Wakulla County cave diving 5/24-5/27
Prior to the NSS-CDS workshop, I was a little apprehensive about where to dive in the Wakulla area. Most of the caves/systems listed either required Trimix certification or there wasn't any information available.
Well, I'm really glad I went, and it was great to dive some "new" systems (well, new to me anyway)....
Saturday following the workshop, I went to Cave Connections, and arranged for a guided dive to Ferrell Sink. While only a little of 600' of penetration, the cave is comprised of spacious passages, and beautiful white rock with a number of exposed fossils. There was a bit of particulate in the water (limiting visibility to 30'-40')--mainly from our entry at the sink (the system is a very slight syphon). I took some video with my GoPro--but didn't use any video lighting as there was a substantial amount of back-scatter.
Not quite sure how to embed the video, so here's the link:
http://youtu.be/K-4JPMz77Go
Sunday, I made the trip to WSPSSP for the IUCRR class. Thank you to Lamar Hires, and Kenny and John (our "victims"). It was a great learning experience. Instead of diving again at Peacock, we drove back to Wakulla--and made an evening dive at Meeting House. Not being Trimix certified limited our dive to the "cavern zone"--which meant an 80' dive for almost 40 minutes just to circle the cavern...I definitely need to go check out the cave at/following my next training!
Monday, I went with Chris to dive at Harvey's Sink/Cave. As I couldn't find any information online, Mat (Superbugman) drew me a quick map of the system. As we arrived at the site, Forrest and Barbara were suiting up to start their dive. As Chris and I started our descent, the sink was very dark and very cold. Visibility was limited to only a few feet. As we dropped deeper into the blackness, we found the "downrope" and the primary line headed towards the cave. We followed the entrance line to the first Tee, and made a left (which I presume is the "downstream" side of the passage--and but the shallower side). During this point we passed Forrest and Barbara exiting, but could barely make out their lights in the poor viz. As we proceeded down the main line, we would pass through what I'm sure were haloclines--and major visibility changes (visibility in the system went from 5' to 30'). With the changes in viz, I kept close enough to see the gold line at all times--but still was able to see a lot of very beautiful and very pristine cave. No matter where we turned, or what the visibility--there was always plenty of life. I have never seen so many amphipods and crayfish in a cave! Some areas it looked as though you were swimming through snow flurries! I did take some video, and hopefully will be able to get some edited this weekend. We ended up taking another Tee to the left, but found that we were at 105', with the passage still descending (on 32%, and getting close to turn pressure)--so we decided to head back. As I had led the dive in, I was surrounded by the darkness--checking frequently for a glimpse of my buddy's light only 10' away--on the exit, I could move a little farther from the line--as it was illuminated by the glow of his light in the particulate. As we made our exit, we pulled our primary reel (as we decided to make only one dive if the viz was poor). During the ascent, I experienced a minor line entanglement (just a warning if it's your first dive at this site--there area a myriad of lines extending to the downrope in the sink). As my buddy held the primary, I was able to free myself from the lines without any damage, and then we continued our ascent with a brief safety stop. As we surfaced, we found Forrest and Barbara--waiting to see if we came back alright before they left. While it may have been a low viz dive--it left me wanting to see more.
I came to the Wakulla area not knowing what to expect. I found some phenomenal caves--all quite different than what I've been used to diving in the center of FL. The best thing was the people. Cave divers are great no matter where you go, and always glad to share a beautiful cave. I'm especially thankful to the folks at Cave Connections, Steve, Colin and Mandy were in early and stayed late to make sure tanks were filled and that we had a guide or the information needed to find a dive site or a buddy. I also enjoyed meeting Scott, Chris and John from Virginia--great diving with all of you guys.
On the trip home, I had my first opportunity to dive at Cow Springs. All I can say about Cow--I think I have a new favorite cave!
Welcome to the Cave Diver's Forum.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by TracyN
Bookmarks