Manatee: 9/16/08

[atedeschi]

Dove Manatee for the first time yesterday. As we entered the park we where greeted by 4-5 small deer grazing on the road. Our first dive was done at Catfish, the plan was to find the enterance, follow mainline and turn on thirds. Since neither my buddy and I have been here before we headed in and looked for the entrance. After quickly realizing upon entering we where getting sucked in to Manatee, we corrected are path and got headed in to the right direction. We swam upstream towards Friedman and made it 200' from Friedman sink. I don't know what the normal flow is but I think it was up cause it felt like a screaming flow. When we got to Sue's you had to pull and pull to make it past the bend. When we turned the dive just rode the flow all the way out, but exited at Catfish to do some lite deco. The vis about 20-30', dark and a lot of particular in the water. I was disappointed with our first dive, it seemed that I didn't see to much of the cave moslty line unless it wrapped or touched the wall. As I shined my light left and right most time I did not see much more then blackness. Decoing in the basin was fun, great vis, no flow and sunlight was shining through.

During are surface interval we changed over gear and went to find Friedman's from the surface. After a little driving and walking through the woods we found it, with not to much of an issue. The surface water was muddy and you couldn't tell where the enterance was.

For our second dive, we left from Catfish, and where going to stage a bottle, make it to Friedman's and then checkout some of the jumps on the way back. We fought the flow for the second time and made it to Friedman's surfaced for 10mins and then headed back to Catfish, checking out a jump about 400' from Friedman and another one closer to Sue's but not sure the distance it was the one with the plastic PVC T. After returning to the mainline we drifted out and decoed out in Catfish. I don't believe anything changed with the conditions but I enjoyed this dive much more then my first.

Had a couple of questions though:
1) We wanted to drift out to Manatee but did not see a line. Is there one or do you just flow out? If so is it a large or small opening at Manatee?

2) Is the Sewer the jump about 400' from Friedman's? and what ever that jump is there was a very thin line and it was covered with alge and after 10' or so the line was wrapped around a rock and then disappeared. Is there a line there, that continues?

3) What is the jump called that has the PVC T in the sand area. Once on the jumpline, it starts to narrow, does it open up again, is it backmountable?

4) If you want to enter at Friedman's, swim upstream and exit at Catfish or Manatee, what are your suggestions if you have one car and parking etc.

[stairman]

Sorry I can only answer that there is a line to Manatee,and it is a relaxing drift dive 400 ft or so.The opening is plenty big,I would exit one at a time with your wing empty.

[atedeschi]

where is it located from the two signs that are there?

[Serota]

I am almost certain (someone correct me if this is wrong) that the line connecting catfish to the main spring was near the sign. I've always been leary of exiting that way because it is a blind traverse. Also, it is important to get very negative and find a way to slow down as you near the exit to avoid a too rapid ascent.

[atedeschi]

there are 3 signs
one in CH and 2 in in Manatee side by side

[Walter Pickel]

Had a couple of questions though:
1) We wanted to drift out to Manatee but did not see a line. Is there one or do you just flow out? If so is it a large or small opening at Manatee?

2) Is the Sewer the jump about 400' from Friedman's? and what ever that jump is there was a very thin line and it was covered with alge and after 10' or so the line was wrapped around a rock and then disappeared. Is there a line there, that continues?

3) What is the jump called that has the PVC T in the sand area. Once on the jumpline, it starts to narrow, does it open up again, is it backmountable?

4) If you want to enter at Friedman's, swim upstream and exit at Catfish or Manatee, what are your suggestions if you have one car and parking etc.

1) Yes there is a line beyond the sign. It ends at a piece of rebar where you can see the exit.
2) Sewer Tunnel is a couple of hundred feet downstream from Friedman's
3) Rabbit Hole...It exits into the basin at catfish
4) Stage vehicles

Please make a conditions report - http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...D=58&region=FL

[atedeschi]

are both those jumps, diveable with backmount? also where can i get an up to date map?

[Walter Pickel]

are both those jumps, diveable with backmount? also where can i get an up to date map?

The Rabbit Hole jump is sidemount only. The Sewer tunnel is backmount but if you try the Friedman bypass you are going to probably want sidemount (it will get messy).

As far as a map is concenred, there are a few (System Map is probably the best) on my site under the resources tab. Currently, Mike Poucher (www.cavesurvey.com) is working on re-surveying Manatee.

[Corbett]

The Rabbit hole is easily back mountable.That's what my buddy and I used a few months
ago when we relined it. ( and I'm 6'5" 250.) I would go upstream, because it will zero
viz. using it as an exit.

[mpoucher]

The rabbit hole, as its being called, starts maybe 50 feet past the start of the goldline going upstream from Catfish, on the right and goes back up to the basin. If you go to the far side of the sink from the steps, there is a small entrance there. I remember it as a sidemount entrance, but it may be possible to squeeze through on backmount.

The Sewer tunnel is 203' from Friedman. If you saw a line that ended tied around a small rock and the tunnel was about 3 feet in diameter, you were close. The sewer tunnel is to the right(upstream) about 20 feet away. Its on the ceiling next to the left wall.

I am re-mapping the cave and hope to have a map ready in November that will incluse the first 3000 to 4000 feet of cave from Friedmans.