Own your own cave for $1,000

[Sludge]

A lot better than near the coast, but they still get hammered.

Columbus, Georgia is almost 200 miles from the coast but we still got "tore up" by Hurricane Opal in 1995.

[Marc Bryan]

I will wait until this is all done and ask one of the owners to allow/take me in.....all the benefits, no liability. Friends with benefits are nice...

I'm in if we can put a ban on "Free Loading Freddie"!

[NorthWoodsDiver]

That other piece of land must not be for sale, the links in the post dont work and I cant find a single listing for 8 acres for $89K in the area.

How do you plan to contend with other divers, IE non share holders. keeping the property closed to the public would be nice but allowing share holders and their "friends" & family would seem appropriate. otherwise if you want it open to the public why not encourage the local park service or NACD/NSS-CDS to buy it?

I dunno, there seems to be several options and with 2-80 people controlling things it could get ugly.

I do like the idea of a bunk house but thats brings up even more issues. just having a few benches and some tables and a couple fire pits would make sense to me.

[icestac]

How do you plan to contend with other divers, IE non share holders.

Like MengTze said, "Friends with Benefits". "Put out or get out" comes to mind. No, in all seriousness, the main goal would be to preserve access -- primarily to those who are shareholders. It would get way too complicated to try to greatly control access (aside from a basic chain and combination lock type system). I'd guess 'guests' would just be required to sign a waiver and it would be the permitting shareholder's responsibility to make sure that they do.

~Jeff

[DogDiver]

Hey, how about we get somone to ordaine one of the members and we call it a church...No taxes.... We don't bother with insurance....if there are no deep pockets to pay a shyster lawyer...then we won't get sued...lol just some food for thought....but incorporating it as a non profit or church would get around the property tax issue...Ken

[FW]

And the "church" would have a heck of a big baptismal

[NorthWoodsDiver]

here is a reply to a message I sent to the reality place in charge of this:

This sink is 2 miles from the Hornsby spring system which goes into an
under
ground river. There is a chance that there is a connection into the
Hornsby system from the sink. It has a depth of about 130 ft. It is 2
miles from town. And it is about 15 miles from Ginnie Springs. The
cave has not been really explored. There have been a few divers who
have done a bit of exploring but no-one has ever done a real
exploration of this sink. John has not been able to thoroughly
explore the sink due to other commitments. John said that it is
approximately 40 to 60 ft wide and 700 ft long with a lot of potential
side leads. The property is 2 mls. from interstate 75 on one side and
441, which is a major rode that runs the length of FL. on the other
side. The town of High Springs is 2 mls from the property. It is in a
beautiful rural setting and is zoned agricultural. This means you can
build homes in the area but no business.

[icestac]

And the "church" would have a heck of a big baptismal

Amen.

[OutlawCaver]

a) Have a board of directors (BOD) elected by popular annual vote.
b) Vistors and/or guests DONATE to dive the site.
c) Single share per indiviual owner, or multiple share holders hold a
single vote
d) Shares can be sold, given or willed to others
e) Deed restrictions, such as,
1) no member is allowed to live on the property
2) no training
3) no hunting, trapping, motocross, etc.
4) No erection of personal structures
5) No storage of personal equipment, to include boats,
trailers, DPVs, dive gear, etc. unless staying in bunk house
f) No personal sales of maps, surveys, photos or videos of cave
g) Virgin passage is 1st come, 1st explored, no "holding the end of
line"
h) Safety & training requirement modifications should exploration
dictate SM, trimix, DPVs, rebreathers, etc.
i) Line management coordinator
j) If you lay line you survey what you lay and submit to coordinator
You can name your explored areas provided survey data is
submitted
k) A host of others items can be added

[Cindy]

I know where this sink is and what it's like. It's not a good vis dive and is not going anyplace. If Woody Jasper can't push it to the river I doubt any one else can. He told me he did not like the cave in there by the way. The owner wanted quite a bit for it at one time. Over $200,000. He must have split the house off. He has another sink across the road. It's right on the boarder of North High Springs and in a pretty built up area. It's not a nice private wooded spot. For one thing the taxes in Alachua County are very high. You can form a Not-for-profit cave organization but that costs and would have to be figured into the dues. I have no idea of insurance liability. I know the more you build on it the more money you will end up paying. If you charge to use the cave you will have to have insurance or every investor will be liable if someone sues.

Just my own personal feeling on this: Save your money and buy a sink on a nice going cave system. There are a couple on the Old Bellamy system, the Cathedral system, one or two on the Line-eater system, one on the Luraville system, etc. that are in pretty wooded areas. I know a few more. Shoot my boyfriend has a nice one that very few people use.

I would invest in a well thought out and well researched cave. I do that yearly anyway when I pay my CDS dues. Buying private sinks has been done by Kelly Jessop, Bill Renaker, and a couple others when they bought a sink called kitty to allow access so it can be done. Cindy