Peacock 11 Jump onto the Crypt line all the way to the Crypt Keeper

7/31/22. Peacock Spring, Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park, near Luraville Florida. We dove Peacock I toward Olsen passing Pot Hole and jumping onto the Cisteen line. We swam Cisteen line past Cisteen sink itself to the line to the Crypt. We entered and exited the Crypt. We then completed the Cisteen line circuit by jumping onto gold line upstream of Olsen Sink (Challenge Sink side of Olsen). We then swam back toward Peacock I swimming through Olsen, picking up our stages and the jump spool we had left at the start of the Cisteen line. GoPro 10 used until point where we had exited the Crypt back to Cisteen line. Then switched to a GoPro 9 as the 10 was nearing end of battery. Cave Diving. Scuba Diving. Open circuit scuba.

[@RustyEast]

I am mesmerized with this, but I think watching is all I will do.

[@sauldiaz9805]

Awesome, video 👍🤿

[@cavediver74]

Thanks

[@SgtDreamz]

This was amazing to watch, the person in front looked to have very good trim and buoyancy thankfully, as I see a lot of silt that could be kicked up. A few questions for you though; What, if any, anxiety do you feel entering a cave for the first time? Do you only do caves with a guide line through, or have you attempted free diving caves? Is there a reason why you were so close to your buddy through some parts of the cave?

[@cavediver74]

1)His trim and bouyancy are top notch. He should not be using his hands to swim at all which he seems to in these videos. However, the moves are tiny and stir nothing up and are probably subconscious. We are also taught never to swim under a line you are close to because it is much harder to untangle yourself from a line if you are caught in the back than in the front. You will see him swim under a line few times. I always move the line and swim over. 2) I mostly feel excitement if I am entering a new cave or a part of a cave I have never seen. If there is any anxiety it would be because the cave is small/silty and I do not want to stir it up. Most cave divers have some limit on how small and silty they will go or for how long. I do not mind low/no visibility for short distances especially if I know the cave opens up after a short distance. If you see a small tight area you are not sure if you want to try there is usually someone who can tell you what it looks like ahead 3)All caves have guidelines in them and it is standard procedure to always use a guideline or reel/spool. The only exception to this would be unexplored cave. Unexplored cave is quite rare in Florida these days and often very far from the entrance, very deep, very small, very stilts or some combo of these. There are many caves unexplored in Mexico but they are deep in the jungle. If you find an area of cave you think might go somewhere you can run a spool or reel from the closest line. I have done this many times before to find someone else’s line in a passage I did not know exists or to simply find an area that did not seem to go very far. 4)I was staying close to him in part to get video. However, if he can not see my light then he does not know where I am. He then needs to turn around and if I am not there go back and find me. When leading, if I can not see my buddies light I will cover my light which will usually allow me to appreciate the light behind me. If I can not see a light I will keep it covered for a few seconds. Some times my buddy is looking at his pressure gauges or something behind me and when they notice my light is covered they will shine the their light on me to let me know they are there. We need to always stick together so we can help the other diver. If the lead diver has as problem the second diver should notice quickly if they are close. If the trailing diver has a problem they shake their light to get the lead divers attention so the lead diver will turn and help. This only works if you stay pretty close.

[@jaredweiman2987]

Have my AOW, Nitrox, and Deep Dive, courses later this fall. Eager to start Cavern and Cave diving as soon as I can. Apart from buoyancy control and propulsion techniques, what would you recommend aspiring cave divers work on prior to attending a course?

[@cavediver74]

Sorry for the somewhat tardy reply. Ironically, I have been staying Luraville, FL and cave diving the last few days with limited internet. There are so many things, most of which your instructor(s) will help you with. Buoyancy and trim are really the biggest keys and skills that can only be refined with practice/experience. I got cavern certified over 21 years ago. It took me about a year to do intro, apprentice, and full cave. I was diving quite a bit in those days (2-3 dives per day and over 60 dives my first year) and benefiting from living near cave country in Florida. I was originally certified using back-mount double tanks. I once borrowed a set of LP 95 doubles (8 inch diameter but pretty short) and hated them because I am over 6 ft tall and felt very head heavy. I eventually settled on LP 120’s and 108 (also 8 inch diameter but taller/longer - placing center of mass further down my back). I liked these much better. However, with time when I would use a set of 95’s I noted they got easier and easier to use to the point there was little difference. I have no idea how I did this other than experience. About 3 years after my cave certification a coworker got into cave diving. He also used 95’s and hated them. But with time/experience he learned to dive them with good trim/buoyancy. I know many people come to FL and do 7-8 day cavern thru full cave courses. I am glad I did not have to do that. I am sure I could have but I would not have benefited from the slow progress. Sadly, to some extent, every time you add something there will be an effect. Your first stage or 2. Then the third and the 4th stages. DPVs etc. Each new item will require some trial/error/experience/practice. Perhaps the best advice to is to humble, self-critical, open to advice and experimentation and remember this is all for fun. Take it slow and incrementally and be safe!

[@edwardlyden7902]

Is that jump still marked are you jumping from the gold line coming out of Olsen sink

[@cavediver74]

This video starts where we are jumping from the Cisteen line onto the Crypt Line. In order to get to the Cisteen line you swim upstream toward Olsen but take either the Nicholson Tunnel line which is another Jump onto the Cisteen line (there has been a spool or reel connecting these for years now but it might not be there at some point). Once on the Cisteen line you proceed past the two jumps on the left (Wishbone circuit). There will be two arrows pointing toward each other at a T in a somewhat low silty area. This is Cisteen Sink. You take the left and proceed. You might not even see the first jump on the right toward the Crypt. We always take the second. After we came out of the Crypt we completed the Cisteen line circuit jumping back onto the gold line upstream of Olsen. We than swam downstream thru Olsen back to Peacock if memory on this dive serves me. There should be a description on each video that has overview of the dive. Good cave map: www.caveatlas.com/systems/system.asp?ID=67

[@cavediver74]

By the way, in case you are not aware. Go the playlist section. Find Peacock Springs. There are several dives in the section. Arrange them by post date. If you scroll down to the one with number 11 and the Grim Reaper picture then go back up to the dive above it and play from video 1 until you get the next video that has the number 1. You will have wanted every video in order for that dive.

[@edwardlyden7902]

They teed Nicholson into cisteen line I have been up to cisteen sink but didn’t go up to the crypt heard it was easier to get there going thru Olsen then making jump off gold line just pass Olsen sink less silty