GUE Cave 1

Inspired by other recountings of various divers' experiences with their cave training, this page has been set up in order to do the same for myself. The course was taken over two consecutive weekends, and was done under the tutelage of GUE instructor Tyler Moon. At the time I took this course I had the following experience and equipment:

For the cave deaths of trained cave divers, numbers 1 and 5 are thrown out, and the new order is as follows:

At about this time, we took lunch. Could have been another strategic stopping point in the lecture.

Equipment Configuration
We took lunch at about 12:30 and then returned to Extreme-Exposure around 1:30. We set up all of our gear on the picnic tables behind the shop for inspection. All of us in the class had checked out the GUE web site, in addition to any other sites we could find, so we were pretty prepared as far as the overall setup of our harnesses, our hose routing, and light locations. Where an instructor comes in handy is the details that you would never know unless someone told you. Tyler made the point that he did not want us to just accept what he says without question. He felt, and rightly so, that it is just as important to know why you are rigging your gear in a certain manner as it is to do it in the first place.

With regards to my gear configuration, Tyler's first comment concerned the yellow webbing on mine and my buddy's harness. For some reason none of the dive shops in Tallahassee carried 2-inch webbing when we rigged our harnesses a few months back, so we just bought some 10,000 lb. tow rope from Wal-Mart. It included enough length to make two harnesses. It's worked so far, and Tyler didn't seem too troubled by it so unless I notice some major wear and tear, I'll just leave it as is. It's nice and pliable too.

My crotch strap was done in the Schimmelian (sp?) style with the folded over 2-inch webbing to fit through the 1-inch slit on my backplate. I needed to move my back D-ring up a few inches to level with the bottom of the tanks. Apparently, the higher it is, the better it is at keeping whatever's clipped off there out of the way. I also needed to add a second piece of bicycle tire inner tube below each chest D-ring just in case one of the ones holding the backup light in place broke. Tyler suggested the use of a plastic buckle to hold the canister light in place. This was due to its higher profile so that it would prevent rolling of the light, whereas the lower profile SS buckle I had on there would not. Other than that, I just needed to loosen up my shoulder straps about a half-inch to make it easier to get in and out of my harness. Another diver I talked to said that he keeps his so loose that all of the weight from the harness is on his hips, as opposed to the hips and shoulders. I'll see how that works on Days 3, 4, and 5.

One of my main problems was my attachment of the various pieces of gear to my harness. I originally used cave line (braided and twisted) to tie the brass clips to the backup lights, the Goodman handle, my primary reg, and my SPG. First off, stainless steel clips are recommended due to their smoother operation and smoother thumb rest. Brass clips tend to cut into the thumb over time because they are not as polished as the SS ones. Second, the connections for the SPG, Goodman handle, and the reg need to be breakaway in case they get hung up on something and can't be freed. This is especially applicable when diving off of a boat. To do this, you use two small zip-ties and a tank neck o-ring. The o-ring is folded in half through the eye of the clip, and then the two zip-ties are passed through the o-ring loops and tightened off on whatever the clip is being connected to (i.e., SPG, reg, or handle). Any excess zip-tie should be clipped down as far as possible. Braided cave line should be used for the backup lights, and the tie should be very tight with the ends burned down to the knot to prevent the knot from slipping.

Afternoon Lecture
For the details from the afternoon lecture, refer to the adobe pages linked to above. The general outline is as follows:

By the end of the day it was getting a little hard to concentrate (I'd been up since 5:30 am 'cause I had to drive over from Daytona). Got out of class at about 6:45 pm and checked into the Cadillac Motel. It has nice big rooms, but they smell like old smoke. Drove over to Gainesville, and ate at the Mellow Mushroom. Always highly recommended. Passed out watching South Park.

Day 2 (Sunday June 24, 2001)

The Shop and the Swim Test
For Day 2, we were finally going to get in the water, although on this particular Sunday that would first involve the swim test and then the breath hold. Prior to this, we all arrived at the Extreme-Exposure "Adventure" Center, and went ahead and got our tanks filled. I got my doubles filled with 31.6% O2, which I didn't need since we were diving Ginnie Cavern, but it probably helped since we ended up being in the water for about 4.5 hours that day. We left the shop and caravanned over to the Ginnie Springs Dude Ranch and Redneck Resort. First thing we did was the swim test, which was performed in the slough that runs out to Devil's Eye and Devil's Ear. We swam from the first set of steps out to the river buoy and back twice. Not too bad, and the water helped to wake us all up. We then were told to swim from the steps underwater, and hold our breath as long as possible. We all passed.

Terrestrial Line Drills
We all caravanned up to the parking area for Ginnie Cavern and proceded to the pavillion where Tyler started going over reel types, tie-offs, and team order. We also went over the touch signals used in no vis situations. On the first run through the line course, we kept our eyes open and just walked through the whole thing (25 seconds). The second time, we did it with our eyes closed (2 minutes). It helped to illustrate that it will take you longer to do things without the benefit of sight, and also that you will use up a great deal more air in no vis situations. This is part of GUE's reasoning for only allowing Cave 1 certified divers to use a sixth of their backgas in any cave penetration (refer to page 2 of the adobe file for the rest of the restrictions).

Following the individual line drills, we then did them as a team. I was at the back with Lesley in the middle and Todd up front. Tyler laid out a virtual web of tie-offs, wraps, placements, pull-offs, crossed lines, tight squeezes, and head-bashing obstacles, and I think we died just before reaching the end, but it was a good exercise and it got us used to using the various touch communications. I think all the kids playing on the jungle gym got a kick out of seeing three adults holding on to each other with their eyes closed. One kid (he was probably 8, but I'm not sure since I couldn't see him) explained the whole procedure to one of his buddies. Following the line drills, we opted to forego lunch and just get in the water and start diving. So we all went to our vehicles and set up our gear.

Dive 1
The first dive of the day consisted of us watching Tyler use three different propulsion methods for use in silty or high flow environments. We then did a circle around the cavern using each one. The first is the modified flutter kick where the knees are bent at a 90° angle, the body is kept parallel to the floor, and the up and down kicking is done from the ankles and knees. The second is the frog kick, which is basically what you do if you swim the breast stroke. The bringing together of the fins creates the forward propulsion. The third method is the rock pull, or pull and glide, which should only be used when the flow is too much to swim into. They all just take some practice to get them right. The total dive time was 21 minutes with a max depth of 36 feet.

Dive 2
Dive 2 was a simulated cave run with one team member running the line and the other two following. I ran the line, with Todd at spot 2, and Lesley in back. My primary tie-off was a little loose, but the two wraps over it held it in place. My secondary tie-off held, but was somewhat convuluted in its execution. Practice, practice, practice. I ran the reel down about 40 feet and then around a large rock to act as a hold. We headed to the left side of the cavern, looked around for a couple of minutes then turned around and headed back to the large rock. We then headed down towards the grate at the bottom of the cavern. It was during this run that I swept an open water diver, whose buddy had to untangle him from the line. I barely noticed since I was fighting to keep the line taught, while simultaneously being blown back away from the grate by the outflow. It wasn't pretty, so after a few minutes at the grate, I gave the thumbs up signal to call the dive. We turned and headed out with no major problems. The last time I had used a reel in Ginnie Cavern was for my Cavern class, which we had to do with our eyes closed bumping rocks all the way out. This was a little easier than that. Tyler, at least, did our closed eye line drills in open water. The total dive time was 20 minutes with a max depth of 52 feet.

Dive 3
Dive 3 consisted of our underwater line drills. On the first run through the course, we were to go by ourselves with our eyes closed. I was doing okay at first, but about halfway through, as I started heading downward, all the air in my drysuit rushed to my feet. I had a little too much air in both my drysuit and my wings, so I started doing a feet first ascent from 10 feet. I tried to tuck, but didn't have enough time, so I just hung there, head down for a few seconds then tucked out of it and went back down to the line. I was pissed. So I kept going, and got to another place where I started heading down, and went up feet first again. Now I was fuming, so I returned to the line, finished the course, and Tyler signalled me to the surface for a chat. He advised that I keep my suit with just enough air to make me "an alto instead of a soprano". In other words, it's supposed to be uncomfortable. So on my second run on the course, without my mask, I had no major buoyancy problems. The only thing that happened was running into the legs of the various swimmers and tubers. On the third run, Lesley and I did the course with our eyes closed using touch contact and touch signals, sharing air. We both made it through without any major snafus. Between each run Tyler would have us practice our helicoptor turns and standing on our head. The total dive time was 42 minutes with a max depth of 14 feet.

Post Dive Drills
Following the dives, Tyler had us swim with one other person, sharing air without a mask, from the basin out to the river. We then switched places and swam back doing the same thing. Try to keep the out of air diver on your left since that's the direction the hose feeds from. I forgot that, and Lesley politely reminded me with a complex series of hand signals and bubble speech. We returned to the basin and then I did the same drill with Todd. When we returned to the basin, Tyler then had us float out to where we couldn't stand up and remove our harness and then put it back on. This is where you realize that your harness is too tight, and that it needs to be loosened up. I struggled to get out, trying to remove both arms at the same time (I should have done one at a time), but I eventually made it out. Getting back in was not near as hard, though, and I was back in with everything in place in a minute or two. We got out of the water at about 5:30 pm, and discussed the day's dives and next week's dives. It's planned that we will do Little River on Friday, but according to North Florida Cave Conditions and Water Level Status, it is undivable as of Thursday, so we'll see what happens.

Day 3 (Friday June 29, 2001)

*Note: The recounts of the dives are not given as a step-by-step recollection of what happened since they all kind of blended together in my memory. They are given here mainly to give the reader an idea of what we went through during training.

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We arrived back in High Springs on Friday morning and met at the shop at about 9:00 am. According to reports from other divers, Little River was divable as of Thursday so that would be where our dives would occur. The North Florida Cave Conditions and Water Level Status site mentioned above is not as accurate as personal reports, so if you want to know if a site's divable call the Extreme Exposure shop (1-800-574-6341). Chances are that somebody from there has been diving or teaching at one of the sites. Since we were diving Little River with a max depth of ~100 feet, Tyler recommended that we use nitrox. I still had about half a fill of my 31.6% from the previous week, so had topped it off with air that morning at Lloyd Bailey's to save time. I ended up with a 26% mix for the day, which turned out to be plenty.

At Little River, prior to the first dive, Tyler talked to us about the hydrostatic relationships between rivers and springs that feed them. It helped to give us a better picture of why a spring might be considered undivable, and what would make it that way.

Dive 1
This was technically our first real cave dive, and you could definitely tell. Our trim and buoyancy were blowing silt all over. There was a decent amount of flow in Little River, so we were fighting the current with large powerful kicks, as opposed to multiple little efficient kicks. I think we kicked up more silt than the two scooter pilots doing training there. Little River is also a relatively small cave (compared to places like Devil's Ear, Jackson Blue, or the right passage of Peacock I), so you really had to concentrate to stay off the floor and protect your valves at the same time. Todd ran the reel, with Lesley in the middle, and me at the back. I think his light died, so we switched order with me leading the way out, Todd in the middle, and Lesley running the reel out. It was not a graceful scene, but I had a very good time doing it. The total dive time was 23 minutes with a max depth of 97 feet.

Dive 2
On the second dive Lesley ran the reel, and I think I was in the middle. We did a little better overall, and had even more fun the second time. I forgot exactly what mishaps occurred during the dive, but they were along the lines of dying lights and out of air emergencies. We did make it out alive, though, only to find ourselves in the middle of a booming thunderstorm. After a quick debriefing on the surface we headed for the cars to wait out the lightning, and got a chance to go into the dives in more detail. The total dive time was 23 minutes with a max depth of 90 feet.

Dive 3
After an extended surface interval made necessary by the crashing lightning and booming thunder, we reentered the water for dive 3. I ran the reel this time. I also ran out of air at the turnaround point, so had to share air all the way out. At the end of the dive, Tyler had us manipulate all of our valves (open and close them), after which we exited the water and headed back to High Springs. The total dive time was 21 minutes with a max depth of 65 feet.

Day 4 (Saturday June 30, 2001)

We all met at the shop at the usual time, and proceded to fill our tanks. Since we were planning to dive at Peacock I, we weren't going to need Nitrox, so we just topped off what we had used the day before. I ended up with a 23% Nitrox mix, so after the day's diving it was a little difficult to stay alert for the lecture, which occurred at the little diner/gas station in Luraville. More about that later. Tyler wanted to get to Peacock early so that the site wouldn't be trashed by the time we went in. This turned out to work perfectly as the visibility once inside the cave was pristine.

Dive 1
The first dive into Peacock I went better than the previous day's dives at Little River. The main reason for this was the lack of flow at Peacock. There was also more height to the passage we went down, making it easy to stay off the floor. I ran the reel on the first dive, and we tied into the main line of the right passage (I can't remember the name, though). We went pretty far back before we turned the dive, at which point my main light went out, and I had to switch to a backup. Tyler then had us put an arrow on the main line (pointing towards the exit), and tie our safety spools off to do a lost diver search simulation. I started heading down the passage towards Peacock II, since I figured that was where they would probably be, but the drill was over before I found anyone. So we reeled back to the main line and proceded to the exit with Lesley and myself in the front, since both of our main lights went out in the cave. Todd was running the reel. His light then proceded to die when we started decending up the wall so we were all on backup lights. I was in front of Todd trying to help keep the line taught so that he could reel it up the wall. The total dive time was 31 minutes with a max depth of 66 feet.

We made it out, and I surfaced to discover there was a 4 foot aligator sitting on a log behind my head. I had my knife out and was ready to go at it, but Tyler held me back. Instead we talked about the dive and briefed for the next one. We actually found out the next day that someone freaked out when they saw the gator, and told the park to catch it, or they'd sue. The park was unable to lasso it, so instead they decided to kill it. This was one of the biggest injustice to reptiles I'd ever witnessed, especially since the gator was too small to hurt anyone. There was talk about a petition to sign to save the aligator, so if you see it, sign it.

Dive 2
The second dive at Peacock would involve an air sharing episode with me out of air sharing from Lesley with all of our lights out completely (no backups even). When we turned the dive, I gave Lesley the out of air signal, and then switched off my light. The others followed suit, and it bacame pitch black. No light whatsoever! So I was in front with Lesley holding on to my right arm (the one holding the line), and Todd holding on to her. We half-crawled, half-swam our way out to where our reel was and then switched on our lights. It wasn't half-bad being in the dark like that. It's actually kind of relaxing pulling yourself along, trying to keep your buoyancy alright, while holding the line, breathing off of someone else's reg, while they are pushing, pulling and squeezing your arm. I think that's how I'm going to end all of my cave dives. Tyler wanted to wait until Devil's for the last drill, so we went to the sandwich shop in Luraville, and talked more about the different kinds of caves, cave geology, etc. Check out the last two pages of my notes in pdf format above. The total dive time was 27 minutes with a max depth of 38 feet.

Lecture
We then returned to the dive shop to drain our tanks, and Tyler began talking about hazards in caves. Of course, the list was extensive, and by no means exhaustive, but he once again got the point across. The final lecture of the day involved a discussion of dissimilar tank volumes, and how to calculate the turnarounds you should follow based on who has the smallest volume of gas to start with. My notes on this are included in pdf format, but they are hard to follow and I'm not going to write them out here, so go take the class. We were all having trouble looking enthusiastic during the lecture, so Tyler saved the remaining portion for Sunday morning. We left the shop half asleep, but still managed to make it to Gainesville for another installment of the Mellow Mushroom.

Day 5 (Sunday July 1, 2001)

The final day of class saw the three of us arriving at the shop at the usual meeting time. We finished draining all of our tanks and then Tyler filled them with a 34% Nitrox mix for the day's diving. While we were waiting for the tanks to finish we talked some more about disimilar tank volumes and easy means for calculating differences in tank pressures. Since we had four dives to do today, it was felt that it would be more important to go and get the dives out of the way, then return to the shop to review the test and tie up any other loose ends. So we headed off to the Ginnie Springs Penitentiary for a day of diving in Devil's Ear and Devil's Eye.

Dive 1
Following our usual pre-dive briefings, we suited up and trudged over to the steps to enter the water for our first dive. There were the usual groups of kids sitting at the steps, staring quizzically at us as we entered the water. Our first dive was to be into Devil's Ear (the one closer to the river), where we would deal with the current and see how far back we could get. Todd was running the reel, with Lesley in second, and myself bringing up the rear. We squeezed down through the narrow entrance to the system (Tyler was surprised at the way we went in considering it was the most difficult way into the Ear), and after Todd tied off the reel and Lesley followed (I just hung out wedged between the walls until they entered the system) I descended into the cave. We had all dumped the air out of our wings to make us as negative as possible, and were told to crawl, or grovel, into the cave. A truly demeaning experience.

Once the secondary tie-off was made, the permanent line was above our heads, so we tied into that and started heading into the cave. We were all staying about level with the line, and as a consequence, were fighting the current all the way in. Tyler, who was hovering just below the ceiling, was doing "one kick to our 5 or 10". It helped us understand that we need to stay above the line, because the line was put at that height for a reason. If you stay above it, you stay out of the current. The dive was called and we turned without any of the usual mishaps. The total dive time was 18 minutes with a max depth of 60 feet.

Dive 2
For the second dive, I was running the reel, with Lesley at the 2 spot, and Todd at number 3. We headed back to Devil's Ear, and I descended down the main crack and found a rock to do the primary tie-off on. The rock was bigger than a basketball (read "too big") but my tie-off was good. We proceded into the cave where I did my secondary tie-off, and then headed for the main line. I missed the section where you go up to the main line, initially, and Tyler took this opportunity to starting spooling out my reel since I was being negligent in keeping tension on it. So I reeled it in as fast as possible, saw the main line and headed up to it and tied in. We then proceded into the cave and made it a little farther than the first time, although not much. At the turn, I ran out of air, and signalled Lesley. She didn't see it initially so I started swimming to catch her. I should have been swimming and signalling at the same time. I caught up with her and we buddy- breathed out, switching the team order with me in front, Lesley in the middle, and Todd in the back. Our trim and buoyancy was a little better this dive, and we stayed up off the line and out of the current a little more, but everything still needs more work. I need a great deal more work with the reel. The total dive time was 19 minutes with a max depth of 63 feet.

Dive 3
Dive 3 was in to Devil's Eye, which is a tight squeeze (if done improperly) to get into the cave. Lesley ran the reel, Todd was second, and I was third. We didn't make it too far due to the restrictions, and I didn't see much action at the back of the pack. The dive was turned and our team headed out. The total dive time was 17 minutes with a max depth of 54 feet.

Dive 4
Dive 4 was a skills dive (I guess they're all "skills dives", but this one was official) in Devil's Eye. We waited in the open water part of the basin while Tyler laid a line into the cave. He then came over and picked one of us out and told us to close our eyes. I was picked first, so I closed my eyes, and then was spun around and around then placed on the floor. At this point I took out my safety spool, tied it to a large rock, and began searching for the main line. I remember swimming up the sides of the cave and then up and around, but I didn't find it on the first sweep, so I headed straight towards where I thought the entrance was based on the flow of the current, hit a wall and headed up. This time I actually contacted the line with my arm. I wrapped my spool around the line and pointed in the direction I thought was out. Drill over. I went out to the open basin and waited for the other two to finish. I'm sure the open water divers who would swim in got a kick out of watching us fumble around on the floor.

Following the drill, Tyler assigned us an order to take the reel out. Lesley was in front, Todd was in the middle, and I brought out the reel. At the exit, my right post began free-flowing and I stopped to turn it off. I shut off my isolator first (Tyler recommends doing the valves first and if that fails then shut off the isolator, but don't shut off a valve then the isolator because that does no good) then shut off my right post. Initially, I thought I had turned it all the way off, and couldn't figure out why it was still free-flowing. So, I turned it back on, and turned off my left post (which is my most difficult knob to reach). It didn't stop the free-flow either, so I went back to the right post and once again thought it was closed, but when I checked my primary reg, it still worked. I had to think about it for a second (losing valuable air), but then finally shut it off completely. The free flow stopped. The total dive time was 30 minutes with a max depth of 35 feet.

We exited the Eye, and since I'd been in the drysuit for about 3.5 hours straight, I had to piss in Biblical proportions. This is one time I wish I had a self-donning drysuit or a pee-valve. After I got out of my gear I found the group to unzip me (they were this close to getting me to sign away all my worldly possessions before they would do it) and I went. The whole point of this recanting is that a good lesson did come from it. Tyler went on to say (a little later) that most of the divers he knew stopped getting skin bends (Type I DCI) once they installed a pee-valve or put on diapers. They no longer had to dehydrate themselves for long exposures in a drysuit, and could enjoy the dives much easier. Trying to shut down a free-flowing reg at the post, when you've been in the water for three hours and have to urinate without impunity, is not the most enjoyable experience. Needless to say, when I start doing longer exposures, I too will have a balanced pee-valve installed in my drysuit. But for now, since I'm limited to sixths, I don't really need it, although it would be nice.

The Test et al.
Following the fourth dive we returned to the Extreme Exposure shop to go over the exam. It was all pretty straight forward, with Tyler going over the sections on cave exploration and line types in a little more detail. I messed up on a couple of the hand signals and did my turnaround calculations and dissimilar tank calculations for thirds instead of sixths (already getting prepared for Cave 2), but most of the test was very easy if you payed attention. We filled out our paperwork for the cards, and all of us also filled out the paperwork for a NSS-CDS Intro to Cave card (an extra $15).

Summary

It was a great experience, and you definitely get what you pay for. Tyler Moon is a superb instructor, so feel lucky if you get him (I'm sure they're all on the ball, but gotta give props to Tyler in particular). Heed this: You will spend more than $600 for the class. Even if your gear is almost perfect, there will be a few things needed to fine tune it. Some of the things I needed or wanted were: 1 24" HP hose (for my SPG); 1 24" LP hose (for my secondary second stage); stainless steel (SS) burst disc plugs; SS clips; fin keeps (keeps the boot on your foot in a dry suit); and Sherwood knobs for my manifold (the Halcyon rubber knobs are cheap and will pull off the manifold). You will also have to pay for hotel/motel (I recommend the High Springs Country Inn), food, air, park entrance fees ($26.75 @ Ginnie; $5 @ Peacock; free [for a little while] @ Little River), and gas. Prepare to spend close to $900 for everything (excluding airfare). If you can't afford it, save up until you can, and don't spend your money on a CDS or NACD class. This is the real deal, and the returns in safety, technique, and enjoyment are worth the high price tag.

 

Last updated on 01 August 2001