We don't make it to....

(post for Tuesday, Oct. 6)
Today was a disappointing day for cave diving, but having said that "disappointing" is a little too strong a word. The dives were both enjoyable in their own ways but I did not get that sense of Accomplishment that comes from a successful cave dive. What is "successful?" To me, in cave diving, it means that if you have a destination as a goal for the dive you actually reach it. Today's dives I did not reach the planned destination on either one. On previous trips, I had seen these places so it is not like I am still waiting to see them.

Our first dive was in Dos Ojos, to do the l-o-n-g stage dive from the west eye of Dos Ojos all the way (4,500 feet) to cenote Tikim Chih. I'd done this dive last year so I remembered most of the markings and turns. Because of this (I guess) Connie put me as lead diver of Team #2... laying reels, markers, etc. It was our same team of four, Sandra J, Sandra H, and Dave. We make it to the air dome in approx. 45 minutes into the dive, right on time. A brief pause to drop stage tanks, and some grouping changes. Our two teams are split up into four, to account for different air consumption rates. The plan now is to do the 2,000 feet to Tikim Chih in pairs and turn (as a pair, not the 4-team) if thirds are hit. My partner typically has as good air consumption as I do, so I was uber confident we'd make it. But...

The dive continued from the air dome and within the first three minutes the other pair of our 4-team calls it and returns to the air dome. I think there was an issue with a gas leak or ear problem... can't remember which. So the two of us continue on. 15 mintes later we pass the half-way marker. We pass another half-way marker 150 feet later (there's a story there, I'm sure!!) At 28 minutes into the dive, another dive pair ahead of us calls on 3rds and turns around... this didn't surprise me as I knew their consumption was higher. But two minutes later, my partner calls the dive which was a surprise as I didn't suspect anything could be wrong. Well, the golden rule of cave diving applies here as it does any other time: "Anyone can call the dive at any time for any reason." Turned out that her inflator hose had been leaking and she'd lost a few hundred PSI over the course of the dive. We were just four minutes short of the goal, but calling the dive is irrefutable. Connie was surprised, as her mini-team of 3 were the only ones to make it to Tikim Chih. Se la vie.

Second dive was at Calimba, a very small (and murky) cenote right on the main highway out of Tulum. One of the things I love about Calimba is the landowner's welcoming attitude towards the divers. He will light a candle for us in the shrine entrance of the cenote, as a blessing to wish us safe passage. I think Simone Lipscomb posted a picture of the candle-lit shrine on her blog last year, if you want to see a picture. To pass by all the idols while wearing scuba gear, and then to see the candle lit for us... well, for some reason it feels humbling.

My dive team this time included Sandra and Tommy, one of the divemasters(?) working at Aquatech. Our plan: follow Connie's team as they wind their way to Bosh Chen cenote. The best parts of the cave are in the large highly decorated rooms leading up to the cenote exit. I have nice video of this dive from last year, a snippet of which I posted on this blog back then.

I won't go much into diving Calimba itself, as I've posted about it at least once before. But I will mention that it is narrow most of the time, and has more minor restrictions (tight spaces) per kilometer than other parts of the Sistema Sac Aktun I have visited. Not that this is a deterrent... not in the least! I enjoy the challenge of restrictions whenever I encounter them. The Calimba line has the world famous "Boa Constriction" minor restriction. You don't remove gear to navigate it, but it is pretty bendy.

Well... as the title of this blog goes, We Don't Reach Bosh Chen. On this dive, Tommy was leading and though we reached the Bosh Chen line, he called the dive only a few minutes onto it. Problem with his inflator valve or so he said. Great disappointment as the best and most beautiful passageways were just ahead. We were nowhere near Bosh Chen.

All in all, a fun day, but disappointing because the goals I set weren't met.

Swimming with Wild Dolphins

This week has been filled with small miracles. First, I went a whole week without getting a single mosquito bite. Then, my video housing which had been broken for over a month... started working again! (Much to my relief, I found that the irreplaceable electronics are fine, the main connector just had some corrosion on it.) And then a new gym opened up nearby so I could resume a work-out schedule while in Cozumel. Now, today, I got to swim with WILD DOLPHINS. I am not making this up.

Even better, I had the (now working perfectly) video housing with me on this trip, so I got in-water video while I was snorkeling. No, unfortunately I wasn't in scuba gear at the time we came across this pod of 5 adult dolphins, but what I got on video still looks pretty good. These were B-I-G dolphins. Easily thrice my body weight. The story played out like this:

We had just finished our 3rd tank dive on Paradise reef and were heading back to the dock. It's about a 15 minute boat ride. Suddenly the divemaster shouts "Dolphins!" and everyone scrambles out to the bow of the boat. I grab my video on the way there and sure enough, el capitan has set the boat right on their tails. Or they swam up to under the bow of the boat... I'm not sure which. So there I am on the forward pulpit over the bow, shooting video straight down of these lovely creatures as they pace the boat, leaping out every now and then. They soon wandered off in a different direction.

That wasn't all. We were then told el capitan was going to race ahead of them and we could jump in the water with snorkel gear. Nemecio was extremely generous to loan me his snorkel since I don't have one. So - In the water we go! I get a few distance shots of them and then suddenly the whole pod swims right underneath me. What a great experience!!! The moment is over all to quick, but thankfully captured on video.

We went two more times to jump in and snorkel with them but the first encounter was the best. This was such an amazing trip! The capitan and crew of Aqua Safari's "Ocean III" were incredibly generous with their time and accommodating to the five of us divers who enjoyed this trip beyond words. We all tipped well today.

About the Video

I just learned today that Blogger allows me to post video. This is my first attempt doing a blog with a video snippet. All told I have about eight minutes of video, most of it above water as they danced among the three boats that were there at the time. Trying to handle the camera while snorkeling is much harder and much more restrictive than while scuba diving as I quickly learned, but for a spur-of-the-moment encounter I am pretty happy with it.

Some still shots

Here are a few stills extricated from the video using Pinnacle Studio. They are grainy but the best I can do with what I've got. If you see me in person anytime in the next few months be sure to ask to see the whole video.


The image above was captured from the video when I was on the bow of the boat, as the dolphins paced us this one turned to "look" at me as I was filming it.

The following pictures are excerpts from the video above.