We have a student with connections to virgin dive sites :-)

[Ber Rabbit]

I'm covering for my instructor for a couple weeks while she enjoys some Red Sea diving. Yesterday was the first day of class for the fall quarter group and we had 4 of the 7 who signed up show up. I was chatting with them during the tread portion of the swim test when one asked if divers could dive private property with permission.
Naturally we were curious
Turns out a good friend of his owns some mined property in a nearby town. He said they are gravel pits and the max depth is 150 feet (ummmm....); he's been swimming in them and said if you don't disturb the bottom too much when you enter you can see about 12 feet horizontally.

We feel as responsible divers it's our duty to explain the importance of diving with a buddy. We also feel that it's our duty to volunteer to be a buddy in the case of an area with unknown hazards that a new diver might not realize they need to be wary of

Maybe late in the fall or early next year I'll have another virgin gravel pit story The student said he always wanted to see what was deeper in the gravel pit but the water is chilly and even colder at depth so his friends weren't interested in more than surface swimming.

I think I like this exploration of new places phase I seem to have recently fallen into

Near as I can tell it's one of these pits he's talking about. He said a couple of the pits are inaccessible and have steep sides that you wouldn't be able to exit once you were in them. He called them Lime Pits...need to do a little research on that one.
Ber

[Ber Rabbit]

Ok, so I can't help but search around for stories about the area

This one was interesting. I'm assuming the lion is long since gone
This one's gruesome but mentions divers.

I love dive site research!

Ber

[Dive-aholic]

Very cool. Diving new places is always fun.

I think I like this exploration of new places phase I seem to have recently fallen

So...when does the cave training start...

[Ber Rabbit]

So...when does the cave training start...

Not gonna happen...cavern I would like to do but nobody's getting me past that sign in a cave. It's all I can do to control my anxiety in a dry cave when things get a little tight, I'm not going to try it with a "limited" air supply. I'll stick to exploring zero vis gravel pits that have a slim chance of containing dead bodies ...and beavers, I forgot to mention the beavers we saw in the first pit
Ber

[Dive-aholic]

Not gonna happen...cavern I would like to do but nobody's getting me past that sign in a cave.

That's what you say now...

It's all I can do to control my anxiety in a dry cave when things get a little tight

I've been in cave passages you could drive a couple of semis side by side in and still have room around them. Not all caves are small...

[Mark Vlahos]

I've been in cave passages you could drive a couple of semis side by side in and still have room around them. Not all caves are small...

Probably the biggest misconception from non-cave diver friends of mine. The always think the caves are small.

Mark Vlahos

[Mark Vlahos]

Ber,

Where in Ohio are you based. Although I am rarely home, when I am, home is just across the river into Kentucky from Cincinnati.

Mark Vlahos

[Ber Rabbit]

That's what you say now...



I've been in cave passages you could drive a couple of semis side by side in and still have room around them. Not all caves are small...

Probably the biggest misconception from non-cave diver friends of mine. The always think the caves are small.

Mark Vlahos

I know they can be huge, the dry caves I've been in have had some gargantuan rooms in them. I don't mind the ballroom at Ginnie or going to the sign at other sites that are narrower. I guess it's more the thought of getting beyond the range of visible light that raises my stress level beyond what I'm willing to cope with on a dive. When I'm not "feeling" a dive that has higher stakes I don't go. I probably abort 3/4 of my planned deep dives (70-120 feet) at Gilboa before we ever hit the water, that ratio would probably hold for cave diving. It's something I'm just not cut out for; at least I have the sense to recognize that

Ber,

Where in Ohio are you based. Although I am rarely home, when I am, home is just across the river into Kentucky from Cincinnati.

Mark Vlahos

I'm in the Dayton area so about an hour north of you if you're in Covington.
Ber

[Mark Vlahos]

Actually I'm in Florence about 2 miles west of the "Florence Y'all" water tower.

Since I travel so much I don't know if I could ever schedule it, but it would be good to get together for a dive or two. I've never been to Gilboa, and never dove in any of the Great Lakes.

Mark Vlahos

[Ber Rabbit]

I know exactly where that is

Let me know if you're passing through with time to dive, I'll do what I can to be available. Gilboa is nice, it's nicest in the off season when the students aren't there We can do the shallow side then you can decide if you want to run deep with me providing I don't have any weird feelings about the deep side that day. I don't go when it doesn't "feel" right. Bring your logbook if you want to do the deep side, there's a required pre-dive interview with the owner.
Ber