Wendy's Ginnie Springs Encampment and Dive Party

[wade leithead]

ok gator we can put a piece of string
on our light sticks. then we can reel
them back in , when the light show
is over.

 

[medical1]

Debbraey & I just got back from Mexico & Belize this week. What amazing dives! Got the film developed from the trip & found a few pics from the Venice dive.

Wendy <--- Mommy instincts run high with you See picture...

We were hoping to make it to the springs if at all possible but got got coerced into diving the blackthorn wreck (80') this Monday then a barbeque afterwords.

We'll do the Gulf diving while the water is still warm! =-)

Like the manatees - we will be moving into the springs when the water temp in the gulf gets TOO cold.

Hopefully we can make it to the next scubaboard outing.

HAVE A GREAT TRIP & BE SAFE

 

[medical1]

Whoops.............

Heres Wendy

 

[divenaked]

Wrinkles can't make it, she's got a meeting that weekend. Couldn't wait to meet her. That's O.K. I've found a buddy for my next trip to the Keys, right, Ana?

Wendy- sorry for the confusimacation. The +2 divers and a boat are actually Wade, his wife and his boat (mabye). Since I'm not picking Ana up, I'll ride with him. He gets off work around 4 a.m. Sat., so we'll be there 4(?) hours later, and leave late Sun. (We'll both have grills.)

Wade- always yield to angry forklifts. And close the dock early that Fri.

Aquacatfighter- Coolest. Website. Ever. The vintage gear really gives a cool mood and an artistic edge. Are you bringing your videocamera? I'll have one w/ me but no housing yet.

Darkmoon- you gonna EANx it? Anybody?


Ned's book says of Myrtle's Fissure: "You will never forget the sight." Sheer limestone walls plunge to 60'. It's downriver of Ginnie, past the rapids , and a few other springs and "siphons". Never seen one of those before. Is it dangerous? We could get some tubes and float down to Hollingsworth boat ramp. I've got a 10' inflateble and two 50' hoses. Anybody feeling adventureos?

Can't wait to make new friends,

Clark

 

[wrinkles]

Divenaked: I can't wait just tell me when....I wish I could have met you on this trip. I would love to dive the Keys with you. I am so happy I have a buddy when I travel across the country.

Sorry everyone my adminstrators decided to have another meeting before school starts to review our curriculum for the year. I cant wait to dive with everyone. Just don't forget to tell me when the next big bash is.

I will be thinking about the Keys this coming weekend DiveNaked and wishing I was there and not in a stuffy classroom that has been empty all summer. ;-0



Ana

 

[OneBrightGator]

Wade: I don't come down to Lakeland and piss in your coffee, just asking that you don't leave floaties in my spring water

Clark:

Myrtle's Fissure is not for the faint of heart. I dove it once, that was more than enough for me. It's a crack about 20 ft off the river, when you jump in you can reach across it and touch both sides of the wall, about 10-15 ft is wide enough to dive in. As you drop down the clay silt and organic material from the walls billows down on top of you and you lose sunlight by 10 ft, maybe 20 if you're lucky. It slopes inward toward the river slightly, there is no cave (although that's never been proved but I would consider it overheard with the lack of light and slope. I know one person who's been to the bottom, I got down 40 ft, could barely see my light in front of me, let alone my buddy, got to surface and found out she bolted at about 30 ft. I've heard there can be good conditions, but with the spring floods we had in the spring I severely doubt it. I would not recommend this dive to ANYONE, even if you do have training, it's not worth the walk from the river, let alone getting there.

On the other hand, Big Awesome is a decent dive, as you're going down the river look for a medium size "pool" on your right hand side, there might be fishermen fishing in it though. Little Awesome is ok too, look for a offshoot on your right, all the times I've been there you had to get out and drag your boat across two logs. There's also a siphon on the right hand side of the river, I don't know if it's Trackone or not, but it's neat to see the water rush towards it and flow downward. It's diveable, but you drop in and there's a 15-20 ft deep chimney and nothing else, I wouldn't suggest doing this as it is a siphon, a strong one at that.

Honestly, these dives/sights are probably only worth it if you're absolutely tired of Ginnie. Even if I was diving I wouldn't go and I've been to Ginnie more times than I care to count, but if you're an adventurer then by all means go for it.

As far as EANx goes, Ginnie doesn't do mix fills, EE does do fills, but they aren't cheap, I think Cave Excursions East is open, but I don't know for sure, those would be your cheapest fills as Bill R charges by volume, not per fill, his website is www.sidemount.com

Ben

 

[darkmoon3d]

Don't know if I'll go Nitrox or not; depends if they rent Nitrox around Ginnie somewhere. BTW: where do we go for air fills near Ginnie (I think someone mentioned Ginnie doesn't do air fills).

My friends won't be able to make it but I'm trying to get MantaRey to come though. Is there a limit to sharing campsites for example parking two cars at same site for price of on spot? Also are we all renting campsites randomly over entire campground or are we going to be in one big hord of loiterers?

divenaked once bubbled...
Darkmoon- you gonna EANx it? Anybody?

Clark [/B]

 

[OneBrightGator]

Here are some pics from the Gator SCUBA Club website of our canoe trip down the Sante Fe.

http://grove.ufl.edu/~scuba/canoe.htm

The first four our of us getting ready to cast off, the next four our of us going down the Sante Fe, the next one is a pic of the basin for the Ginnie ballroom, it's anywhere from 5-20 ft deep in that pic, the next one is the spring run out to the river, then one more of us on the river and the last one of us as we're about to leave.

Note the color of the water in the river, that's what you'll be diving in anywhere but Ginnie (the ballroom, Little Devil's, and the Eye are crystal clear, the Ear can be slightly tannic depending on water level).

Ben

 

[OneBrightGator]

Ginnie does air, no nitrox though. You can rent nitrox tanks from EE and probably Cave Excursions, but I'd call to make sure they have singles.

Ben

 

[Wendy]

darkmoon3d once bubbled...
Don't know if I'll go Nitrox or not; depends if they rent Nitrox around Ginnie somewhere. BTW: where do we go for air fills near Ginnie (I think someone mentioned Ginnie doesn't do air fills).

My friends won't be able to make it but I'm trying to get MantaRey to come though. Is there a limit to sharing campsites for example parking two cars at same site for price of on spot? Also are we all renting campsites randomly over entire campground or are we going to be in one big hord of loiterers?

The camping is $16.00 per person, not per campsite.

When I get there I plan on telling them that I am with Scuabboard and if any more from my group arrive, please try to get them near me so we aren't all over the place. So if you are camping, let them know that you are with us, so you can find us.

Ginnie has air fills, but not nitrox. If you want nitrox you need to get it at Extreme Exposure (you pass it in High Springs on the way to Ginnie) or at Cave Excursions which is now open. Its 2 miles down the road from Ginnie at the intersection of Highway 47 I think.


As a side note, I am very much into safety and training as I mentioned in my first post on this thread. If you are going to be stupid and do things that are dangerous or against the rules, or if you deface/litter any caves (there is a cave conservation law in Florida) you won't be invited back to any more of my hosted functions. I'm not saying that any of you are going to do anything like this, but I wanted my opinion to be made clear now so there isn't any confusion later. I just want all of us to be safe and happy and have a good time. I'm sure all of you can understand that.