"All I want for my birthday is 80 cubic feet of 30/30" - My long weekend in Florida

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oh, i'm *so* glad you're finally seeing the magic side of nfl! :D
 
Well, we didn't PLAN to do three dives! It just worked out that way. And I wasn't unhappy with it, because I also got to catch up with some dear friends I rarely see. And since I did the flights on miles, and Kate lent me the tanks, it was a pretty cheap trip, so the underwater minutes to dollars spent still came out on the good side!
 
I don't think much of anything external actually changed between your dives in c2 and now. You're quick to attribute both your success and failures to outside forces (fins, the flow, David, team mates), but I don't think that's the case. You control you, no one else. I think James is probably right, you're better than you give yourself credit for.

What's going on around you matters less than what is going on inside of you.

I'm glad you had a great trip and I'm looking forward to next time :)
 
While I agree that Lynne is a better diver than she gives herself credit for :) I wouldn't dismiss "external" factors such as gas mix and flow. In recent months, I am constantly hearing about how much the flow is down. Further, it only stands to reason gas mix is a valid factor if 32% leaves one with physical symptoms such as raging headaches.


I'm not saying internal factors aren't relevant but I think it's a bit cavalier to be dismissive of the external ones.


Of course, this is all MHO. (I should add that to my sig)
 
I think if you read my report of my C2 class, I blamed nothing but myself for that. There were factors that made my failure more likely, but the failure was my fault.

I just can't figure out what I might possibly have done to have learned to manage Ginnie better -- I don't think I'm fitter, I haven't practiced much in flow. Maybe it was me, but if so, I sure didn't know I'd improved that much!
 
While I agree that Lynne is a better diver than she gives herself credit for :) I wouldn't dismiss "external" factors such as gas mix and flow. In recent months, I am constantly hearing about how much the flow is down. Further, it only stands to reason gas mix is a valid factor if 32% leaves one with physical symptoms such as raging headaches.


I'm not saying internal factors aren't relevant but I think it's a bit cavalier to be dismissive of the external ones.


Of course, this is all MHO. (I should add that to my sig)

Maybe, but ginnie wasn't the only problem area before. Cave diving is a mental game, and I think having your mind right goes a long way, far more than gas (which I am a fan of helium in there) and certainly more than the flow (seemed the same to me on Saturday).

Confidence? Lack of external pressure? Comfortable with the team? I'd stack my chips on psych stuff rather than anything else. just MHO, too :)
 
Well, I'm sure there was a lot of truth to that, AJ, and not being horribly sleep-deprived helped a lot, too. But if you guys are telling me the flow isn't down that much, then I guess I just have to enjoy having somehow learned to be a more efficient cave diver! At any rate, the dive was fun, and I didn't expect it to be and was actually more than a bit apprehensive before we started, so that was a very nice surprise.

I would cheerfully come back now, and I told Peter he has to come and dive Peacock, because it's splendid. Thanks again to all of you who helped make it a great trip!
 
Great writeup, although I dont think I would ever go to florida for only three dives.

I respectfully disagree.

When I visit "family" in Orlando, and I can squeeze a dive or 2 at Forty Fathom or High Springs, THEN I consider the trip a real success. But I am selfish. And I can recover what is left of my sanity.

But diving a few times with good buds..that is priceless.

A good friend going thru some family trauma recently said to me: "I wish we had spent our money making memories instead of buying things".

Just sayin.
 
Dave, I so agree! I loved the dives we did, but what made the trip so worth the effort was making the human connections. I got to meet people I had only talked to on line, and I got to cement and deepen connections with people I didn't know well. And I got to spend time with very dear people I see all too seldom. And some of that time was in caves, which was the icing on the cake :)
 
Thanks for the writeup and the pictures! There are definitely some things about Florida I miss and the caves would be at the top of that list. The kelp fields of California are my home now. :)

I cringed when you first called Peacock and Ginnie "training caves." Yes, I admit that is where the majority of training gets done (including mine) but they are both fantastic caves with A LOT to see. One could easily spend a lifetime in Ginnie. I think you are absolutely right though that you have to be far more relaxed and outside the training environment to truly enjoy them, helium helps too! I'm glad you've had a chance to change your mind.

About the unmarked jumps... I'm familier with some of those and although I've been in a few of them back mount they seem to mostly be sidemount passages. Maybe someone else here has spent more time exploring them and can shed some more light on them. My theory is that when the lines were laid, sidemount wasn't as popular as it is now and no jump markers were placed to discourage backmounters from diving them and damaging the cave.

Now that I know what you look like I'll come say hi if I run into you in Seattle or Florida!
 
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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