SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Jackson Blue 8-31-7
I took Friday off to take full advantage of the holiday weekend, why not make it a 4 day weekend? On the previous weekend I had met Dive-Aholic and his wife at Morrison Springs and we had talked about getting a couple cavern dives in at Jackson Blue mid afternoon. The park was closed to the public so I arrived to clear, calm waters and empty parking. Quite a nice change from on the weekends when there are large crowds and lots of traffic. Dive-Aholic and his wife, Jen, are both Full Cave certified and I've got to thank them for taking the time to come out and dive with me at Cavern level, it can often get a bit difficult to find people to dive just the daylight zones after they have reached Cave level certifications. Not only were they willing, they seemed to look forward to it! It also allowed them to try out some sidemount rigs in dives that didn't put them too far into an overhead.
On the first dive I ran line down the right side of the cavern and tied off my primary line to the gold line. We dived the cavern until I hit sixths. Jackson Blue has a great cavern and you can penetrate quite a ways while still remaining inside of the daylight zone so we had alot of time to look around at the various fossils embedded in the limestone surrounding us. Seabiscuits, sand dollars, various shells, etc were everywhere to be found. There were also the occasional crawfish, bream, and bass, especially closer to the entrance of the cavern. I hit a max depth of 49' for a total dive time lasting 38 minutes. I left the primary line in place.
After a few tips during the SI, we were back in the water an hour and seventeen minutes after our first dive. The dive plan on this dive would include me running my safety spool(150') down the left side of the cavern and back across to the goldline towards the back of the daylight zone. After doing so, we used the spool, primary, and goldline as a circuit around the cavern's center breakdown. We lapped around the cavern a couple times until I reached sixths, then I pulled both the spool and my primary lines out during the exit. Hit a max depth of 50' for a dive lasting 37 minutes. We opted out of more diving since daylight was fading quickly.
It was great diving with another ScubaBoarder in the area, and I'm hoping it will be the first of several future dives. We ate at Old Mexico in Marianna before I said my goodbyes and headed out for the night.
Morrison and Cypress Springs 9-1-7
After a great set of dives in Marianna on the 31st, I drove to Ponce DeLeon to find a suitable campsite. I decided to try camping at Morrison. There was nobody onsite at around 10PM so I setup and half expected to be awaken at night by the local authorities to tell me to squat somewhere else. A little luck in my favor and I enjoyed a great night(and relatively cool air temps) of sleep right off the beach entry at Morrison. I have a reputation of being a little late, but with a Saturday meet time of 7AM, I made it onsite at 10PM the previous day!
The spring looked great in the morning, with the depression leading to the cavern entrances clearly visible from the surface. It didn't take long for a couple locals to show up for a morning swim, then a small class to show up. Shortly following were my dive buddies, Centarius, darcy(and her boyfriend), and Shagman.
We geared up and hit the water. Visibility was pretty much unlimited, well over 100'. Our typical diveplan was put in place and we descended to the cavern to do some exploring. I ran a line down the right side of the cavern and counterclockwise back to the entrance. There was alot in the cavern to observe as far as wildlife, eels, catfish, rockbass, etc. Once we hit a turnaround pressure, the we started our ascent as I reeled in my primary. Once in OW we goofed around the tree for a bit before swimming around the outskirts of the basin and a bit up the run to check out some of the fauna that would allow us close enough to get a look at. Bream, bass, pike, shellcrackers, hogchoakers, minnows, and even a few turtles could be seen. We had a great dive with a max depth of 84' for a dive lasting 48 minutes.
After the dive, we geared down and hit the road towards Vernon. We made it to Culpepper Landing in about 30 minutes to find SeaYoda and Gulf Gulper setting up a floatilla of spring bound terror that included a Coleman inflatable kayak with a kiddy inflatable in tow(with gear in it) as well as a canoe stacked with more gear. Shagman had the SS Minnow in tow and I started in on setting up the Miss Jellyfish. Everyone else helped setup and get gear organized for the trip. We made it to Cypress after a short trip to find a man out there measuring flow coming from the spring. He said it was running about 90cf per second.
Nearly three hours after our dive at Morrison, we were in the water diving Cypress. I ran a line down into the cavern and we explored it until we hit a turnaround pressure. The walls there are littered with fossils and you could observe eels, catfish, and rockbass within the overhead. Once in OW you could find bream, bass, hogchoakers, snapping turtles, and an assortment of flora. Hit a max depth of 59' for a dive lasting 42 minutes.
Less than an hour later we were back in the water for a second dive. The dive was made with the same diveplan and we all planned ahead to cut it slightly shorter due to our growing hunger. We hit a max depth of 60' for a dive lasting 30 minutes. The run back to the boatlaunch was uneventfull and packing gear up went without a hitch. The majority of our group headed to Dee's afterwards to enjoy some of the local grub available. As always, Dee's produced and we all left with full stomachs!
Another great weekend of diving, as always, looking forward to the next! I didn't bring a camera this time around, but Shagman(and maybe darcy too?) had taken a few pictures. With enough coaxing, maybe they'll post a few.
I took Friday off to take full advantage of the holiday weekend, why not make it a 4 day weekend? On the previous weekend I had met Dive-Aholic and his wife at Morrison Springs and we had talked about getting a couple cavern dives in at Jackson Blue mid afternoon. The park was closed to the public so I arrived to clear, calm waters and empty parking. Quite a nice change from on the weekends when there are large crowds and lots of traffic. Dive-Aholic and his wife, Jen, are both Full Cave certified and I've got to thank them for taking the time to come out and dive with me at Cavern level, it can often get a bit difficult to find people to dive just the daylight zones after they have reached Cave level certifications. Not only were they willing, they seemed to look forward to it! It also allowed them to try out some sidemount rigs in dives that didn't put them too far into an overhead.
On the first dive I ran line down the right side of the cavern and tied off my primary line to the gold line. We dived the cavern until I hit sixths. Jackson Blue has a great cavern and you can penetrate quite a ways while still remaining inside of the daylight zone so we had alot of time to look around at the various fossils embedded in the limestone surrounding us. Seabiscuits, sand dollars, various shells, etc were everywhere to be found. There were also the occasional crawfish, bream, and bass, especially closer to the entrance of the cavern. I hit a max depth of 49' for a total dive time lasting 38 minutes. I left the primary line in place.
After a few tips during the SI, we were back in the water an hour and seventeen minutes after our first dive. The dive plan on this dive would include me running my safety spool(150') down the left side of the cavern and back across to the goldline towards the back of the daylight zone. After doing so, we used the spool, primary, and goldline as a circuit around the cavern's center breakdown. We lapped around the cavern a couple times until I reached sixths, then I pulled both the spool and my primary lines out during the exit. Hit a max depth of 50' for a dive lasting 37 minutes. We opted out of more diving since daylight was fading quickly.
It was great diving with another ScubaBoarder in the area, and I'm hoping it will be the first of several future dives. We ate at Old Mexico in Marianna before I said my goodbyes and headed out for the night.
Morrison and Cypress Springs 9-1-7
After a great set of dives in Marianna on the 31st, I drove to Ponce DeLeon to find a suitable campsite. I decided to try camping at Morrison. There was nobody onsite at around 10PM so I setup and half expected to be awaken at night by the local authorities to tell me to squat somewhere else. A little luck in my favor and I enjoyed a great night(and relatively cool air temps) of sleep right off the beach entry at Morrison. I have a reputation of being a little late, but with a Saturday meet time of 7AM, I made it onsite at 10PM the previous day!
The spring looked great in the morning, with the depression leading to the cavern entrances clearly visible from the surface. It didn't take long for a couple locals to show up for a morning swim, then a small class to show up. Shortly following were my dive buddies, Centarius, darcy(and her boyfriend), and Shagman. We geared up and hit the water. Visibility was pretty much unlimited, well over 100'. Our typical diveplan was put in place and we descended to the cavern to do some exploring. I ran a line down the right side of the cavern and counterclockwise back to the entrance. There was alot in the cavern to observe as far as wildlife, eels, catfish, rockbass, etc. Once we hit a turnaround pressure, the we started our ascent as I reeled in my primary. Once in OW we goofed around the tree for a bit before swimming around the outskirts of the basin and a bit up the run to check out some of the fauna that would allow us close enough to get a look at. Bream, bass, pike, shellcrackers, hogchoakers, minnows, and even a few turtles could be seen. We had a great dive with a max depth of 84' for a dive lasting 48 minutes.
After the dive, we geared down and hit the road towards Vernon. We made it to Culpepper Landing in about 30 minutes to find SeaYoda and Gulf Gulper setting up a floatilla of spring bound terror that included a Coleman inflatable kayak with a kiddy inflatable in tow(with gear in it) as well as a canoe stacked with more gear. Shagman had the SS Minnow in tow and I started in on setting up the Miss Jellyfish. Everyone else helped setup and get gear organized for the trip. We made it to Cypress after a short trip to find a man out there measuring flow coming from the spring. He said it was running about 90cf per second.
Nearly three hours after our dive at Morrison, we were in the water diving Cypress. I ran a line down into the cavern and we explored it until we hit a turnaround pressure. The walls there are littered with fossils and you could observe eels, catfish, and rockbass within the overhead. Once in OW you could find bream, bass, hogchoakers, snapping turtles, and an assortment of flora. Hit a max depth of 59' for a dive lasting 42 minutes.
Less than an hour later we were back in the water for a second dive. The dive was made with the same diveplan and we all planned ahead to cut it slightly shorter due to our growing hunger. We hit a max depth of 60' for a dive lasting 30 minutes. The run back to the boatlaunch was uneventfull and packing gear up went without a hitch. The majority of our group headed to Dee's afterwards to enjoy some of the local grub available. As always, Dee's produced and we all left with full stomachs!
Another great weekend of diving, as always, looking forward to the next! I didn't bring a camera this time around, but Shagman(and maybe darcy too?) had taken a few pictures. With enough coaxing, maybe they'll post a few.
