NSS-CDS Full Cave: The Live-Blog

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So the better question now that you are slightly sidelined with an ear infection and back to the grind of life in the Great White Nort, did you complete one of the Cave levels? Basically, are you in a position now that you could come down and do a few "fun" dives and really just settle into a relaxing cave dive? I will tell you this, I think I had one of the best cave instructors there is but it is still nice after dives of scrutiny and skills to just dive and relax.
 
Basically, are you in a position now that you could come down and do a few "fun" dives and really just settle into a relaxing cave dive?
ScubaBoard's own Spring Megadive at Ginnie has been scheduled for March 29-31. ScubaBoard Fool's Spring MegaDive 2019 There's something for everyone from OW diver to full cave. All the cool kids come out for this epic event. :D
 
This very thing nearly derailed my 'journey into tech' a year ago. First in-water session in TDI AN/DP was in Hudson Grotto. After accomplishing everything on the surface, heading down into blackness overwhelmed my senses. I managed to do it, but it was the hardest working against what my senses were "telling" me to do I can remember in a very long time. I will have to go look at the computer and see if I can figure out what my instantaneous SAC/RMV was.

I'm full cave, dpv, trimix, ccr and I still refuse to go deeper than 30 feet in Hudson grotto. I absolutely hate the chemocline. It creeps me the hell out and I refuse to go near it. I don't mind haloclines or other chemoclines such as thin hydrogen sulfide, but Hudson, Hospital Hole, and Angelita are on my creepy as hell list. Most people love Angelita in Mexico, I absolutely can't stand it. I went into the chemocline there a little and said no way. At those places I get tunnel vision, increased sac rate and general discomfort. On the other hand I've been in a near complete silt out far back in tight cave and had no issues with it.

Hudson grotto houses the devil and his minions in my mind.
 
Hudson grotto houses the devil and his minions in my mind.

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My SAC rate was over 2.0 cu. ft./min in the first five minutes of that dive....contemplating devil and minions.
 
Hudson grotto... if you can dive there, you can dive anywhere. I love it. First time I ever encountered a double halocline and reverse thermocline. My first dive there, I misunderstood where I was. My buddy and I thought we were in 80 ft, it was horrible 2 ft vis and we lawn darted at @60ft. I was up to my thighs in that ooze. I was lucky to get my boots and fins out of that crud. Hoooweee! The vis clears when you hit the salt and I have to say it was one of the most fun dives I've had. Now, I love to use it for AOW. Like I posted earlier, if you can dive there, you can dive most anywhere.
 
This isn't my video, it's from a dive my wife and her colleague did there. Recently Hudson had great viz and and the chemocline changed to be a little different. I believe they said due to a different type of bacteria. I don't know exactly. They do research for USF on all this stuff

Edit: well that didn't work. If anybody can tell the secret on how to upload a video, it would be helpful. It's a file on my desktop, not something that can be embedded
 
Yes that is exactly what I’m describing. Good form, being streamlined, and reading the cave all help, but getting through the first 400-500 of Hart when it’s flowing hard is more difficult for a woman with less upper body strength. I’ve done support at Twin D’s when the flow was *way* up so I’m not trying to say it’s insurmountable, just that men have a bit of an advantage with their standard strength. And, Ginnie (where the OP was diving) has some passages with extremely high flow/current. Newer cave divers often struggle with the flow in the gallery (first big room after the entrance) - while it does require some work, I can go up in the ceiling and can pull and glide all the way to the lips without even kicking. But once I get to the cornflakes, I sure wish I had a little more upper body strength!

Regarding gas consumption - and you saw this with the OP - the higher flow the cave, the larger the delta of gas used between entrance / exit. Assuming no decompression (to make it easier) if someone swims to thirds in a high flow cave, they typically end the dive with much more than 1/3 of the tank, bc much of that second (exit) third wasn’t used. The flow also can change depending on which passage you are in.

For those that don't understand the reference that Kate is making, to negotiate the first 400' of Hart Springs under normal conditions, a diver has to pull themselves forward via a ski rope that was been placed in the system during a flood. There is no way to swim against that level of flow.
 
For the more experienced cavers, how do you handle vertical pulls in a head-down orientation?

My brain stem just doesn't like the idea of pitching face-first into darkness as a survival strategy, so the first couple of runs down the Ear through tannic were challenging.

that's mental. I personally think to myself "whoo-hoo! about to go cave diving!"
 
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