Old Timer's stories

[normblitch]

Old timer's gear -

belly bags anyone?

Wasn't it called a Raliegh or Bayliegh or something like that?

By the time we duct taped the neck of a horsecollar down, that was PRETTY much what we had...I managed to score a good-condition SeaQuest Rough Water h-collar last year on eBay...probably keep it stock...

Ever sew D-rings with dental floss, and a sailmaker's needle and palm??

or ever pour lead into the top of a hard-plastic backplate?

Norm

Norm, it was a Brawley pillow. Developed by Ed Brawley. Seatec was the last ones to sell any of them, then they were all custom made. The duct tape didn't work, Norm. We had to use zip ties.

The shot of me in the Ballroom disproves that...it WAS restricted with duct tape...I'd have been afraid of the wire-ties cutting into what passed for a bladder back then...<g>

nhb

[normblitch]

When I took my cavern class, my instructor introduced us to some of the old timers at dinner in Lake City - the night ended in what was very close to a gunfight (nobody fired, but there were guns being pointed in the parking lot). Those were some crazy dudes! I'd love to hear their stories.

AFAIR, there was an affectation for large and viscious dogs in the truck/van as well....<g>

Norm

[Jim Wyatt]

Still, pretty boring back in there.

FW is right on...there is not a lot to see back in there.....lotta clay silt & tight passages.

[lonestarfl]

When the rivers drops, this old dinosaur diver has access to the Green Sink system if you want to go there.
Lee

[normblitch]

When the rivers drops, this old dinosaur diver has access to the Green Sink system if you want to go there.
Lee

Lee, are you talkin' upstream from Green and the Green to Snake Siphon?

I am SO in...

Norm

[lonestarfl]

When the rivers drops, this old dinosaur diver has access to the Green Sink system if you want to go there.
Lee

Lee, are you talkin' upstream from Green and the Green to Snake Siphon?

I am SO in...

Norm

I have access to some of the upstream sinks and a traverse to Snake and Green can easily be accomplished.
I remember when Little River was a "sneak" dive and nothing in Tallahassee was except Wakulla and Uno. I remember when Madison was free 24/7 and I shared the basin with locals washing their hair. Peacock was a quagmire of dirt trails frequented by squatters as much as cavers.
I started cave diving in the late 1970's with steel 104's, a custom made "Bob Duncan" light with a 7.2v wet Nicad battery pack as big as a stage bottle over-driving a 6v 100w sealed beam. Two chrome/brass Conshelf 14's, wet suit, jacket BC and Jet Fins.
I remember sitting at NACD board meetings with Steve Gerrard, Milledge Murphy, Dayton Saltsman, and Parker Turner...I miss Parker still.
Lee

[DKKearns]

In the late '60s we used clorox bottles for buoyancy compensation. We'd cut off the top, tie a rope to the handle and to the first stage/tank block, run it under our arm, and blow in or release air as needed. I dove Cherokee Sink near Tallahassee one night using my newly acquired light (handmade with a 30 watt sealed beam bulb, a 12 volt motorcycle battery, and plexiglass glued around the battery for strength) and a plastic 5 gallon jerry can instead of my 1 quart clorox bottle. It is amazing at how quickly one can unintentionally ascend when he loses control of his jerry can. I imagine the depth gauge that slipped off my wrist is still in the bottom silt somewhere.

I graduated from the clorox bottle to a safety vest (the kind you blow into to fill) and learned another important diving lesson while in the middle of the sulfide layer in Hospital Hole--don't take your regulator out of your mouth while in the middle of a layer of sulfide. The need for buoyancy control is not worth the taste.

[JE]

I recall a fellow by the name of Mr. Wray & one of his employees, following my brother, his buddy, & myself over to the Orange grove to see what we were up to that first winter day, about a millenium ago. I won't tell you what year that was, but I remember vivedly of the two of them following us around from dive site to dive site, just to see what we were doing-! Oh, & by the way, my brother & his buddy had recently been CDS certified by S. Exley, so I evidently was in good hands, right-! Intersesting, that my brother doesn't dive any longer, but here I is-! Like the rabbit that keeps on going-! and going....& going-!

[Cindy]

Great stories guys! We are really fortunate to be in a sport where most of the founders are still around. I'm hoping we can get most of the history recorded before we lose it forever. I'll be getting back soon on how it can be handled. In the meantime I may come up with one or more of my own. Now an old time cave diver but stories of original exploration of a cave system or two. We need to not only document our past but continue to record what is happening now so the divers in the future will have access to all this information. Cindy Butler

[Jason B.]

This is great! I enjoyed reading all these little snips of time. A full book woul be excellent. I'm sure everyone in the sport would agree.

Jason