SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
I met up with spd_135 at the Loxley Exit off I-10 and we loaded up his truck and we zipped off East for a day at Vortex Springs. We had blue skies and tempertures were going to be in the low-mid 70sF so our surface intervals would be very comfortable and warming up wouldn't be a problem at all. Vortex was pretty empty, being a weekday, and we arrived with one class in the water(who would leave before we got in) and one solo diver. GlenFWB was also there to dive with our group(to his level), get some more time on his Nomad, and snap a few pictures. We BS'd with Shane a bit, and he had just gotten one of the DiveRite handheld HIDs converted over to LED(500). He gladly let me give the light a try and spd_135 would be trying one of the Oyxcheq backups. We'd be comparing them against a DiveRite LED 700 and OMS Vega's. Spd was also trying out a manifold system he's built for his sidemount rig.
We geared up slowly, no big hurry as we weren't really worried about the crowds, and eventually hit the water. Glen looks to have taken to the Nomad very well, and his trim and bouyancy were very good. He says he's fighting heavy feet(diving SP Jets), but I think the OMS Slipstreams he ordered will all but fix that problem. Spd and I dropped some O2 bottles(for the next dive) at the beginning of the cave and swam down to the gate and back. We all piddled around the cavern quite a bit. Visibility was probably around 50-60' at this point and we were treated with quite a view! Its been quite a while since I've seen Vortex this clear(usually here on weekends with lots of traffic). Once finished in the cavern, we played around a bit in OW, messing with fish, pulling bottles off, goofing around, etc. I ended up with a max depth of 109' for a dive lasting 47 minutes. The cave itself was crystal clear as usual.
We spent our SI(1:42) filling tanks, adjusting gear, and talking diving. Spd_135 and I would head into the water a bit early on this dive to get a deeper cave dive in, and Glen would meet us at the entrance to take some photos of us around 45 minutes after the dive. We swam over the OW shinanigans(a few other teams in the water now) and zipped down the cavern and into the cave, making quick work of the passage between the daylightzone and the gate. Spd unlocked the gate and we zipped on through. Flow was up! After passing through the vertical fissure and down into the low passage, I was suprised that I actually had to work to make progress against the flow. Seems like the aquifer has been charged up quite a bit from the recent rainfall. We made a steady pace through the low passage and eventually passed into the room on the other side, the wide spance of open space relieved us of the flow, thankfully. Spd thumbed the dive here and we headed back out of the cave. He poked into another possible sidepassage, but it deadended right away. We exitted the cave quite early and Glen was just getting there, not expecting us, but he still got a few pictures of us picking up our O2. We made a slow exit from the cavern, and a slow ascent into OW. I jumped on O2 above one of the fake caves for an obligation of 5 minutes. I ended up staying on O2 for about 10 for the hellovit, then swapped back to my backgas(23%) for a few more minutes as we hovered around in OW. I ended up with a max depth of 131' for a dive lasting 56 minutes.
It was a great set of dives and we were all hungry at this point. So we opted out of our possible third dive, filled tanks, and headed over to Sallys! As always, I left full and satisfied
Talked cave diving the entire way home, always makes the trip go faster. Looking forward to Spring-SpringFest next weekend!
We geared up slowly, no big hurry as we weren't really worried about the crowds, and eventually hit the water. Glen looks to have taken to the Nomad very well, and his trim and bouyancy were very good. He says he's fighting heavy feet(diving SP Jets), but I think the OMS Slipstreams he ordered will all but fix that problem. Spd and I dropped some O2 bottles(for the next dive) at the beginning of the cave and swam down to the gate and back. We all piddled around the cavern quite a bit. Visibility was probably around 50-60' at this point and we were treated with quite a view! Its been quite a while since I've seen Vortex this clear(usually here on weekends with lots of traffic). Once finished in the cavern, we played around a bit in OW, messing with fish, pulling bottles off, goofing around, etc. I ended up with a max depth of 109' for a dive lasting 47 minutes. The cave itself was crystal clear as usual.
We spent our SI(1:42) filling tanks, adjusting gear, and talking diving. Spd_135 and I would head into the water a bit early on this dive to get a deeper cave dive in, and Glen would meet us at the entrance to take some photos of us around 45 minutes after the dive. We swam over the OW shinanigans(a few other teams in the water now) and zipped down the cavern and into the cave, making quick work of the passage between the daylightzone and the gate. Spd unlocked the gate and we zipped on through. Flow was up! After passing through the vertical fissure and down into the low passage, I was suprised that I actually had to work to make progress against the flow. Seems like the aquifer has been charged up quite a bit from the recent rainfall. We made a steady pace through the low passage and eventually passed into the room on the other side, the wide spance of open space relieved us of the flow, thankfully. Spd thumbed the dive here and we headed back out of the cave. He poked into another possible sidepassage, but it deadended right away. We exitted the cave quite early and Glen was just getting there, not expecting us, but he still got a few pictures of us picking up our O2. We made a slow exit from the cavern, and a slow ascent into OW. I jumped on O2 above one of the fake caves for an obligation of 5 minutes. I ended up staying on O2 for about 10 for the hellovit, then swapped back to my backgas(23%) for a few more minutes as we hovered around in OW. I ended up with a max depth of 131' for a dive lasting 56 minutes.
It was a great set of dives and we were all hungry at this point. So we opted out of our possible third dive, filled tanks, and headed over to Sallys! As always, I left full and satisfied
Talked cave diving the entire way home, always makes the trip go faster. Looking forward to Spring-SpringFest next weekend!
