Florida Cave Fest, November 5-9, 2023

[The Chairman]

This looks like fun: Florida Cave Fest

 

[kensuf]

It's starting to get busy and people have signed up for guiding diving. I'm guiding at Alachua tomorrow and Hart on Sunday and Wednesday.

 

[The Chairman]

Aha... the cool kids didn't want all us schleps to know! Have fun, my friend. Have loads of fun!

 

[tmassey]

I had not heard of this until just now. That’s too bad: I’m scheduled to be down November 22-29 or so. I might’ve scheduled differently had I known it was available. (Speaking of, it’s probably time for me to throw out a post out here to see if I can buddy up with anybody while I’m down…)

It’s always nice to meet new Florida cave divers…. I hope it goes well, and now that I know that exists, I’ll look for it next year when I schedule things.

 

[The Chairman]

I had not heard of this until just now.

We're not loved by the cave community. They don't feel much of a need to keep us informed, which is a shame. I was told about this just today, so I posted it. I've been dealing with a lot of injuries, so I'm not as connected as I would like to be.

 

[tmassey]

Yeah, I get it. When I go down for trips I throw out a post asking if anybody wants to buddy up. I also do it on CDF. I get twice as many responses on CDF, even though there’s 100 times as many people on ScubaBoard. Of course, people in, say, Europe don’t bring as much value to that type of post… But also because cave divers seem to be, as a rule, a very cliquish and clannish group, and don’t take well to outsiders…

Which is why someone like me, a Midwest wreck diver who only started diving caves a few years ago had a very hard time getting buddies initially.

But all of that is off-topic to your original post. Thank you very much for informing those of us not in the know.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I tell my cave diver students that picking up a cave diving buddy off of the internet is as dangerous as picking up a whore in a bar.

No disrespect meant to @tmassey or others who are in search of cave diver buddies.

 

[rddvet]

Yeah, I get it. When I go down for trips I throw out a post asking if anybody wants to buddy up. I also do it on CDF. I get twice as many responses on CDF, even though there’s 100 times as many people on ScubaBoard. Of course, people in, say, Europe don’t bring as much value to that type of post… But also because cave divers seem to be, as a rule, a very cliquish and clannish group, and don’t take well to outsiders…

Which is why someone like me, a Midwest wreck diver who only started diving caves a few years ago had a very hard time getting buddies initially.

But all of that is off-topic to your original post. Thank you very much for informing those of us not in the know.

It’s not being clique. It’s having had bad experiences with instabuddies.

 

[berndo]

... a very hard time getting buddies initially.

Just ask your instructor to hook you up with buddies. Or asked at the shop where you fill if they know anyone looking for a buddy or a team that will let you tag along. In Florida I found it super easy to find buddies... at least on weekends, much easier than in Europe. So many more local divers in Florida and almost everyone speaks English.

But also because cave divers seem to be, as a rule, a very cliquish and clannish group, and don’t take well to outsiders…

I don't think they're more cliquish than any other divers, it's just the GUE divers that are more cliquish compared to others.

 

[berndo]

We're not loved by the cave community.

I don't know if that is true or not. But if it's true, I could be because every time someone dies in a Florida cave, you let mostly non cave divers descent on the 'analyses' threads like vultures, basically sh!tting on their dead friends with not even 1 day of grace period after it happened, ... demanding answers 'now' just for the entertainment.