Come out and help us!

[Dive-aholic]

Come out and help the NACD and Current Problems with the Great Suwannee River Cleanup! Current Problems had its first Suwannee River Cleanup last year and with the help of over 500 volunteers was able to remove almost 30,000 pounds of trash from the river and its banks. Current Problems is hosting the 2nd Great Suwannee River Cleanup and the NACD will be right there helping!

Current Problems is kicking off this year’s event on Saturday September 10 from 10am to 2pm at Ivey Memorial Park in Branford, FL (the Branford boat ramp). The NACD will be there to help kick off the event. There will be a band and food and a great opportunity to meet other volunteers and just have fun!

On Sunday September 11, we will head over to our river section and begin our clean up. We have adopted 13.5 miles of the river from Hart Springs ramp to Rock Bluff ramp, with 3 other ramps along that stretch of river. This is where you come in. We need volunteers to make this effort a success! We will have our own cook out and we’ll also be giving away prizes to those who collect the most trash and the most unusual trash on the 11th! Make sure you bring your families! You don’t have to be a diver to participate in the clean up. We are committed to cleaning the river and the banks. If you have a river boat or canoe, bring it, too! I’ll have my jon boat there, but I can’t clean up 13.5 miles by myself. Bring yours, too!

Can’t make it on the 11th? That’s okay. The 11th is just when the NACD is kicking off our participation in this. We will continue to work on cleaning up our stretch of river over the next couple of months. Just contact me at conservation@safecavediving.com for information on where we have already cleaned and what still needs to be cleaned. We’ll also let you know where you can pick up supplies and where you can drop off the trash. Make sure you take photos of your trash because we will award additional prizes for the most trash collected and the most unusual trash at the NACD Annual Seminar on November 12 in Gainesville! And get in those photos with the trash because you just might see yourself on the NACD website!

Don’t miss out on this chance to help keep our springs and rivers clean and to show everyone that we, as cave divers, are contributing members of our communities! Can’t wait to see you there!!!

[karstdvr]

Absolutely Rob,this is a great project, Last year the NFSA did Adams tract,to Troy and Ruth Springs,and had a great time. This project has side benefits to the cave diving community because it exemplifies our conservation awareness which is in all cave agencies mission statement,but really helps with landowner relations. Yeah,it takes away part of a day,and takes away a cave dive,but it pays huge dividends and community involvement is needed by participants in the sport-not just the other guy. Please support Rob and the NACD,especially in this county where land owner relations is really needed.

[NACD]

Hey all, just want to say another thanks to Rob Neto for leading the NACD’s contribution to the Great Suwannee Cleanup. Several volunteers have signed up but we can still use more help. If you have a canoe or small boat, that is a plus. If you have an interest in helping to clean up the Suwannee, contact Rob at conservation@safecavediving.com. If September 11 or future dates are not convenient, Amigos has several cleanup days on their schedule. Hope to see you on the Suwannee (or the Sante Fe).

Kelly, thank you for your comments.

Sandy Robinson
pr@safecavediving.com

[Dive-aholic]

The cleanup weekend is getting closer. We need more volunteers! Please e-mail me at conservation@safecavediving.com if you plan on attending. We'd like to see you at the kick-off on the 10th, but we really need you on the 11th. Let me know if you plan on participating, if you plan on doing surface clean up or underwater clean up, and if you have a river boat you can bring so we can start working out the logistics.

[Dive-aholic]

Don't forget to come out and help us clean up the Suwannee River this weekend. We're meeting in Branford, FL tomorrow at the Ivey Brown Park for the kick-off event from 10-2. Then the NACD will meet at the Rock Bluff Boat Ramp on Sunday at 8am to begin cleaning our section of the river. There will be food and prizes!!

Here are directions to the ramp from Branford -


Branford, FL‎


1.

Head south on SW Drane St toward SW Bluff Ave
About 1 min

go 0.2 mi
total 0.2 mi

2.

Turn left onto US-129 S/US-27 S
About 6 mins

go 4.0 mi
total 4.2 mi

3.

Turn right onto US-129 S/Co Rd 49
Continue to follow US-129 S
About 12 mins

go 10.9 mi
total 15.1 mi

4.

Turn right onto Co Rd 340
About 6 mins

go 3.1 mi
total 18.2 mi

Co Rd 340‎

Hope to see you there!!

[Doppler]

Wish I could be there... see you NEXT weekend at Marianna

[Dive-aholic]

We had a great weekend on the Suwannee River! The NACD helped kick off the 2nd Annual Great Suwannee River Cleanup on Saturday. A few of us left after the event and drove just up the road to Little River for a dive. We were at Rock Bluff Ramp at 8am Sunday morning with over a dozen volunteers. There were several jon boats, kayaks, and even a gheenoe. We covered about 2 miles of river and collected about 150 lbs of trash! We then grilled some burgers and dogs and gave out some prizes to all the volunteers. A few of us took a quick trip over to Rock Bluff Spring to scope it out for a future dive trip.

Thanks to Sandy for helping with the NACD booth on Saturday, Debra for supporting our efforts for this event, Cathy for the great accommodations at Dive Outpost, and especially to all the volunteers that showed up and got their hands dirty picking up trash!!! We had people from all over Florida and even a couple of volunteers from Alabama!

We collected trash from just north of Rock Bluff Ramp to just south of Gornto Ramp. We still have more river to clean! Head on out anytime you can with your watercraft and some trash bags and collect any trash you see along the banks of the Suwannee. We still need to clean from the Gornto Ramp down to Hart Springs Ramp. Along that stretch are Log Landing, Wannee, Eula Landing, Turner Point Landing, and Hart Springs Ramps. All we ask is that you estimate the weight of the trash you collect and e-mail me at conservation@safecavediving.com with that number so we can submit it to Current Problems to keep track of.

Also, come out and join us at Log Landing Ramp on Saturday, October 8 from 10am to 3pm! Bring your boats and we’ll supply the trash bags. We’ll even have another grill out during this event. The Suwannee is a big river and can even accommodate large pontoon boats and jet skis, so bring what you have!

Finally, there are also other clean up events being held along the Suwannee. This Saturday join Pete Butt of Karst Environmental and several others at Telford Spring for trash collection. Pete is also organizing another large event for sometime in October (date still to be determined).

Thanks for your help and for giving back to the community!

[Dive-aholic]

Don't forget to come out and help us clean the Suwannee River next Saturday, Oct 8, from 10am until about 3pm. We are meeting at Log Landing. Here are the directions from Branford -

Driving directions to NW 6th St

Branford, FL

1. Head south on SW Drane St toward SW Bluff Ave


0.2 mi
2. Turn left onto FL-20 E/US-129 S/US-27 S


4.0 mi
3. Turn right onto US-129 S/Co Rd 49
Continue to follow US-129 S



10.9 mi
4. Turn right onto Co Rd 340


2.6 mi
5. Turn left onto NW Co Rd 341


3.0 mi
6. Turn right onto NW 10th St


0.5 mi
7. Turn left onto NW 65th Ave


0.3 mi
8. NW 65th Ave turns slightly right and becomes NW 7th Pl


0.9 mi
9. Turn left onto NW 73rd Way


0.1 mi
10. NW 73rd Way turns right and becomes NW 6th St


0.4 mi

NW 6th St

Bring your boats, canoes, kayaks, and cave diving gear!