Basic Cave Diver

Yesterday we got a package from the National Speleological Society- Cave Diving Section. Two Fish is officially a basic cave diver. He is officially part of a select group of divers. The kings (and queens) of the tech divers. He just returned from his training, an early celebration of his upcoming 30th birthday. Nothing like a little technical dive training to make you feel alive.

Last week Two Fish went with my brothers J&M, my Dad, and a group of divers from our shop to do some cave diving in Ft. White, Florida. Ft. White is famous for their underwater cave systems. Two Fish took and passed his cavern and basic cave training. This is some pretty intense training and I'm so proud of him for passing. When we got married Two Fish wasn't exactly a water lover and he was less than thrilled about being pressured into scuba diving. When he went to talk to my Dad about asking me to marry him my Dad made him promise to get his open water certification. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Two Fish would be the one to push me to become a technical diver or that he would someday do his cave training. It's a pretty amazing transformation.

Two Fish's underwent five days of training. He had to learn how to reconfigure his dive gear (a double set of tanks on a back plate and wing with two regulators and a big ol flashlight.) The first part of his class was cavern training. This allowed him to dive in "the daylight zone" or the opening to the cave where you can see the daylight. After the first couple days he moved on to more cave penetration. He learned how to follow lines through the cave both with and without a mask. The instructor basically tries to put the divers under stress so that they can handle stressful situations on their own. Two Fish had to practice out of air drills, no visibility drills, using reels to navigate the cave, and learned how to have the correct "trim" or dive without kicking the sides of the cave and stir things up. His buddy who came from Utah and has been training all summer with Two Fish unfortunately got a sinus infection after the cavern course and had to go home, so that was a bummer but Two Fish got to dive with several other people.

Two Fish dove in Devil's Ear which had a lot of flow and was a difficult entry. He also dove in Peacock Springs and Ginnie Springs. He did a total of 11 dives in 5 days, penetrated about 450-500 feet at a depth of approximately 90 feet. Two Fish said the hardest part of his training was staying completely focused. The level of awareness it takes to cave dive is extreme. His favorite part was the challenge and the opportunity to learn something new. One of the things I really love about Two Fish is he is always ready to learn something new and really throws himself into it. (Even if learning new Java programming from a book sounds like cruel and inhuman torture to me, he does it on a regular basis.)

This was Two Fish's first time in the South (or East for that matter) and he got to meet a lot of great people, eat a lot of BBQ, and experience some Southern hospitality. He was surprised by the number of churches in the South (something I really love.) He got to eat at the famous "Sunny's" where they have "both kinds of cheese" (white and yellow.) He hung out with self-proclaimed red necks and had to listen to my brother M's death rattle snore and late night texting. He came home very tired.

I was so happy that Two Fish got the opportunity to go do these classes. It was a well deserved vacation (as intense as it might have been.) He does so much for our family, I was really happy he could take eight days off to do something he loves. I can't say I enjoyed my week as a single parent. I was really happy to see Two Fish come home. Red Fish is going through a big separation anxiety phase and it was really sad to have her crying and screaming for Daddy every night. She had a really rough time. I had a rough time because I count on Two Fish for a lot. Lucky for us Two Fish missed us too. We really love him and we're all glad he doesn't have to be away on a regular basis.