Cavern Diving Day 1

Man, it's cold in Florida!!! Can you believe that??!! I woke up to -1C this morning!! I'm so glad I bought my super thin, light, and warm Windstopper for my Peru trip. If it wasn't so nice and light I wouldn't have brought it with me this time. My hiking/camping habits plus good gear saved my day.

My instructor was happy with me. According to Cathy, the owner of the Dive Outpost, the place I'm staying at, it's quite a praise from my instructor. He was very glad with my gear and said I was an overkill for Cavern. After the buoyance check he was happy with me and thought I was ready for Into to Cave as well if I was up for it. I still kicked up some silt and I wasn't feeling very comfortable in the 5mm shortie, but I managed. He was also happy with my air management cuz air equals time in diving, and more so in caves and wrecks.

The water in the springs is a perpetual 21C. It's quite chilly. It got even colder when I got out of the water. I've never dived in an environment where the air temperature is colder than the water temperature. I excperienced it today. It wasn't very pleasant!

I'm sharing the room with some guy from the UK. I know know what he does, but he's in the area for diving a lot and very frequently, although he also flies to Hong Kong, Egypt, and other places for work. He has a rebreather and a super large, hard case for his camera housing. He sometimes solo dives and has been diving since 1991. He sure seems very skilled. He offered to show me his pictures on his computer but I'm too tired right now. I'll probably regret it later cuz he's leaving tomorrow. He also helped me with the line drill when I was practicing it in the room and showed me his spool.

Very tired... Gotta read the book and decide whether to do Intro to Cave as well or not...

(P.S. I almost ran over two deers on my way to Luraville, and saw another three deers crossing the road when we were almost at the Peacock Springs State Park.)

For above-water photos of the trip, click here.