Friedman Flyer Miles

[Rick Palm]

We put in at Friedman Sink, headfirst down the narrow chimney, and quickly arrived in the jet stream below. Flow was definitely high, and within approximately 20 minutes, we rocketed past Sue's Sink en route to our final destination of Catfish Hotel. There seemed to be plenty of vacancies at the hotel, perhaps because of the swift water. (We found later that the catfish had upgraded to a nicer hotel near the egress at Manatee Spring).

Visibility was the best I had ever seen it in that run, but still featuring the usual suspended elements and smokiness. I would estimate viz at perhaps 30-40 feet. Hey, it's what makes that dive so spooky cool.

Later, we dove the 467-foot Catfish Hotel to Manatee Spring run to see if we could find the luggage we lost on the earlier flight.

[Fun Facts: Friedman to Catfish Hotel 1,712 feet, completed in 30 minutes. Max depth was 99 feet. Average depth was 58 feet. Gas consumed 65 cubic feet. SAC rate: 0.8 cubic feet per minute. Mix 31% Nitrox with 260 cubic feet available].

[amphipod06]

Very cool, sounds like loads of fun....

Dive safe,

Celia

[Angie Reim]

Very cool. Makes me fantasize about a return trip. Thanks for the report.

[CaptainSpeleo]

Try going UPSTREAM from Freidman Sink without a scooter. It'll give your arms one heck of a good workout. The tunnel also zigzags up and down, so it'll give your ears a good workout too. Trying to avoid deer tick "passengers" is fun too.