Does anyone know when Madison will open for the season on weekdays?
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Madison Blue
Does anyone know when Madison will open for the season on weekdays?
Good question. The operators had an employee working there for a while and allowed you to cave dive if you came with at least (4) cave divers. Their employee has quit and right now we are in Purgatory! I imagine you could try coordinating (4) divers and calling the operators to see if they will unlock the gates. Also maybe we should all plead for an "iron ranger" honor system.
Re: Madison Blue
They will open any weekday if your group is large enough... but give them a call and let us know when they plan to man the gate. The management's link: http://www.aca1.com/ (scroll down to the bottom of the page)Originally Posted by jpdiver
Just as a warning... we tried to dive at Madison Blue twice a month or two ago, both times on a weekend, when they are scheduled to be open from 10-6. We have vowed never to go back.
The first weekend, their employee simply decided not to show up, so we were totally out of luck and had wasted several hours of our day. When we called and complained, the manager said the employee had to go to Jacksonville and he didn't have anyone else to open the gate. We were standing outside the locked gate next to a caravan of 20 or so canoers at the time, all of whom were quite upset. Note that we had called several times during the week to confirm that they would be open and to let them know we'd be coming.
The second weekend, since Madison doesn't open until 10, we decided to do a dive at Ginnie first, then drive to Madison Blue -- their employee decided to leave at noon. He had locked the gates and was preparing to leave as we drove up. He told us we were out of luck because he had already arranged to have someone pick him up. We called the manager and complained again, and were told their (unwritten, uncommunicated) policy was that if nobody has shown up by noon, they close the park.
So make sure they know that you're coming and make absolutely sure someone will be there before you drive all the way, just to find out nobody is there. I would love to dive Madison but we're not going to attempt it again until something has dramatically changed.
thats why they make bolt cutters
(All give some, Some give ALL . Semper Fi) Safe Diving (JAMMER)
The solution to this may be found in agitation to get the concessionare's contract revoked by the state. If there were policies set as part of it being turned over to them, and they're not being met, then that's a possible outcome if enough noise is made.
The parks are public resources and we should not sit still for abuses similar to these.
Wouldn't it better to have the people who worked very hard to get cave diving access to negotiate with these people. Having somebody's contract revoked would result in a prolonged period until they found somebody suitable to run the park,which would mean no access. Then the next group managing the park may not be amenable to cave diving at all. Just my $.02 worth.
That depends.Wouldn't it better to have the people who worked very hard to get cave diving access to negotiate with these people. Having somebody's contract revoked would result in a prolonged period until they found somebody suitable to run the park,which would mean no access. Then the next group managing the park may not be amenable to cave diving at all. Just my $.02 worth.
Is there not a river run from which access can be gained?
This setup was botched - badly - when the current contract was let, and we all (myself including, since I'm an interested cavediver!) were not "on the ball" when this was put together.
Now we know better.
The "group managing the park" problem is one that we, as divers, need to address as a group for all state park lands where there are diveable caves - not on a piece-parts basis.
This is public land, paid for and maintained with our tax dollars - we have a right to insist that it be done so in a rational and fair manner.
I must say my experience at Madison last weekend was very different. After a morning dive at PSSP we plan on diving Telford that afternoon. Considering the nice weather and high likely hood of the locals coming out in full force we changed our plans and thought we would give Madison a try. We called before driving up and found that the park had all ready closed though the guy at the ACA said he would see if he could get in touch with the guy that worked at Madison; he wanted me to call him back in a few minutes.
I called back in about 10 minutes; he had not had not heard from the park guy yet. He asked for my phone number and said he would call me. At this point we were planning to do a 2nd dive at PSSP. In about 15-20 minutes my phone rang and it was the guy at ACA; he said he had gotten in touch with the Madison park guy and he was on the way back. I told him it would be 45-60 minutes before we could get there; he said no problem.
When we arrived at Madison the park was open and we dove after paying up (about $21.50 each). The park guy told us he would be gone before we completed our dive and left instructions on how to get out. (Note: there were only 3 in our group, this was communicated during the 1st phone call and seemed to be not problem.)
Mark
As an answer to the remark about bolt cutters that is what they make Jails for. The State has plans for the Park and even though things are not perfect they are better than they were. They cannot just put an iron ranger there without someone to man the park. Runnig off the existing contractor will only close it completely. Due to this years weather there have been so few divers there that it's hard to justify paying someone to just sit and wait. Give it time and when all the long term plans kick in it will be easier to get in because there will be a full time staff there.
Keep everything on a positive note because threats only hurt us and positive actions like what Kelly and crew have done at Peacock is what gets their attention.
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