So, in May of '94 I took a Cavern Course at Ginnie Springs, Florida (taught by Jarrod Jablonski (JJ), Tyler Moon and Steve Masters). The course was terrific, giving me a look at a whole different world, the world of underwater caverns and the enticement of underwater caves. The material was almost overwhelming and the amount of task-loading encountered in the dives was - well - almost overwhelming! But it wasn't just the fun and physical challenge of the high flow caves at Ginnie, it was the intellectual challenge and the fascinating new equipment, methods, rules, configurations and attitudes that went with it. In other words - to my way of thinking - this was KEWL STUFF!

I quickly realized that I wanted to dive in caves, too, so I started educating myself as to what was involved. Joel Markwell and John Crea and the other cave divers on CIS were a huge help, and phone calls and brochures and several books and magazines as sources helped too. I started to list out all the equipment I would need and set down a schedule of acquiring what I needed. More important, though, was finding the right instructor. We all know that the instructor is what makes or breaks a course, so I had to not only find a competent, well-known and active instructor, but one who also matched my own personality and approach to things.

After a few months, I narrowed it down to five possible instructors: all 5 had the experience and qualifications needed, but only 2 matched my personality. I made my final decision between these two based on convenience and price. I selected John Orlowski of AquaSpeleo. John's home is near Live Oak, Florida, less than an hour away from 10 or more great u/w caves: Peacock, Telford, Cow, Madison Blue, etc. The "formal" lectures were held on his front porch, shared with his two cats - Shotgun and Attitude - and a dog. Surrounded by a pine forest, it would have been complete solitude except for the geese, roosters, turkeys, horses and chickens making a cacophony of sounds from time to time. From this description, you can probably guess that even the "formal" lectures were laid-back... and that is a good description of John, too. When it came down to business, John is all business, but his laid-back attitude took the edge off of everything and made me feel a lot better about the tasks I was taking on. John's wife, Shelley, is not just a significant-other, but an equal partner and contributor, and a damn fine cave diver. It was great having her there because she always had a valid but different point-of-view which always helped my understanding.

Although the best method of acquiring experience in caves is to take the Cavern course, then have several dives in caverns; take the Intro to Cave Diving course, then have several dives (within the limits) in caves; take the Apprentice Cave Diver course... etc. I did not have that luxury, since I did not live in or near Florida or other community with a number of underwater caves. I would have to take the Full Cave course all at once, due to time and money constraints. Now, in restrospect, I can certainly STRONGLY recommend NOT taking the course all at once. Practicing the skills you learn at each stage would be highly preferable over the all-at-one-time pace.

Here is a picture of my primary cave diving buddy, Joel Markwell, with me, during a not too recent cave diving trip.