Peacock Line Arrows

[LakeCityDiver]

I believe a few of the jumps had the arrows removed intentionally. I believe Nicholson and Waterhole. I don't think those are going back. There's a facebook post with all of the changes you may be able to track down.

I was bugged about the waterhole markers a lot. It is my favorite part of this cave. The way it was done is almost like trying to hide that passage. I think more damage will come by people trying to find it. Thankfully I was able to learn where it is years ago with the help of the markers.

[rddvet]

I was bugged about the waterhole markers a lot. It is my favorite part of this cave. The way it was done is almost like trying to hide that passage. I think more damage will come by people trying to find it. Thankfully I was able to learn where it is years ago with the help of the markers.

That one doesn't bug me so much since it will keep alot of people out of there. I don't know if they cut the jump back or not, but it's a pretty easy one to spot without markers. It's one of my favorites too

[rjack]

I was bugged about the waterhole markers a lot. It is my favorite part of this cave. The way it was done is almost like trying to hide that passage. I think more damage will come by people trying to find it. Thankfully I was able to learn where it is years ago with the help of the markers.

I read the FB post about these changes but forget now.

What was the reason for cutting back and unmarking the waterhole line?

[kensuf]

Here's the full report, minus the images.

North Florida Line Group – Proposal of changes, Spring 2019


Background
In November 2018, NFSA interim President Kelly Jessop and NSS-CDS Training Director Jon Bernot asked for the formation of a group to discuss current marking standards, line placement and navigation in several cave systems within the High Springs / Ft. White / Lake City area. The idea behind the request was for the group to evaluate the existing practices and determine whether they were appropriate or not, with the objectives of improving safety and conservation. This report contains their recommendations.


Group Membership
Cave divers tend to be an opinionated group and any discussion about changing line markings, placement, and navigational decisions is bound to stir an emotional response from many people in the cave diving community. In order to proceed within any reasonable time-frame it was decided that the group had to be small enough that schedules could be managed, but to serve the best interests of the community at large, the composition of the group needed diversity. It was decided that it would be important to bring in one instructor from each of the main cave diving training agencies represented in the North Florida area of discussion (GUE, IANTD, NSS-CDS, TDI), but the group also wanted involvement from divers with experience in a variety of cave systems around the world.

The members of the group are Jon Bernot, Pete Butt, Rick Crawford, Kirill Egorov, Lamar Hires, Max Kuznetsov, Ken Sallot, Randy Thornton


Principles
During our first meeting, the group agreed to a series of principles and rules which were used for forming our recommendations. Those principles are:

• Gold line has an established safety record and should be used in main trunk passages that lead to an exit. White line should be reserved for side passages.
• Tee’s may be used to aid navigation and reduce inadvertent damage caused from installing jumps.
o While it is acceptable for gold line to be Tee’d, such as is the case in Little River at the Serpentine and Merry-Go-Round split, white line should never be Tee’d into gold line. Tee’s should be limited to gold line to gold line or white line to white line.
• Directional arrows should always point to the nearest exit (“air”), as measured in linear distance, on the current line.
• Jumps to passages with sensitive areas should be left unmarked.
• Jumps to commonly traveled areas should be marked with two arrows pointing to the nearest exit.

Systems Discussed
The group discussed Devil’s Ear/Eye, Little River, Madison Blue Springs, and Peacock Springs.


Recommendations – Devil’s Ear/Eye

The group recommends the following changes to the lines in Devil’s Ear/Devil’s Eye:

1. Extend the start of the permanent gold line from 50’ to the back of the Devil’s Eye Cavern at 30’. This will eliminate the need for multiple teams to run a reel through the chute, reducing erosion and wear while minimizing entanglement hazards.
2. T the lines in the expressway tunnel.

The changes proposed are reflected in the following map:




Recommendations – Little River

The group reviewed the current line placement in Little River and has no recommended changes at this time.


Recommendations – Madison Blue

The group recommends the following change to the line placement in Madison Blue:

1. T’ing the Godzilla Room Circuit

The changes are reflected in the following map:



Recommendations – Peacock Springs

The group recommends the following changes to the lines in Peacock Springs:

1. T the Peanut Line into the Olsen / Challenge line. The Peanut to Olsen continuous line will be measured with arrows changing direction at the midway point.
2. To reduce diver traffic, cut back the Crossover Tunnel jump and leave it unmarked except with a distance arrow. All arrows on the Crossover Tunnel should point to Olsen.
3. To reduce diver traffic, remove the jump indicator markings for the Waterhole tunnel. The Waterhole tunnel will be measured with arrows changing direction at the midway point.
4. To reduce diver traffic, the Nicholson tunnel jump will be left unmarked, except with a distance arrow.
5. To reduce diver traffic, the Cisteen tunnel jump will be left unmarked, except with a distance arrow.
6. The Cisteen tunnel will be measured and the arrows reversed at the midway point.
7. To minimize diver impact, the Nicholson and Cisteen intersection will be T’ed together.
8. To minimize diver impact, both sides of the Wishbone tunnel will be T’ed into the Cisteen line.
9. To minimize diver impact, the Distance tunnel jump will be left unmarked, except with a distance arrow.

[MORGAN]

I agree with all but #8. T-ing in the Wishbone line will likely cause more diver traffic and impact, not less.

[Diverlee]

I agree with all but #8. T-ing in the Wishbone line will likely cause more diver traffic and impact, not less.

Think everyone I have talked to agrees on this. Sad.


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[rddvet]

Think everyone I have talked to agrees on this. Sad.


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Here too. I respect the job the nfsa does so dont want to complain. I think they give more to the springs than most other organizations. Maybe they will either reconsider or will at least have a discussion on it. I think that one change is a not great one. The rest are fine. I think people putting in jumps can mess the area up. 500 people going down there this year because its a new t will do much more harm.


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[limeyfish]

There are still double line arrows marking the Nicholson and Cisteen jumps on on the Olson line.

[oceancurrent]

OK, this is nice, but I don't get the "reduce traffic" logic in cutting back all jumps and jump markers in Peacock for practically all major passages. Anyone who wants to visit these based on the published maps will not be deterred by lack of markers etc - a little bit of planned search effort is all it takes. What I see is that this would result in more unnecessary work and potential confusion for all. I hope someone can explain these recommendations in a way that would make sense.


Other than this, the rest of the recommendations are all right.

[kensuf]

I'll be the blunt jerk here. The consensus of many was if you need a neon sign telling you where the tunnel is because you lack the familiarity with the cave to find it on your own, and you're not with someone who has been there before, maybe you shouldn't be going there.