My Wife is so Awesome!

On the weekend of Sept 28 we celebrated our third anniversary! Now as some of you may know, our first two anniversaries were both complete disasters due to a series of unfortunate events (the first year we drove into a hurricane in FL after replacing two nearly blown tires on our car, last year we were invited to use a cabin, but when we arrived, there was already a party going on...hosted by people we didn't know?) We started this past weekend off with a little help from our old friend William Shatner, that’s right Captain James T. Kirk (The PRICE – LINE- NEGOTIATOR). He found us a beautiful room in a 4 star hotel overlooking the city of Atlanta. We were at the top of the building on the 23floor with a balcony, and paid less than we do to stay at the Super 8! In the morning we were awakened by the sound of a marching band in the street below. Apparently the city of Atlanta gave us a last minute parade!

We spent the rest of the day cruising around Atlanta shopping for a few things we can’t get good deals on in our little town of Albany. Anne got her rings cleaned; I got some shoes at REI. While we were looking for a massage supply store for Anne, SHE suggested we stop by the other REI store in Atlanta. Two REIs in one day? Is that even possible? For those of you who don’t know, REI is a huge outdoor equipment store that I spend hours in whenever I am in Atlanta. It just so happened there was a scratch and dent sale for Coop members only. Wait, I’m a Coop member!

As if it was Christmas morning and I was 8 years old, I did my best speed walk through the store to the back loading dock where all the good stuff was located. I immediately noticed about 10 Kayaks. Anne has said to me on a number of occasions that she could really get into kayaking. She always enjoys it when we go. A friend of mine had a canoeing outfitters and would loan us kayaks but he has closed his business. I glanced at the price tags first and got a little twitchy. They were practically giving them away! I quickly ruled out, the wrong type of kayaks, the broken and damaged kayaks, then the ones that were the wrong size. People were circling the kayaks like vultures. I called Anne on her cell. She was inside looking at clothes. She came out, got into one of the “good” kayaks that I director her to test and then she said,” DO IT !” How awesome is that! A couple of hours later we left with two 14 foot sea kayaks completely rigged with rudders and all!

This was awesome, but not the highlight of our weekend…and not why my wife is so awesome. On Sunday morning with kayaks on the roof, we met up with our friends David and Jackie who are avid divers. We headed to Morrison Spring in FL . (A little background: South GA and North Florida are home to a unique geological feature called a blue hole spring. They are fresh water springs fed by the limestone aquifers and are often characterized by their crystal clear water, 68 degree temp year round, as well as underwater caves and caverns. We dive them as an alternative to expensive and distant saltwater dives. People travel from all over the world to dive some of these springs. Read more about Morrison Springs here: http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/morrison.htmll)

Although we have been diving in springs, we have never been in a cavern before. Overhead environments and low light situations can be tricky to say the least. The plan was that I would dive the cavern with David and Anne would dive just the basin with Jackie. When we got there, Anne was all about the cavern!

We made plans on what we would do if anyone freaked out and we went over what to expect during the dive. David is a dive master and is really good at explaining things.

When we dropped down into the basin to the mouth of the cavern, silt was getting kicked up to the point that there was 2-3ft of visibility. This is a terrifying experience. You are disoriented, breathing heavily, and 35’ below a surface that you can’t just shoot to without serious physical complications. Anne was in front of me following Jackie. She swam into the current that is blasting thousands of gallons of water per minute out of the cavern opening.

The opening was about 10’x10’. At one point I signaled to David that I was getting a little freaked. I watched Anne struggle against the current and get blown back a few times. Then she disappeared into the mouth of the cavern. If it wasn’t for Anne, I may have backed out of the cavern dive. Once I pushed forward into the current, the silt cleared up and there was Anne pulling herself down the guide rope into the darkness. Once in the cavern the current dissipates and the water is crystal clear. Our lights are shining all around the cavern. Looking back there is a small opening that appears to be about the size of a doorway. It is glowing a magnificent blue. All around us are catfish and very curious eels. We are now at about 80’ ft deep, the entrance to the cavern is at around 35’ We explored around the cavern. I couldn’t help but watch Anne swimming around with her dive light, checking out formations and eels, watching her check her gauges and dive computer and think, “How Awesome is my Wife?”

The cavern was full of formations such as flow stone. One side was dominated by an incline of sand. Small fish, catfish and eels could be seen cruising this subterranean sand bar. There were also vents that blasted out strong but isolated currents. Crumbled limestone looked like popcorn as it was constantly being blown up a few inches then falling back into the vents current. The roof was filled with air pockets that when shined on by our dive lights created the most erie effect.

Peek-a-boo! Many of the caverns nooks and crannies were occupied by eels or catfish. These are pictures of the friendly eels we encountered in the cavern. Pictures taken by our friend Jackie.

This is another picture taken by our friend Jackie while we were in the cavern. I was checking my gauges. We were at about 80' deep and about 50' below the entrance of the cavern. I was sucking air down like it was my job.

This experience was amazing; by far one of the coolest things I have been blessed to do.

After about 20min of diving, I had expended my air and signaled to Anne that my time was up (I burn air much faster then Anne and faster then my no decomp time will allow.) On this dive we both burned air faster than usual as we were so excited and scared. We all went up together taking our time to the surface. This was only the first of two dives. After lunch we burned another tank in the cavern. Follow these links to see great YouTube video footage of what we experienced. These aren’t of us but of other divers entering the exact same cavern we did. When I watch them, I can’t believe that Anne and I were there. That we did that.

General Dive of the Cavern

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6470082381054492971&q=morrison+spring+dive&total=9&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
Better footage of getting into the entrance

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5039805332666771226&q=morrison+spring+dive&total=80&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3

What we saw in the cavern.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8618617140775854004

After our second dive, David and Jackie headed home while Anne and I took our new kayaks on their maiden voyage. We paddled down the beautiful flow of the spring that connects into the Suwannee River. When I suggested to my cavern diving wife that we switch kayaks for a while (they are two different models) she informed me that I could stay in my own kayak, that the Eclipse was hers! “It’s prettier and has a cup holder”….. Fair enough.

I know this turned out to be a long entry, but it was such an amazing weekend and reminds me of how awesome my cavern diving wife is! But then I am sure that I don’t need to tell any of you.