Hetland
Contributor
The BP Gulf spill put a serious hurting on my diving this Summer. I try to get out once a week in the warmer months to dome some diving, which helps immensely with my stress levels, but once the oil reached our area, I wasn't really comfortable doing any diving in the Gulf. My usual group made some trips to the springs closer in to our area, but we quickly ran out of new places to dive because we weren't cavern or cave certified. We even made a trip to Ginnie and Devil's Den to get some fresh dives in. In the process of diving all of these springs, the ones that were old and new to us, I began to see that not having a cavern cert was keeping us from other dive opportunities, including some that were relatively close-in, like Morrison and Jackson Blue.
After talking to a few folks I decided I wanted to go with Gregg Stanton in Wakulla County Wakulla Diving Center Florida CCR Training/Repair/Support Gregg has forgotten more about diving than I will ever know, but you can only tell this after speaking with him on the subject for a while. Gregg is not the ego-heavy type. He is very laid-back, and easy going, but there wasn't a question I asked that he didn't immediately know the answer to. I was very impressed with Gregg's CV before taking the class. I met with him, and toured his dive center, which offers everything from beach snorkel gear to rebreathers. The shop is quite impressive.
I got together with MrXRay and ReCharge, and we all decided to take the Cavern Class from Gregg together. It's a long-@$$ drive to Wakulla, but it worked out to be the best choice in my circumstances. Gregg gave us some inside info on good lodging in Wakulla, and closer to Ginnie near High Springs. We were happy with both locations we stayed at, and plan to revisit both areas again soon for dive trips, especially because the water there is almost 20 degrees warmer than the Gulf at the moment
We started out with a lecture at the Dive center. I had pre-read a good deal on cavern training beforehand, but there was still a lot of new information presented. After the lecture we made plans to meet up in the morning for land drills and diving.
We arrived at Peacock Springs, and took a quick look at Orange Grove Sink, where we would do our first three dives. We then moved back inland a bit and began our line lecture and drills.
Once our drills were complete, we broke for a quick lunch and prepared for diving. We did open water first, then the deeper cavern and finished with the shallow cavern (my favorite). I'll spare the gory details of the underwater line drills, but I will say that if I'm ever blinded underwater and several trees fall into the cavern, I can still get me and my buddy out without too much sweat. I didn't appreciate the line maze they put us through until we were done, and I looked down at the spider web they had created. It was brutal, and I loved every second of it! It was easily the most fun I had had in a SCUBA class to date, and it was only day one!
Day two was at Ginnie. We started out at Ginnie Spring (proper) and did more blinded line drills, this time with and without air sharing. I was a bit nervous about the air sharing drills, but I guess my prior training and experience payed off (Larry, Barry and I practice basic skills every few months) Most (if not all) of Cavern training is mental. Experience in zero viz and air sharing helps keep the mind calm when you're task-loaded and forced to perform new skills. I was challenged, yet confident that I could complete the tasks handed to us at any time. I also felt very comfortable with Gregg watching our progress and pointing out our errors. I never felt like he wasn't giving us his undivided attention.
Our second dive was Devil's Ear (my favorite for day two, and second favorite overall) We pulled ourselves in past the flow and found calmer waters inside. It was beautiful inside, and we got to see the entrances to unknown miles of cave in almost all directions. The big tunnel called out to me a little, whispering in my ear to continue forward, but my respect for the standards, instructors, the community and my own frailty effectively kept me where I needed to stay behind the sign.
Our last dive was Devil's Ear. Gregg advised us that it was our show to run, so we calculated our turn times and decided who would run the line in and who would run the line out. The dive went well, as we stopped once we got to the edge of the cavern zone and enjoyed the view. We backed out into the larger part of the cavern there and inspected the formations in the floors and ceilings. Once we got close to our turn pressure we gathered everyone on the line and made our exit.
We hit the showers and agreed to meet at The Great Outdoors for our debrief and paperwork. Gregg asked us to critique ourselves, and then commented on where we did especially well, or where we needed to focus our practice for improvements.
I really like Gregg's teaching style. He has a knack for finding each diver's skill and confidence level, and then pushing that diver to the perfect edge of challenge and performance. Once the diver hits the next mark, Gregg is right there to move the diver forward once again. I don't know if I will move further into the cave-training continuum, but I do know that I will move forward with other tech training, and that Gregg will be my instructor of choice. Anyone considering Cavern, should give Gregg a call or stop by his shop for an interview.
After talking to a few folks I decided I wanted to go with Gregg Stanton in Wakulla County Wakulla Diving Center Florida CCR Training/Repair/Support Gregg has forgotten more about diving than I will ever know, but you can only tell this after speaking with him on the subject for a while. Gregg is not the ego-heavy type. He is very laid-back, and easy going, but there wasn't a question I asked that he didn't immediately know the answer to. I was very impressed with Gregg's CV before taking the class. I met with him, and toured his dive center, which offers everything from beach snorkel gear to rebreathers. The shop is quite impressive.
I got together with MrXRay and ReCharge, and we all decided to take the Cavern Class from Gregg together. It's a long-@$$ drive to Wakulla, but it worked out to be the best choice in my circumstances. Gregg gave us some inside info on good lodging in Wakulla, and closer to Ginnie near High Springs. We were happy with both locations we stayed at, and plan to revisit both areas again soon for dive trips, especially because the water there is almost 20 degrees warmer than the Gulf at the moment
We started out with a lecture at the Dive center. I had pre-read a good deal on cavern training beforehand, but there was still a lot of new information presented. After the lecture we made plans to meet up in the morning for land drills and diving.
We arrived at Peacock Springs, and took a quick look at Orange Grove Sink, where we would do our first three dives. We then moved back inland a bit and began our line lecture and drills.
Once our drills were complete, we broke for a quick lunch and prepared for diving. We did open water first, then the deeper cavern and finished with the shallow cavern (my favorite). I'll spare the gory details of the underwater line drills, but I will say that if I'm ever blinded underwater and several trees fall into the cavern, I can still get me and my buddy out without too much sweat. I didn't appreciate the line maze they put us through until we were done, and I looked down at the spider web they had created. It was brutal, and I loved every second of it! It was easily the most fun I had had in a SCUBA class to date, and it was only day one!
Day two was at Ginnie. We started out at Ginnie Spring (proper) and did more blinded line drills, this time with and without air sharing. I was a bit nervous about the air sharing drills, but I guess my prior training and experience payed off (Larry, Barry and I practice basic skills every few months) Most (if not all) of Cavern training is mental. Experience in zero viz and air sharing helps keep the mind calm when you're task-loaded and forced to perform new skills. I was challenged, yet confident that I could complete the tasks handed to us at any time. I also felt very comfortable with Gregg watching our progress and pointing out our errors. I never felt like he wasn't giving us his undivided attention.
Our second dive was Devil's Ear (my favorite for day two, and second favorite overall) We pulled ourselves in past the flow and found calmer waters inside. It was beautiful inside, and we got to see the entrances to unknown miles of cave in almost all directions. The big tunnel called out to me a little, whispering in my ear to continue forward, but my respect for the standards, instructors, the community and my own frailty effectively kept me where I needed to stay behind the sign.
Our last dive was Devil's Ear. Gregg advised us that it was our show to run, so we calculated our turn times and decided who would run the line in and who would run the line out. The dive went well, as we stopped once we got to the edge of the cavern zone and enjoyed the view. We backed out into the larger part of the cavern there and inspected the formations in the floors and ceilings. Once we got close to our turn pressure we gathered everyone on the line and made our exit.
We hit the showers and agreed to meet at The Great Outdoors for our debrief and paperwork. Gregg asked us to critique ourselves, and then commented on where we did especially well, or where we needed to focus our practice for improvements.
I really like Gregg's teaching style. He has a knack for finding each diver's skill and confidence level, and then pushing that diver to the perfect edge of challenge and performance. Once the diver hits the next mark, Gregg is right there to move the diver forward once again. I don't know if I will move further into the cave-training continuum, but I do know that I will move forward with other tech training, and that Gregg will be my instructor of choice. Anyone considering Cavern, should give Gregg a call or stop by his shop for an interview.
