was some more exploration done in the spring tunnel over the last several years, but I'm not sure if anyone else has ever plotted that data onto a map or not.

Unfortunately, I can't answer your question about the motivation of others.. The only guess I have is that manatee can be challenging because of the flow and poor vis. But if you catch it when the flow is down, it's one of the most beautiful caves.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saturation

Thanks! Why do you think folks don't dive it as much, at least to the further parts, far back?

Would love to see the maps.

The one's I have are from the net, and they are basically these:

http://www.floridacaves.com/manateestickmap.JPG

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...e_overview.jpg

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...atee_map_1.jpg

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...ee_profile.jpg
05-04-2008 05:28 PM
apitkin

Manatee is currently being resurveyed. I would say watch this space, but it could be a while until it's complete. It's a big job.

I can only agree that it is an amazing system with many interesting features. When the other caves are flooded it can be spectacular, as it was in early March.
05-07-2008 10:21 AM
saturation

Quote:

Originally Posted by apitkin

Manatee is currently being resurveyed. I would say watch this space, but it could be a while until it's complete. It's a big job.

I can only agree that it is an amazing system with many interesting features. When the other caves are flooded it can be spectacular, as it was in early March.

Looking forward to news. I like Manatee. Its more work getting scooters and stages to and from Catfish, and soon we'll try Friedman's for more distance, but its a good scooter cave, since its so big. The high flow is a good safety factor for scooter failure and a swim out exit.

Reading on its exploration history it seems the GUE folks did many pre-WKPP style dives here and had a good write up of the cave on their website.