Met up with a buddy and dove JB Sunday. Our plan was to use a stage to help us get up to 3,500 ft. Before the dive, we did towing drills in the basin. We found that having a stage on the same side and towing caused us to roll to one side. So the buddy had the idea to switch handles from the one he normally used, when towing a diver with a stage. It planed us right out.

After the drill, we dropped O2 and headed into the cave breathing a stage bottle. I was feeling even more comfortable on my scooter this time. We dropped stage bottles around 1,300 ft and continued on backgas. We hit 3,500 ft marker at about 35 minutes run time.

As we penetrated, I realized I was gaining ground on my buddy who was in the lead. We started the dive out at the same pitch. So I ended up dialing down the pitch to match his speed by 3. I may have a tekna, but that SOB's got some speed.

On the way back, at about 3,000 ft, my primary light blew. Man, it gets dark back there in them there caves without a light. I switched to my backup light and continued scootering out. BIG difference in light between a primary and a backup. Of course, my buddy's light was a great help.

Anyway . . . We picked our stages back up and continued. We made it almost back to the cavern and had a backup light failure (or so I thought). So I switched to yet another backup light.

OK, let me make a confession. I had made a tow cord that week at home. This was the first dive I tried it out. It was slightly too long. So I double wrapped it around the handles to get a good length. Well, I learned a lesson. When you stop, you better make sure that cord stays on the top part of the handle. If not, it can slip off and hit the trigger. That happened to me. Not a big deal . . I was able to pull it off in 1 second. But I did learn what CAN happen. I'll have it shortened before my next dive, I assure you. PS - the backup light failure and scooter cutting on happened at the same time.

The tweaking I did this week trying to make the scooter absolutely neutral in the water was only marginally successful. I added cut wetsuit over the body of the scooter, in addition to what was already there. I also cut strips and superglued them in the grooves around the outside of the shroud. To no avail. That dang thing is still negative, even at the surface. I've no other ideas, but in any case, the scooter is manageable to dive. It's just a slight bit negative when you stop.

We were back in the cavern around 67 minutes. Did our 5 minutes of deco and was done.

It was really a great dive. I was relaxed and had lots of fun. I think a few more dives on the scooter and I'll be "right at home" with it. Just from reading/writing this, it sounds like a lot when wrong. But in reality, it was no big deal. From practical experience I learned a few more things about scootering quite quickly.

I found out too, the high pressure seat in my primary reg is beginning to weaken. Now I've got to send it off to get serviced.