GUE Cave 1 / NSS-CDS Apprentice
Page 2
After I arrive in High Springs, I check in at Extreme Exposure and meet my instructor Tamara Kendel. I try to rent some steel 104 doubles, but EE, the center for DIR cave diving, doesn't have enough 104s! So I got stuck with these little 95s.
On Monday, I start class at Extreme Exposure. They are really smart there. They set you up with a tab so you can lose track of how much you are spending. On top of that the class room is in the back of the store so during breaks you browse the store looking for stuff to put on your tab.
We start class around 9am, the other two students are both from England, Pat and Fancis. During the introductions we discover that all three of us have had previous cave diving experience (Intro to Cave or better). After seeing Tamara's reaction, I quicky try to take it back and convince her that I am only a PADI Jr. Openwater diver with 20 dives.
After the lecture, we head over to Ginnie Springs for our first day of diving.
Tamara decides to skip the usual first day cavern dives, and go straight into a cave dive. Pat is leading the dive in the #1 position running the line, I am #2 helping with line placement , and Francis gets the "pretty boy" position at #3 (the third guy has no resposiabilities during the dive except to look pretty). For the rest of the week we called Francis "pretty boy".
Pretty Boy's Fins. Bubbles from the cave stream up through the rocks.
So on my first dive of Cave 1, I went further into the Devil's Ear then I have ever been, past the lips, key hole restriction, corn flakes, and past the intersection to the bone room tunnel. I called the dive on 1/6s (I have those little baby tanks, and everyone else has manly tanks). Shortly after turning the dive, Pat's light fails. I stop and let him move into the #2 position, then a few minutes later Francis' new helios light fails, and then after the lips, my light fails. I don't know about these Halcyon lights, they seem to fail easily. After the dive Tamara asks us how much technical training we have. Not liking where this is going, I tell her that as an Jr Open Water diver I can't dive deeper then 60'. Tamara tells us that she wants us to take the Cave 1 final test tomorrow, and start going into some Cave 2 deco lecture tomorrow.
At dinner, Pat and Francis talk about how they want to do well on tomorrows test so that we can do more diving and less lecture.
When I get back to my room at the High Springs Country Inn, I stay up really late reviewing the Cave 1 manual, I don't want to be the one that holds the class back