GLENFWB
Contributor
Decided to give Cypress and Morrison a try today (Sunday 1/25/09). Went and picked up two non-ScubaBoard divers. Both are Army Rangers who wanted to dive both sites, but didn't know how to get there. I agreed to be the guide, driver, and photographer for the trip.They were able to get a John Boat that was the perfect size for three divers and their gear. I picked them up at 6:30 AM, hooked the John Boat trailer to my truck, and we headed for the big town of Vernon, Florida and Cypress Spring.
Weather was cloudy and there was a constant, misting rain. We made it to the Culpepper boat launch and had the boat in the water with no problems.
We put our wet suits on to help shield us from the rain. Holmes creek was brown and cloudy, but I hoped it would begin to clear as we got closer to the spring. The outboard motor made for a short trip to Cypress. It helps when you have an Army Ranger driving the boat, and another in the front watching for stumps. It was pretty funny...they were communicating with military hand signals and we didn't hit any stumps.
When we came to the last fork in the river, clear water was coming from the left fork in the river, and tannic brown water was flowing down the right side. I was happy to see as we approached Cypress that the basin was clear. The water looked great, and there was a strong boil moving the water over the cavern. My two dive partners got so excited when they saw Cypress...I think I heard the word AWESOME about 5,000 times before and after the dive....and I think I heard them yelling it through their regulators. It is fun to see others enjoy this dive site as much as I do.
We did the usual Cypress dive, swam around the basin enjoying the scenery, made our way in to the cavern for some exploration, and then made our way back out and explored around the basin till we were ready to head back. My computer showed a max depth of 44 feet, 67 degree water temp, on a 40 minute dive.
When we surfaced after our dive the weather was still pretty nasty. It was a little chilly heading back to the boat launch, but the motor made quick work of the trip. We loaded the boat back up, threw the gear in the back of my truck, and made our way to Ponce DeLeon. It was 11 AM by the time we made it to the exit, so....you know where we decided to go??? Yep, hit Sally's for some good grub. I had a big sloppy cheese burger and a big pile of sour cream and chive fries.....pretty dang good.
We made our way over to Morrison. Of course the park was still closed. We made our way to the boat launch. The river was high and brown and the water a good ways up the boat launch.
Yes, the no Scuba Diving signs are still there. So, we launched the boat, and made the long ride to Morrison....okay, if you haven't been to Morrison the ride took us 2 minutes. We drove slowly over where I estimated the Cypress log to be....but,no sign of anything through the brown/green water.
I decided to tie the boat up at the new floating dock. I will have to say that the aluminum steps on the floating dock are very heavy duty, and pretty nice, although, they should have been made wider. We finished gearing up on the dock, discussed our dive plan for a low viz. dive, and then hit the water. I led the way to the Cypress log, visibility was about 10 feet.
Once we made it to the Cypress log and I got the Okay sign from everyone, I tied a line to the log, and led the way to cavern running my reel around the sign, and then down the right side of the cavern. After I got about five feet from the warning sign...the water cleared and of course the cavern was crystal clear....or should I say Gin clear.
We did the usual tour of the cavern. There seemed to be more eels then normal in the cavern. They were curious about our lights, and many of them hung around to check us out. There was also quite a few catfish in the cavern.
There are two pumpkins in the cavern, a fish, a concrete cat, but I didn't see the gnome. I sure wish we could get some of that crap out of the cavern.
We made our way out of the cavern and explored the top cavern for a few minutes. After I got my line reeled in (No snags or bird nest Bugman!) we hung around the log for a safety stop. I had a max depth of 90 feet on a 35 minute dive.
Weather never cleared and was rainy most of the day, but we had two great dives, we laughed a lot, and had a lot of fun.
Weather was cloudy and there was a constant, misting rain. We made it to the Culpepper boat launch and had the boat in the water with no problems.
We put our wet suits on to help shield us from the rain. Holmes creek was brown and cloudy, but I hoped it would begin to clear as we got closer to the spring. The outboard motor made for a short trip to Cypress. It helps when you have an Army Ranger driving the boat, and another in the front watching for stumps. It was pretty funny...they were communicating with military hand signals and we didn't hit any stumps.
When we came to the last fork in the river, clear water was coming from the left fork in the river, and tannic brown water was flowing down the right side. I was happy to see as we approached Cypress that the basin was clear. The water looked great, and there was a strong boil moving the water over the cavern. My two dive partners got so excited when they saw Cypress...I think I heard the word AWESOME about 5,000 times before and after the dive....and I think I heard them yelling it through their regulators. It is fun to see others enjoy this dive site as much as I do.
We did the usual Cypress dive, swam around the basin enjoying the scenery, made our way in to the cavern for some exploration, and then made our way back out and explored around the basin till we were ready to head back. My computer showed a max depth of 44 feet, 67 degree water temp, on a 40 minute dive.
When we surfaced after our dive the weather was still pretty nasty. It was a little chilly heading back to the boat launch, but the motor made quick work of the trip. We loaded the boat back up, threw the gear in the back of my truck, and made our way to Ponce DeLeon. It was 11 AM by the time we made it to the exit, so....you know where we decided to go??? Yep, hit Sally's for some good grub. I had a big sloppy cheese burger and a big pile of sour cream and chive fries.....pretty dang good.
We made our way over to Morrison. Of course the park was still closed. We made our way to the boat launch. The river was high and brown and the water a good ways up the boat launch.
Yes, the no Scuba Diving signs are still there. So, we launched the boat, and made the long ride to Morrison....okay, if you haven't been to Morrison the ride took us 2 minutes. We drove slowly over where I estimated the Cypress log to be....but,no sign of anything through the brown/green water.
I decided to tie the boat up at the new floating dock. I will have to say that the aluminum steps on the floating dock are very heavy duty, and pretty nice, although, they should have been made wider. We finished gearing up on the dock, discussed our dive plan for a low viz. dive, and then hit the water. I led the way to the Cypress log, visibility was about 10 feet.
Once we made it to the Cypress log and I got the Okay sign from everyone, I tied a line to the log, and led the way to cavern running my reel around the sign, and then down the right side of the cavern. After I got about five feet from the warning sign...the water cleared and of course the cavern was crystal clear....or should I say Gin clear.
We did the usual tour of the cavern. There seemed to be more eels then normal in the cavern. They were curious about our lights, and many of them hung around to check us out. There was also quite a few catfish in the cavern.
There are two pumpkins in the cavern, a fish, a concrete cat, but I didn't see the gnome. I sure wish we could get some of that crap out of the cavern.
We made our way out of the cavern and explored the top cavern for a few minutes. After I got my line reeled in (No snags or bird nest Bugman!) we hung around the log for a safety stop. I had a max depth of 90 feet on a 35 minute dive.
Weather never cleared and was rainy most of the day, but we had two great dives, we laughed a lot, and had a lot of fun.
.
