Ginnie Springs or other nearby location December 25, 2018

[tmassey]

Hello!

I'm heading down to Ginne Springs for the week of the 24th to the 31st. I'm wondering if anyone will be diving on December 25 (yes, Christmas) and wouldn't mind a tagalong? Doesn't even have to be at Ginnie: it's just where I'll be near. I'm willing to drive a bit.

I'm Intro Cave certified (so only to 1/6). I've only got about a half-dozen cave dives under my belt, so a cave newbie. Doesn't have to be a cave dive: I'm up for anything I'm trained for.

If you're interested, let me know! Thank you!

 

[Johnoly]

Keep an eye on the river flooding recently. Peacock, Cow, Little River and more were all blown out yesterday and getting worse.

 

[tmassey]

Hmm... I'm not familiar with this. I know what blown out means in the context of wreck diving, but I'm thinking that this is not related to wind and waves! I have heard this (flooding/"blown out") mentioned, but I don't really know the details. What does this mean for me as a diver?

 

[tmassey]

Found a nice post describing this here: Cave Diving sites flooding!!

So, it seems the winter storm that passed through the South will have negative effects down in North Florida... Any local rain predicted in the next week or two?

Well, I'm going to be down it seems anyway. Now I wish I hadn't paid for my lodging: maybe I'd keep going down the road to Pompano or Key Largo! But seeing as I have a class the 26th, unless that gets cancelled, I'm going to be in cave country the 25th.

So anyone want to poke around in a tanniny cavern on the 25th? I'm game for anything, and if you need a reason to get away from the family in the afternoon (or even the morning! ) let me know!

 

[Johnoly]

... What does this mean for me as a diver?

In a worst case, the spring is closed. Like today Dec 11, the very popular Peacock springs is closed to all divers.
Ginnie is usually one of the last to get blown out due to it's great flow. But if the river rises up like it did this summer and went almost over the pavillion roofs(yikes!), Ginnie will and has closed before.
You next question will be "For How Long ?" ,,,,,Dunno. Best to keep checking with which ever spring your are planning on since it is always a Day by Day decision by the managers.

 

[tmassey]

I don't really have a plan. My intention was to stay centered on Ginnie. So as long as Ginnie is diveable I'm OK.

I'm a new (and only Intro-certified) cave diver. I've done so few cave dives that *any* of them are just fine...

Thanks for the info. So like I said: anyone who wants to get out of the house on the 25th let me know. I'm up for anything (within my training and experience, of course... ).

 

[The Chairman]

The link you posted was from 2008.

Ginnie is still clear as of today and I hope to be there in the am. I might be up for a dive on Christmas day, so ask me closer to the date.

 

[tmassey]

The reason I included the link had nothing to do with current conditions. It merely had to do with what in the world "blown out" means for a cave system. It was a really simple but detailed description that I thought might help others. Maybe I should note that it's the *second* post that is the valuable one... (If anything, it should be blown *in*: at least then it wouldn't confuse us poor wreck divers! ).

As for the 25th: You're on. I'll get in touch at the end of next week.

Anyone else want to dive with The Chairman? (And me too! )

 

[Brojas]

Just was at Ginnie yesterday. Water was maybe 24-30in higher than normal. Devil’s eye area was busy as it seemed like people were trying to get a dive in before it got browned out. Ballroom we had practically to ourselves. They seem to be expecting more rain today, so I would definitely call them/ check in maybe Sat/Sun. The Santa Fe river was running pretty fast, and the vis from the river is arms length at best. I’m not cave trained, but traversing through overheads in sh*t soup vis doesn’t sound fun.

If ginnie is flooded, check out peacock, manatee, or maybe blue grotto if all else fails

 

[tmassey]

Now I have a conundrum...

My instructor just let me know that due to a serious and personal emergency, he will have to cancel my class next week. So now I'm really at a crossroads. I've already paid for my lodging and I don't know if I can get it back. But if diving will be so much of an issue, should I just scrap my trip? I have no class to go to now.

Of course, if I could find a class for next week and if we can actually *do* the class with the diving conditions... I'd be all for it.

Boy. Decisions. Anyone out there able to teach a TDI Full Cave class to an already-Intro student next week? Or some other interesting class? PM Me! I already have AN/DP so that's out... Even a Solo class would be something we could do! Basically I'd like to get this sorted out by tomorrow (Friday), otherwise I think I'll have to cancel, and I really don't want to cancel!

I'll create a post with a better topic, but I thought I'd update this thread as well.