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June 2005
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Scuba Plates Close to a Reality by Chip Earle
Why a license plates? Well it is a great way to honor our sport and the avocation that for many of us is a lifetime passion. We all know the many benefits of diving and that diving is a cooperative and sharing sport. It's adventurous, exciting, educational and a socially wonderful way to spend time with friends. What better way to make that statement to all your neighbors than to display a scuba license plate and welcome them to come join our band. I am always amazed after being a diver since 1987 and a dive professional since 1995 when I hear people say, "SCUBA Diving? You dive in Virginia!?" or "A SCUBA shop? Wow! How long have you been here?" . People just don't seem to get the message that there is a very active diving community here in Virginia or that no matter what their particular interest is in diving there are a lot of other people who share that interest. Diving is basically invisible within the community. It doesn't happen on the street corner or at the mall. Diving generally involves travel if only a few miles out to some quarry, river or lake. Try as we might, our diving community is small and the community as a whole doesn't see diving going on and thinks therefore that diving doesn't exist here. What is worse is that young people who have an interest in the ocean, don't realize that there is the capacity right in our community to help them develop their interest and even career paths in aquatic conservation, marine biology and ocean sciences, not to mention archeology and art, photography and a host of other interests. Scuba plates can help us provide day-to-day visibility for diving and help keep in front of the community the opportunities that they have to play, work, learn about and conserve a most valuable global resource. So, we need your help. Join with us to promote a love of the aquatic realm, the many things you can learn and do there as a scuba diver. Help us raise the visibility of our sport and our passion. Please download an application, complete it and send it in with your check so that this opportunity will become a reality. Download Application and Instructions ...And give one to a friend, too. If we work together, we can get the plates issued and help raise the visibility of diving in the Commonwealth of Virginia. If I can help you in any way, please contact me.
Note: All proceeds raised by these plates stay with the Virginia Department of Transportation and no money is paid to any other party.
Intro to Cavern
(Confession of a Crazy Person) When I am asked about my trip to the Bahamas, many of my non-diving friends think I have spent a little to long in the sun. Instead of getting the usual description of a lovely tropical setting, gorgeous sunsets, and things that might go on after the Bahama mama’s, I tell them about going to this hole in the ground that on first appearance may look like any ditch we have at home surrounded by houseplants. Let me back up a little… I am not usually one of those people that love caves. I find them interesting and have visited a few of the famous ones. That is about the extent of my cave experience. The reason I decided to take a Cavern Course was because I want to become a better wreck diver. Especially after reading the “Last Dive”, and seeing how they applied what they learned in cave diving to wreck diving. The first day of the course we did book work, and practiced running a line, then practiced doing this with our eyes closed to simulate loss of visibility and running out of air. Even though I read the book twice it is still a lot to learn and absorb. Although there were humorous moments, there is no adequate description of how intense this class is. Our instructor is very serious about what she is teaching and we have heard how she tough she is on those who make mistakes, so my main fear was not to screw up. The next day did not start on the right foot. You see she gave us homework. Instead of doing what I was told to do, we met the rest of the group at the outside bar. Then after a little while, it didn’t seem so important to take the wreck reel into the parking lot and practice running the line around things. Instead it sounded a little crazy, after all how hard can it be to run the line off the reel, and reel it back in. The next morning Cristina asks if we had practiced, Kevin said, “No, but I dreamt about it”. That sounded like a good and truthful answer. So I said the same thing, we get this incredulous look, and a shake of the head. I think to myself, this can’t be good. We load the car and head to our first destination Ben’s cavern. I have heard about this spot from several of the divers that have already been here. I am looking forward to this. But their description did not match what I saw. I envisioned lovely palm trees surrounded by lush plants. I had forgotten about how bad the hurricane had hit the island. What I find when we get there are very few trees and plants that were about waist high. We walk down a little dirt path that led to a narrow rickety metal spiral staircase. Hopefully not showing what I feel, I think to myself this is it???? It is basically an opening in the ground with skanky looking water. There are a few bats sleeping where some of the tree roots are showing and a narrow wooden platform to stand on and that is it. The water is cold as we get in and the entrance is slippery. Now the work begins. Do I remember all that I have studied?? What are we suppose to check? Let’s see, dive lights #1,check, #2 check, and on through our gear, except extra’s like reel, and safety reel, and line tie’s. Next we practice our S drills. After we have performed these to Cristina’s satisfaction we are then allowed to follow her into the cavern, careful to not stir up silt and touch the bottom. I am very conscience about not screwing up. Let’s see, keep my feet up, follow the line, don’t run into Cristina, watch for Kevin’s light, and if she signals me with her light, check on Kevin before I reply back. Wow look at this!! All of a sudden I am not so worried about all these things and I start enjoying the dive. This really looks like a cave. What we are seeing is a beautiful cavern except we are floating. Imagine air clear water, and your buddy is slowly frog kicking in front of you. You can only see where your light shines, huge white stalactites, and stalagmites are what you are floating through. These structures were formed when the cavern was dry, so it we break something it can never grow back now that it is underwater. To me it was like swimming through very precious china. We continue to follow Cristina further back into the cavern, then all of a sudden she looks like her body is disappearing. Slowly, and eerily I watch as she descends into the halocline. Had I not been told about this before, I probably would have said, “out of here”. Even though I have been warned about this, it is hard to believe what your eyes are seeing. A halocline is where fresh and salt water mix, it is about 8 to 12 inches deep. It makes things real blurry and distorted, and as you descend you are in warm salt water and you can see again. We each take turns doing different fin kicks, and later critiqued on our performance. While Kevin is doing his line drills I am watching from a high perch of white rock and glance back at the entrance. It is such a beautiful sight. Maybe someone like Waylon could do it justice. It is so small I could cover it with my hand, but the sun was in the right spot to have its ray’s angle in and show all the colors that were at the opening that I did not see before, the green of the tree leaning over into the water and the blues and whites of the cavern. Before all I saw was where my light shined, now a little more relaxed I could see the small beauties. I did not expect to like this as much as I do. Now when I describe Ben’s Cavern, I rave about its beauty, and the things I saw. So if the trip to the Cavern is not as beautiful, just wait until you drop under the surface of the water. You will be able to see the natural beauty for your self. When we were debriefed after the first dive, Cristina was very kind with her descriptions of the things I needed to work on. She did not mention the fact that we did not practice with the reel. Although it was real plain that I needed more practice. When I had to practice a lost buddy drill, at first it was like what am I suppose to do about this. Oh no, my buddy is missing. Calm down, think, shield the light with my body, do I see his light? Of course I do, but I am supposed to pretend that I don’t, so tie off on the line, don’t forget the line markers. It took me so long; I kept thinking if this were real, my buddy could be back on the main land before I tie this thing off. Why did I not take that reel into the parking lot and practice? As the class continued and I relaxed, I was able to handle the problems we were handed. I am amazed at Cristina’s abilities to sneak in and turn off your dive light before you realize it. The first time it happened it was a little disconcerting. My light was off before I knew she was near. This course is designed to teach you worst-case scenarios. Just like the basic Open Water Course. Really how many of you have had to do an emergency assent? But if you had to, you were taught how to do it. So if my theory holds true, not too many cavern divers have all 4 of their dive lights go out, while there buddy runs out of air, and they are diving in mocha. Do I think that this will help my wreck diving? YES !!! I do. I am looking forward to using all the things I have learned on the next wreck dive. What I did not expect was to want to continue into cave diving. To stop at this point would be like peeping at the inside of a new discovery, and not being allowed to go any further. I would recommend a cavern course to anyone wanting to try something new or improve your diving skills. If you want to visit Ben’s Cavern you don’t have to take the course to do this, but you will have to go with a cave instructor. Go for it!
We'd love to talk with your teacher about coming to visit your class to talk about the ocean and the creatures in it. We'll bring scuba equipment and would like you to help us show it to your classmates. We'll talk about the animals in the ocean, the things that are happening to the ocean to hurt the fish and the things that you and your classmates can do to help protect the ocean.
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Some years ago, Ann McGrath embarked on a project to benefit all divers and all
the diving businesses in the Commonwealth by working to petition for a special
license plate declaring the interest that we have in scuba diving. Today
we are very close to the finish line, but we need your help.
