GUE Cave II
In June of 2002, I attended and completed the GUE Cave Diver Level II class taught by Tyler Moon. My teammates were Don Hoover and Bob Cooper, who also were my mates during Cave I. You can read more about this adventure by clicking here to read my account of the week or you can also read Bob's version of the week. Also, here are some photos of the week. The underwater photos were courtesy of Charlie Ayash of Georgia.



The Team (L to R): Marcel, Tyler Moon (Instructor), Bob Cooper, Don Hoover and I. Marcel is already Cave II certified but arrived early for his Tech II class.


Getting ready to dive Devil's Ear. This will be my first cave dive with Tyler in 2002. Notice the look of apprehension.


Tune Up dive with Marcel and Tyler. After this dive, I was worried I may lose my Cave I card before the start of class.


Bob aka Mother Otter, because he did the best job of keeping the team together and could not equalize his P-Valve unless he was floating on his back on the surface of the water.


Don Hoover at Orange Grove. He called the dive after blowing chunks through his 2nd stage. He must have wanted to feed some of the local wildlife.


Orange Grove at Peacock Springs State Park where we did some of our warm up and training dives. There is a resident baby alligator in the water though I have not seen Mama.


Post-dive brief with Tyler is always an extremely informative and humbling event. He sees everything!


Telford Spring is a great place to practice technique because it has a flow, low vis, lots of depth changes, small passageways and plenty of silt. It's also a popular spot for the locals.


Preparing for the 1st dive on the last day. By this time, we were all thoroughly exhausted. In addition, I was starved.


Bob checks my rig for bubbles. After a week of diving, Don's burst disk started to leak so it's good practice to do a bubble check on every dive.


Checking to make sure my long hose is routed properly. That's Matt Levin swimming by in the yellow tanks.


Equipment Check so we do not forget to bring all the necessary gear to enter and exit the cave safely.


Swimming from Little Devil to Devil's Ear


After I tied off into the main line at Devil's Ear, I got the OK from Don to go ahead.


That's me at the jump to the Bone Tunnel. Don was tying the jump spool when a camera suddenly appeared in front of my face.


Bob demonstrates proper trim and bouyancy control.


Don retrieiving the jump spool used to maintain a continuous guideline from the main line to the Bone Tunnel. His light "mysteriously" failed just as he reached his line arrow on the main line.


Bob and I prepare to exit Devil's Ear after retrieiving our deco bottles from the secondary tie off.


That's me in the foreground discussing deco schedules with Bob before we get squirted out the Ear like a watermelon seed by the strong flow.


Charlie, our self-proclaimed underwater photographer, takes a self-portrait.


Another self portait of our artist. BTW, notice the unstowed lightcord now serving as an entanglement hazard. Shame on you Charlie. You know better than that!


Tyler took a second off from his favorite sport -- harassing students -- so he can pose with our artist.


Bob and I exiting on back up lights. In a real emergency, we would not actually retrieve our primary reel.


Check out Bob's hood. It must be a British fashion statement.


Matt Levin swam by with Charlie's camera to photograph us during deco. That's Don in the red suit, Bob in the British Mail hood and the guy on top is Tyler getting ready to pounce on his un-suspecting students.


Last day of Cave II. Yeah! Notice the difference in facial expression compared to my first photo.


Do not enter water-filled caves without proper training! And NEVER exceed your level of training nor your own personal comfort level!