Jackson Blue Conditions?

[nakatomi]

Read cave = ask someone the best route to go.

Congrats, now you too can "read" a cave and tell other people how to "read" it.

That could work in theory, unfortunately many people will provide useless information.
Some folks will even enjoy to see someone else wearing himself out in the flow, sad as that is.

Having said that, the best method is to experiment using different approaches and discover the little tricks yourself.
It's actually pretty simple and not rocket science.
Prominent features ahead of you will protect you from the flow. Observe the path the water takes around curved or angled passages.

Once you try different approaches, you'll quickly improve and will eventually master it.

[Kelly Jessop]

That could work in theory, unfortunately many people will provide useless information.
Some folks will even enjoy to see someone else wearing himself out in the flow, sad as that is.

Having said that, the best method is to experiment using different approaches and discover the little tricks yourself.
It's actually pretty simple and not rocket science.
Prominent features ahead of you will protect you from the flow. Observe the path the water takes around curved or angled passages.

Once you try different approaches, you'll quickly improve and will eventually master it.

You make a good point. It is hard to describe where to be,but from trail and error and experience. There are large pillars-swim in the shadow. There are areas where the wall is concave,move to that area,and the eddy will help move you. Where the wall is convex,stay in the shadow,they once over the apex,duck back to the wall. Swim low to break down piles,then work your way up. When JB is high flow,then you can't help but pull and pull (note not pull and glide),but look for areas that have been previously touched,then swim when you hit the low flow areas.

[nakatomi]

That is great advice Kelly, thank you!

[SlowDiver]

The best advice that I can give is look at the cave as a river. Think about where the shallows and deep parts are on a river and how they are formed. It's by the current and no different in a cave as the flow winds down the passage. Now swimming close to any formation, side, ceiling or floor the flow will be less due to the resistance. I still remember years ago helping Mike Bruic when his family owned Madison. It was pumping hard that day and the two students who were leading the dive were swimming in the middle of the flow and pull on a rock when they could.
When the dive was over I remember Mike in his own wild man way of talking ask the question. "Why did you stay in the main flow and racking up unnecessary deco". "Why do you think we where close to the ceiling, for our health." I felt sorry for the students since Mike lived at Madison and could dive it every day. Then I met the former students later at Ginnie and they mention that learning to read a cave was one of the best parts of his class. And yes they did pass.


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[Greenwood_60]

Take a look at this:


Velocity is greatest on the inside of a bend. IIRC, the opposite of a river. In a river, the flow slows on the inside of a bend, depositing particles with lower settling velocities. Flow is highest on the outside of the bends.

Sometimes the flow is obvious when it cleans the floor.

I don't remember any discussion of reading the cave in class. Flow wasn't high enough that we cared to ask either.

[nakatomi]

Flow is highest on the outside of the bends.

That graph of yours is very nice and shows exactly where to cut from the inside over to the outside and back in.

[Ben M]

Easy, use a scooter

Actually, other than the more obvious places mentioned already for hiding from the flow, I learned more about the flow in the cave by scooter diving with a buddy with a well matched scooter. Highest flow may have been in the middle and top, bottom, left, and right are all relatively reduced but how to compare all of them especially if the flow varies day to day? It becomes obvious very quickly with scooters.

and Forrest, last Friday's flow was up from when I saw you in April. I didn't go back but I had heard there was a boil at Twin and driving by on the boat today it was not there so maybe the flow is coming back down a little.

[SlowDiver]

Greenwood_60 that is a interesting chart. Explains the flow out of the Lips at Ginnie. Don't know if reading a cave was a required part of the cave class are not, been too many years, but I do remember when cave mapping was taken out of the standards.


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[FW]

... I had heard there was a boil at Twin and driving by on the boat today it was not there ...

What was the viz like? Could you see to the bottom of the hole?

[Ben M]

What was the viz like? Could you see to the bottom of the hole?

I didn't dive anywhere today, just out boating. From the surface at Twin the water was clear, you could see all of the entrance depression just fine.