SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
This past weekend was the first annual ScubaBoard Vortoberfest. I met up with a bunch of ScubaBoarders at Vortex Springs for 8AM. After socializing a bit with The Kraken, BabyDuck, SeaYoda, Gulf_Gulper, Rick Murchison(and you can't not mention his wonderful family!), Paulwall and Cewarbin, the majority of us parted from Vortex for a bit to do a few dives at Morrison Springs(including a cleanup dive).
Dive 1 @ Morrison Springs 10-15-5
BabyDuck survived the ride to Morrison in the Bronco of Doom without looking too incredibly horrified. Her singing even drowned out some of the engine racket.
We decided to do our first dive at Morrison without any real purpose other than to have fun. Visibility in the basin was atleast 80' and we had 15-20', or more, visibility in the spring run. After getting a good group shot ontop the log spanning the basin, we descended into the caverns. We all had fun looking at the eels and catfish. I found the goose on its normal ledge and my gnome now shared the same ledge(he must do alot of swimming when nobody is looking). The watermelon kid had been moved again, but I don't know exactly where. I believe SeaYoda and Gulf_Gulper located him, so he's still present. The bowling ball is still in the fissure, but almost hidden behind a bunch of loose rubble. I managed 90' in the cavern before burning 1/3rd my tank away and ascending back into the basin. We all goofed around the basin a bit more and then started exploring the outskirts of the spring run. I saw most of the same fauna you can expect to see at Morrison as well as alot of pike and slider turtles. One of the pike was very aggressive and gave us a bit of a show while hunting some of the bream. The first dive lasted 69 minutes for me.
Dive 2 @ Morrison Springs 10-15-5
We had a long SI that lasted about an hour and eighteen minutes before submerging ourselves into Morrison's crystal clear basin. Our plan was to burn 1/3 our tanks down in the cavern again and then ascend to the basin and work our way around and down the spring run picking up trash. We ended up getting 3 full sized goody bags packed to the top with an assortment of garbage. All I can say is that alot of people around those parts like vienna sausage and beer. I maxed out at 91' in the cavern and this dive lasted 73 min. I was good and chilly after that... not to mention hungry.
Wayward Son was onsite after we ascended from our second dive. He was there with his Scuba Club for a pumpkin carving/cookout. It was nice meeting him and hopefully he'll be able to join up with our group next time. We parted ways and the Vortoberfest Divers went to Sally's for some burgers.
Dive 3 @ Vortex Springs 10-15-5
After eating at Sally's we headed back to camp to get back to socializing with the rest of the ScubaBoarders who didn't join our dive at Morrison. The Kraken was still slaving over the brunswick stew - great stuff by the way. Darcy and Nuttz were onsite taking a cavern course that weekend(Darcy's birthday present to herself
). I talked with them for a bit during their SI before I was itching for another dive.
Paulwall and I did a quick ~40min dive in the spring while there was still a bit of daylight. Spectre zipped to the stairs on his DPV as we were getting into the water. Visibility was in the 15-20' range and the water was milky. I maxed out at 58' in the cavern. We did a couple of loops around the basin and saw all the normal stuff before heading back to camp.
By this time, the food had started being fired up by Rick so everyone was out at the Grandview enjoying each other's company and the smells coming off the grill. We had a variety of sausage including Conecuh, Robertsdale, and Kelly's. I live right next to Robertsdale(its located in AL) and had never had any of their sausage, but brought it per Rick's request - it definately won't be my last purchase of this stuff! The food was great, all of it, sausage, stew, the cake, every last bit!
Dive 4 @ Vortex Springs 10-15-5
A few of us wanted to partake in a night dive and Cewarbin wanted to test out the validity of cheese-wiz vs eel claim. A small group of us dropped down in the water and into the cavern and Cewarbin started squirting cheese everywhere. The eels slurped it up like spagetti, but they didn't get ravenous or anything - ah well. I hit 60' in the cavern and once everyone else started ascending, I followed SeaYoda's lead and we circled the basin for another 25 minutes without using any lights. The moon was nearly full and gave us plenty of ambient light to see, in fairly good detail, the basin and our gauges. The entire dive lasted 40 min.
Once we geared down and got dry the socializing started back up, with the addition of several flavors of beer One by one people dropped out to bed. I think it was around midnight when I finally crashed in the tent.
Dive 5 @ Cypress Springs 10-16-5
I watched most of the sunrise through the screen window of my tent. I think everyone was up and back at the campsite by 8ish for a bit more socializing. CD_in_Chitown met up with us at Vortex around 8:30ish to get some weights before we headed to Vernon to dive Cypress Springs. We said our goodbyes and headed out with some fresh fills. Once we goto the boatlaunch we noticed the water levels being very low and Holmes Creek was fairly clear, not its normal tannic brown/black mess. We setup Miss Jellyfish and loaded her with SCUBA and headed to Cypress.
There wasn't anyone else at the spring, topside locals, divers, or anyone else when we arrived. We went over a the dive plan briefly before gearing up and wading to the basin. Our first 1/3rd was spent inside the cavern before we looped the basin a few times. We saw all the normal fauna there as well as a little snapping turtle. CD_in_Chitown had tried twice previously to find this spring, but hadn't made it, so this was his first time and I think he had a pretty good time. I maxed out at 62' in the cavern and the dive lasted 33 minutes.
Dive 6 @ Cypress Springs 10-16-5
Our SI lasted just over an hour and a half dozen kayakers made there way into the spring. They asked us quite a few questions and we laughed at them gasping for air after hitting the cold water.
We dove the same profile and I hit 50' in the cavern(not going as deep this time) and the dive lasted for 34min. We didn't spend too much time in the cavern this time around due to my batteries failing in my light. I spotted one little crawfish in hole of a cypress trunk, but didn't come across any others. Cypress is a beautiful spring, I never get over how clear the water is there and how impressive the flow is coming from the cavern.
Dive 7 @ Becton Springs 10-16-5
Neither CD_in_Chitown or I had breathed awhole lot out of our second tank so we figured we might as well go check out Becton while we were in the area. We motored down Holmes Creek and back up the spring run - we couldn't use the shortcut due to the water levels being so low. Becton's entire basin was a milky blue color with only a small amount of tannic water around the streams coming in from the East that make the shortcut from upstream. Visibility varied from about 10-25' depending on how close you were to the main fissure and how many carp were in your immediate area sucking the silt off the bottom and into midwater. There's a fairly sizable bass that hangs out near the center of the spring that came within inches of my hand checking us out. The same fish(nearly certain) was there the last time I visited this site. We had a bit of fun with a slider turtle before heading back to the boat. I managed 30' while sticking my head into the largest fissure and the dive lasted 24 minutes.
I had a great weekend and got alot of wonderful dives in while in the area. Company was top notch and the food was excellent! The weather was absolutely perfect and I don't believe I saw a single cloud the entire time I was there. The Kraken says he's reserved a campsite for this time next year and I can't wait till it roles back around
More pics at this site
Dive 1 @ Morrison Springs 10-15-5
BabyDuck survived the ride to Morrison in the Bronco of Doom without looking too incredibly horrified. Her singing even drowned out some of the engine racket.
We decided to do our first dive at Morrison without any real purpose other than to have fun. Visibility in the basin was atleast 80' and we had 15-20', or more, visibility in the spring run. After getting a good group shot ontop the log spanning the basin, we descended into the caverns. We all had fun looking at the eels and catfish. I found the goose on its normal ledge and my gnome now shared the same ledge(he must do alot of swimming when nobody is looking). The watermelon kid had been moved again, but I don't know exactly where. I believe SeaYoda and Gulf_Gulper located him, so he's still present. The bowling ball is still in the fissure, but almost hidden behind a bunch of loose rubble. I managed 90' in the cavern before burning 1/3rd my tank away and ascending back into the basin. We all goofed around the basin a bit more and then started exploring the outskirts of the spring run. I saw most of the same fauna you can expect to see at Morrison as well as alot of pike and slider turtles. One of the pike was very aggressive and gave us a bit of a show while hunting some of the bream. The first dive lasted 69 minutes for me.
Dive 2 @ Morrison Springs 10-15-5
We had a long SI that lasted about an hour and eighteen minutes before submerging ourselves into Morrison's crystal clear basin. Our plan was to burn 1/3 our tanks down in the cavern again and then ascend to the basin and work our way around and down the spring run picking up trash. We ended up getting 3 full sized goody bags packed to the top with an assortment of garbage. All I can say is that alot of people around those parts like vienna sausage and beer. I maxed out at 91' in the cavern and this dive lasted 73 min. I was good and chilly after that... not to mention hungry.
Wayward Son was onsite after we ascended from our second dive. He was there with his Scuba Club for a pumpkin carving/cookout. It was nice meeting him and hopefully he'll be able to join up with our group next time. We parted ways and the Vortoberfest Divers went to Sally's for some burgers.
Dive 3 @ Vortex Springs 10-15-5
After eating at Sally's we headed back to camp to get back to socializing with the rest of the ScubaBoarders who didn't join our dive at Morrison. The Kraken was still slaving over the brunswick stew - great stuff by the way. Darcy and Nuttz were onsite taking a cavern course that weekend(Darcy's birthday present to herself
). I talked with them for a bit during their SI before I was itching for another dive. Paulwall and I did a quick ~40min dive in the spring while there was still a bit of daylight. Spectre zipped to the stairs on his DPV as we were getting into the water. Visibility was in the 15-20' range and the water was milky. I maxed out at 58' in the cavern. We did a couple of loops around the basin and saw all the normal stuff before heading back to camp.
By this time, the food had started being fired up by Rick so everyone was out at the Grandview enjoying each other's company and the smells coming off the grill. We had a variety of sausage including Conecuh, Robertsdale, and Kelly's. I live right next to Robertsdale(its located in AL) and had never had any of their sausage, but brought it per Rick's request - it definately won't be my last purchase of this stuff! The food was great, all of it, sausage, stew, the cake, every last bit!
Dive 4 @ Vortex Springs 10-15-5
A few of us wanted to partake in a night dive and Cewarbin wanted to test out the validity of cheese-wiz vs eel claim. A small group of us dropped down in the water and into the cavern and Cewarbin started squirting cheese everywhere. The eels slurped it up like spagetti, but they didn't get ravenous or anything - ah well.
I hit 60' in the cavern and once everyone else started ascending, I followed SeaYoda's lead and we circled the basin for another 25 minutes without using any lights. The moon was nearly full and gave us plenty of ambient light to see, in fairly good detail, the basin and our gauges. The entire dive lasted 40 min.Once we geared down and got dry the socializing started back up, with the addition of several flavors of beer
One by one people dropped out to bed. I think it was around midnight when I finally crashed in the tent. Dive 5 @ Cypress Springs 10-16-5
I watched most of the sunrise through the screen window of my tent. I think everyone was up and back at the campsite by 8ish for a bit more socializing. CD_in_Chitown met up with us at Vortex around 8:30ish to get some weights before we headed to Vernon to dive Cypress Springs. We said our goodbyes and headed out with some fresh fills. Once we goto the boatlaunch we noticed the water levels being very low and Holmes Creek was fairly clear, not its normal tannic brown/black mess. We setup Miss Jellyfish and loaded her with SCUBA and headed to Cypress.
There wasn't anyone else at the spring, topside locals, divers, or anyone else when we arrived. We went over a the dive plan briefly before gearing up and wading to the basin. Our first 1/3rd was spent inside the cavern before we looped the basin a few times. We saw all the normal fauna there as well as a little snapping turtle. CD_in_Chitown had tried twice previously to find this spring, but hadn't made it, so this was his first time and I think he had a pretty good time. I maxed out at 62' in the cavern and the dive lasted 33 minutes.
Dive 6 @ Cypress Springs 10-16-5
Our SI lasted just over an hour and a half dozen kayakers made there way into the spring. They asked us quite a few questions and we laughed at them gasping for air after hitting the cold water.
We dove the same profile and I hit 50' in the cavern(not going as deep this time) and the dive lasted for 34min. We didn't spend too much time in the cavern this time around due to my batteries failing in my light. I spotted one little crawfish in hole of a cypress trunk, but didn't come across any others. Cypress is a beautiful spring, I never get over how clear the water is there and how impressive the flow is coming from the cavern.
Dive 7 @ Becton Springs 10-16-5
Neither CD_in_Chitown or I had breathed awhole lot out of our second tank so we figured we might as well go check out Becton while we were in the area. We motored down Holmes Creek and back up the spring run - we couldn't use the shortcut due to the water levels being so low. Becton's entire basin was a milky blue color with only a small amount of tannic water around the streams coming in from the East that make the shortcut from upstream. Visibility varied from about 10-25' depending on how close you were to the main fissure and how many carp were in your immediate area sucking the silt off the bottom and into midwater. There's a fairly sizable bass that hangs out near the center of the spring that came within inches of my hand checking us out. The same fish(nearly certain) was there the last time I visited this site. We had a bit of fun with a slider turtle before heading back to the boat. I managed 30' while sticking my head into the largest fissure and the dive lasted 24 minutes.
I had a great weekend and got alot of wonderful dives in while in the area. Company was top notch and the food was excellent! The weather was absolutely perfect and I don't believe I saw a single cloud the entire time I was there. The Kraken says he's reserved a campsite for this time next year and I can't wait till it roles back around
More pics at this site
