Dive Report: 10/25/03 Devils Eye and Ear at Ginnie Springs

Photos:
http://www.geocities.com/tiswango/1026tech1/

Charlie and I slept in on Saturday, had a nice breakfast at Floyd's Dinner and headed over to Ginnie. Charlie's eyes lit up starring into the clear water. We would do a cavern dive into the Eye for a warm up and then I would have Charlie run a reel into the Ear.

Dive 1: Devils Eye
Max Depth: 37ft
Runtime: 22 minutes
Gas 32%
Water Temp: 71
Turn: 2600 PSI

We got into the water at the end of the run and practiced sharing air on the swim down to the eye. The water was undisturbed and Little Devils was clear to the bottom. I should have stopped and shot the photos, but decided to do it on the way out. I wanted to get overhead!

We dropped down and Charlie hovered at the entrance feeling the flow. He tied off to the log and headed in. He was kicking hard to move in and then discovered the pull and glide technique. Every time I dove the Eye, I was in a hurry to see how fast I could tie into the mainline and how far I could get on 500psi of gas. This time I knew we wouldn't go past the daylight zone, so I relaxed and took in the scenery. We went in 75ft or so and Charlie paused over the section and didn't drop down. Natural light was still easy to see.

Charlie turned the dive and I got out the camera. I started practicing my cave photography. On the way out I tried for some cavern shots and nailed two good ones of Charlie. On the way out I counted 6 deco bottles placed in the eye with no line connecting them. "Just Ginnie" complacency is evident. I wanted to shoot some photos of the clear water in the eye. On our way out were attacked by squad of snorkelers going into the cavern on a breath of air. One was a father showing off to his two young kids in the water with him. Yipes! After I surfaced I kept watching for him to come back out.

Dive 2: Devils Ear

Max Depth: 59ft
Runtime: 38 minutes
Gas 32%
Water Temp: 71
Turn: 2100 PSI
SI: 20 minutes

I still clearly remember my first time running a line into the ear. I blew through 500 psi in a set of double 95s just to get tied into the mainline. Charlie said he was up for it, so we descended down into the brown brackish water which turned crystal clear at 10 feet as we could feel the fresh water pouring out. Primary tie was solid on the log, the secondary tie was harder to find. Charlie made one, but it slipped off. The second was tight, but I held on to it as he went into the eye. He got his head dead into the flow, then back out and gave me the turn around sign. The flow caught him and pushed him up and behind me.

He was calm and gave me a big ok. After a minute or two I gave him the "switch" signal and took the reel. I made an new placement on a rock facing up as I went down into the Ear. Inside it is calm and peaceful. I went up to the ceiling where the flow is milder and noticed the mainline. I tied the reel into the mainline and went into the first room up to the hole which connects to the Eye.

The cloudy water and small opening didn't leave much "cavern" area so we only went a little ways in. The slow pace and no pressure to penetrate gave me time to look around without the narrowed perception that comes from a hard working dive at depth. I took some time to look at the ceiling. The walls in Devils are some much more interesting than Peacock. All that water flow must have added to the texture.

My peaceful calm ended when I saw two Openwater divers with one flashlight come into the ear without a reel and start to look around. I untied my reel and moved back to the entrance. They looked around for 5 minutes and then left. Charlie and I went up to a section to the right I had never noticed before. I reached my turn pressure and thumbed Charlie. He headed out first and stopped just outside and was looking at me. I waved him on to go a little further as I had the reel in one hand and only one hand to assist my graceful exit and avoid being "spit out" of the cave.

Like a waterslide I felt myself pick up speed as I made the hard right turn on exit. I stayed low on the floor of the opening and spun around to face the current. I pulled off the placements and reeled in. I'd give myself a 5.4 out of 10 for the dismount. I looked up and was entranced by the mixing of tannin river water and freshwater coming out of the cave. Charlie was wedged in at the tree at 20 feet and I started shooting like crazy to capture the silhouette and the water color. I moved out of the way as a group of four divers headed in. I wedged into the tree and tried to shoot down. I all got was the storm of bubbles created by four divers just inside.

We ascended and Charlie had a big grin on his face. "I have to cave certified, I want to go further in, that was too cool!"

--Matt