Yesterday I headed up to Catfish Hotel with GDI to get started on my intro-to-cave class.
Weather was great and there were only 2 other groups diving at Catfish. The other 2 groups finished up their dives before we got started, so we ended up being the only divers in the water
First was a quick review of contact signals and protocols for the dive.
The plan was for 2 introductory dives. The first into the siphon and the second into the spring side. Rick would run the line on both dives.
We geared up and hit the water. Gas matching and turn pressures set we started to descend.
During the s-drill Rick noticed my left post 1st stage leaking around the environmental seal - so it was back out of the water to swap out that 1st stage with my spare.
Repairs completed we descended again, completed the s-drill and no bubbles. This vis was decent - this was my first dive into a cave and it was great to move beyond the cavern zone. I hit my turn pressure pretty quick, only 9 minutes into the dive. It was pull-n-glide most of the way back out. Certainly a challenge working our way out against the current.
Dive reviewed and the next dive plan discussed during our SI. Turns out I missed a couple of light signals from Rick on the way in (are you ok signals). I had problem with my spacing too, I was closing in on Rick quickly and had to turn and swim back away from him a few times.
Dive 2
We descended again, completed the s-drills and moved into the spring side. My air consumption was much better on the second dive even though we were swimming into the flow. I covered my light a few times to get the feel for just how dark it can get - yep it's dark with no light. It was easy not to overtake Rick with the current in the face so I did better at seeing the light signals. I hit my turn pressure, thumbed the dive and we headed back out. A few moments after making the turn Rick signals that I have a small leak in my first stage on the right post. At this point I had a break down in the brain-housing-group. I should have shut the post down and breathed of my other reg, but I didn't. For what ever reason, the thought process in my mind was "we are drifting towards the exit, it's close, the problem is small....." bad move on my part. Next time I will shut the post down no matter how small the leak is. Every breath is a breath.... I also didn't allow enough time for the exit and ended up with 3 minutes of deco.
Ok the introduction is over, GDI will have a lot more fun with me on the rest of the dives. Not sure when my schedule will give me the 2 or 3 days I need, but I am looking forward to it and will report back on all the learning experiences
Looking back I believe I should have combined this with the Cavern course. But there also isn't anything wrong with taking ones time
I'm really looking forward to the next round of dives
Cheers
Steve
Weather was great and there were only 2 other groups diving at Catfish. The other 2 groups finished up their dives before we got started, so we ended up being the only divers in the water
First was a quick review of contact signals and protocols for the dive.
The plan was for 2 introductory dives. The first into the siphon and the second into the spring side. Rick would run the line on both dives.
We geared up and hit the water. Gas matching and turn pressures set we started to descend.
During the s-drill Rick noticed my left post 1st stage leaking around the environmental seal - so it was back out of the water to swap out that 1st stage with my spare.
Repairs completed we descended again, completed the s-drill and no bubbles. This vis was decent - this was my first dive into a cave and it was great to move beyond the cavern zone. I hit my turn pressure pretty quick, only 9 minutes into the dive. It was pull-n-glide most of the way back out. Certainly a challenge working our way out against the current.
Dive reviewed and the next dive plan discussed during our SI. Turns out I missed a couple of light signals from Rick on the way in (are you ok signals). I had problem with my spacing too, I was closing in on Rick quickly and had to turn and swim back away from him a few times.
Dive 2
We descended again, completed the s-drills and moved into the spring side. My air consumption was much better on the second dive even though we were swimming into the flow. I covered my light a few times to get the feel for just how dark it can get - yep it's dark with no light. It was easy not to overtake Rick with the current in the face so I did better at seeing the light signals. I hit my turn pressure, thumbed the dive and we headed back out. A few moments after making the turn Rick signals that I have a small leak in my first stage on the right post. At this point I had a break down in the brain-housing-group. I should have shut the post down and breathed of my other reg, but I didn't. For what ever reason, the thought process in my mind was "we are drifting towards the exit, it's close, the problem is small....." bad move on my part. Next time I will shut the post down no matter how small the leak is. Every breath is a breath.... I also didn't allow enough time for the exit and ended up with 3 minutes of deco.
Ok the introduction is over, GDI will have a lot more fun with me on the rest of the dives. Not sure when my schedule will give me the 2 or 3 days I need, but I am looking forward to it and will report back on all the learning experiences
Looking back I believe I should have combined this with the Cavern course. But there also isn't anything wrong with taking ones time
I'm really looking forward to the next round of dives
Cheers
Steve
