JB 14 Stage Bottle Rock out to the 2nd T

Jackson Blue Spring near Marianna Florida. 7/20/24
DPV run to Source Nouveau Tunnel. We had already dropped stages at stage bottle rock by then. We left our tow DPV (backup DPVs) at the Source Nouveau T and proceeded inward to very close to the JB 2 restriction. We exited back to Gold Line and ran the DPVs further inward to very close to the JB3 jump then exited the cave. Noteworthy events included my rebreather completely flooding and having to bailout to open circuit in the cavern just after the last video. Faulty crimp on a hose of all things.
As with all my videos they are named for the dive site followed by a number indicating what order they were filmed in and a brief description of the video. All videos here were shot on a GoPro (had a 10, 11, and 12 with me on this dive). GoPro was mounted on my DPV and I was running Seacraft lighting kit. Kiss Sidewinder rebreathers. Underwater Light Dude primary lights.

[@kyegaming3193]

Thanks so much for sharing! Dpv cave diving is so sick man, keep up the adventures!

[@cavediver74]

Thanks! Will do!

[@zergtoss1]

Btw how does this work with figuring out buoyancy and surfacing and all of that when the cave restricts ascent at times? And are these freshwater underwater caves not oceanic caves?

[@cavediver74]

These caves are fresh water. In order to even take a cave diving class you have to have a fair number of dives (50 is usual minimum but for most people isn’t enough to have good enough buoyancy to pass the class). Buoyancy (up and down) and trim (basically flat on your stomach with your knees bent at 90 degrees to get your fins away from the bottom) are key for cave diving. To say nothing of other emergency procedures, redundant equipment etc. Most caves in Florida have only one entrance or exit. There are often alternative exits in Mexico. At a minimum we have twice as much gas saved for exit at we used for entering. In some cases, even more. My buddies and I use rebreathers which tend to bake in an even larger safety margin. Each of us has several lights. Several spools. On this dive we each had to DPVs (Diver Propulsion Vehicles).

[@zergtoss1]

@@cavediver74 why do most caves in Florida only have one entrance/exit? Is this because they haven’t been mapped as much? Yea DPV’s are cool… how long does the battery last one those and do you bring extra? Do you have to leave gear behind sometimes for tight squeezes or have checkpoints… there ever rooms with air pockets?

[@cavediver74]

⁠​⁠@@zergtoss11)Not for lack of mapping in Florida. In fact, most all caves are explored unless the passage is very far back, very deep, very small, and/or on land where you are not supposed to be. The entire Yucatán Peninsula is full of caves and many of the passages connect to other sink holes. Yucatán caves were also almost all dry caves during the last ice age. Not so for Florida caves. 2) DPV batteries vary in size and of course, much like your care, the faster you go the less distance you can travel. However, even at high speeds lower end DPVs will have a range of 1.5 miles and some will have a 5 mile or greater range even at high speeds. If you slow down, range extends greatly. However, some higher end models also allow you to run lights or suit heaters etc off the DPV battery which does cut into run time. 3)My buddies and I do carry a backup DPV which we tow. We could swim out but we would have to carry a bit more gas to do it safely 4)In addition to DPVs which we might park as the cave gets too small to use them (they can really destroy visibility in smaller cave unless you are very careful) we also can carry additional cylinders of bailout gas that could either be too bulky to go through some passage or simply too much drag to bother carrying it for long distances. Sometimes you take bottles off to get beyond a restriction and then put them back on when you are beyond the tight spot.

[@zergtoss1]

Man the risk is insane. Equipment failure = instant death.

[@cavediver74]

As to the air pocket question in a different post, yes. Typically this means you have reached the surface of the water (zero depth on a scuba depth gauge) but you still have rock over your head. There are also sumps which are flooded sections of dry cave. I can’t say I sump dive but some people drag scuba gear through a dry cave to get to the sump. They then dive the sump to the next air pocket and carry gear to the next sump etc.

[@zergtoss1]

@@cavediver74 whoa that is crazy. Thanks for all the replies and info. What is the scariest event/issue you have encountered diving? Did you ever think you were lost?

[@cavediver74]

@@zergtoss1I have never been lost. I have been in zero visibility a few times and near zero many times. The first time I was in very low visibility was likely the scariest event although I quickly got my head about me. I had plenty of gas, redundant gear, and many procedures for emergencies etc. A minute or two later I was back in clear water. Another time the line broke and my buddy had to repair it as he was in the lead. I was a bit worried as I wan not sure he was up to it (we hadn’t diving together for very long) but he was.