We decided we’d get 2009 off to a good start by spending the first week of January in Florida doing nothing but cave diving.  It had been a while since we’d been in the caves, and even longer since we’d been in them together, so we decided we’d start in familiar territory - Peacock.  We arrived in Live Oak, FL, around mid-day on Saturday, checked in to our hotel and headed down to Dive Outpost to get some fills.  Sara had a new computer to try out (the Tec 2G) and we’d been on the road quite a bit, so we planned to do just one dive.  It was great to be back at Peacock and the first dive was a good one.  Sara’s computer survived the first dive which is saying a lot considering it only made it about 10 more dives before meeting its untimely demise… more on that later.

On day two, Sara was trying out another new piece of gear – the She-Pee.  We had read a lot about it prior to taking the plunge and were aware of the learning curve involved so the fact that we had a catastrophic failure on day one wasn’t really a surprise (nor did it discourage us)… we just worked throughout the week to find the proper positioning and the right amount of adhesive and all was good.  Sara was only really soaked twice the whole week (and the second time, her arms were equally as soaked as the rest of her, but that was just a wrist seal failure).  All-in-all, the She-Pee was a huge success.  There is something to be said for not having to remove the drysuit after every dive or wait painfully on a decostop.

The rest of our time in the Luraville/Live Oak area we spent at Little River.  There was a decent flow there which made for a nice challenge getting in and a fun ride on the way out.  We spent our surface intervals at the Luraville Country Store eating lunch and at Dive Excursions getting fills and chatting with other divers.  In the evenings, we would check out the local fare and turn in early.  On Tuesday night, we made our way down to High Springs to try Great Outdoors for dinner.   We learned shortly before the trip that Floyds had closed… we were incredibly bummed and had exceedingly high expectations for Great Outdoors. It did not disappoint.  It is not Floyds – and never will be – but the food is excellent and the ambiance is fantastic. 

Wednesday we opted to do just one dive at Little River and then head over to Marianna where we’d spend the rest of the trip.  That one dive turned out to be probably one of the best cave dives we had ever done.  Everything just fell into place… it was beautiful.  A great way to leave a system, to be sure.

We had planned to spend the next two days at Jackson Blue in Marianna.  At the suggestion of JT, we rented a pontoon boat from Cave Adventurers.  With that, we had the option to dive Jackson Blue, Twin Caves or Hole in the Wall.  We had heard from other divers earlier in the week that the flow at Jackson Blue was so strong that it wouldn’t be possible to swim in.  After talking to Edd and Gordon at Cave Adventurers, we decided we’d give it a shot… if the flow was too high, we’d simply go to one of the other systems.  To make a long story short, we spent all of the next two days at Jackson Blue. The flow was high, but manageable.  What’s more, it was worth every ounce of effort it took to get in.  It was truly an awesome cave.  And the ride out was incredible… you didn’t have to kick at all.  We can’t wait to get back to Jackson Blue (and to try Twin Caves and Hole in the Wall).

The pontoon boat is definitely the way to go... there is no way you can miss any of the caves, really (they are all well marked) and Cave Adventurers outfit boat with a ladder for easy entry and exit (the pictures explain it all).  And as for Sara’s computer… well, it died at the end of the first day at Jackson Blue.  Flooded.  At least Sara got ten good dives out of it.  

All-in-all, it was an amazing way to start the year.  Incredibly relaxing atmosphere and awesome caves!  Can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings!