No one dives there, man!

[the dude]

A few months ago my buddy and I rocked some epic (by our standards anyway) dives in the Peacock system. The most memorable being the water hole, cisteen and the crypt, all starting from, and returning to P1. we could tell from the conditions of the line, left over horribly discolored cookies, and silty dark rock that cisteen and the crypt are not well traveled areas. We mentioned these dives to a friend of ours and he looked us both in the eyes and said: "No one really dives there, man." and then began to recount various silt outs, minor collapses, ect. in the cisteen and crypt areas.

After doing a bit more research online i stumbled across the threads relating to the crypt and of course people are talking about silt, percolation and minor collapse. glad i got to see this portion of the cave before reading those, as it would have affected my dive planning. most of them end with "i'll never go back there again!"

So my questions are as follows:

Are there places in most of the popular cave systems that "No one dives there, man!" and for what reasons? What are the well known areas that people avoid for safety ect... We dive peacock, ginnie, manatee, little river and the surrounding area a bunch.

What is the policy on cleaning up lines, removing left over cookies, personal markers and so on? For example that "t" in the line which is more of a "H" on our cisteen crypt dives is loaded with cookies that have been there for ever. We ran a jump reel over top of all that mess and tied into the line to avoid any nav problems with the cookie christmas tree.

thoughts?

[FW]

What is the policy on cleaning up lines, removing left over cookies, personal markers and so on?

You first have to determine how long the markers have really been there. Cookies haven't even existed for very long. All it takes is one flood to make them look really old. In popular caves like Peacock, and Devil's Eye, there are line committees, and you should probably talk to them before making any changes to the line. In seldom travelled passages, they might welcome someone to fix problems.

If you are really sure that the markers are only personal markers, and have been there for over a month, then it is ok to remove them. Be careful not to remove suvey markers. They usually have numbers on them.

[whodunit68]

good info Forrest as I had the same question when I dove the Crypt a month or three ago (I'll have to check). Same with Telford - there was I think a stray cookie that I asked around about but no claims to ownership. Is there an official source for line committees?

[FW]

.... Is there an official source for line committees?

For Peacock, the NFSA can give you a list of line committee members. I know for sure Jim Wyatt is a member. Rose at GSO, could tell you who in on the Ginnie line committee.

[tflaris]

Off the grid is where the fun starts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Attchoum]

Are there places in most of the popular cave systems that "No one dives there, man!" and for what reasons? What are the well known areas that people avoid for safety ect...

thoughts?

Here in mexico, I know only two place that look unstable but are still in a main systeme. tajma-ha to sacrado some sidemount jumps on the left you really receive rock on your head when you dive there. And unfortunatly, the big rock just above the restriction to get into the chiness garden is moving. I stop visiting the room for that reason but I know that there still lot of people every week that visite those place.

which bring me to a other trail of thought. how can you really reconiz a unstable section of the cave?? That rock that I saw moving may be moving since ever and will maybe never fall... but if it's really unstable then it's a huge hazard since that room have no other exit...

I would like to know if there other place unsafe... I think it can be important

[sskasser]

good info Forrest as I had the same question when I dove the Crypt a month or three ago (I'll have to check). Same with Telford - there was I think a stray cookie that I asked around about but no claims to ownership. Is there an official source for line committees?

http://northfloridaspringsalliance.org/lines.htm

[MichaelAngelo]

Few years back I did a circuit starting at the water hole eventually ending at P1. it was similair to the grand traverse only without the Orange grove leg. Befor making a jump I saw an old discolored line arrow buried in the silt with Shecks name on it. I thought it was a really cool reminder of how I was standing on the shoulder of gaints. I personally don't remove other peoples cookies with talking to them about it. FYI Ithought it was an amazingly beautiful dive.

[amphipod06]

Really? I am not sure who you asked... we do Waterhole, Cisteen and Crypt at least once each year, sometimes more. They are fun and if your technique is good only very minor silting occurs. The Wishbone is a favorite of ours, yet I hear no one talking about it... but then on, better if people don't like the liittle places we like. They stay in better shape that way...

Enjoy your dives in Peacock, dive safe,


Celia

[LiteHedded]

i think the crypt is an awesome dive. some percolation but nothing too crazy. i think the real instability people talk about there is when you wiggle down into the breakdown.
I have seen falling rocks in waterhole though.