Hello my friends!

Well this WE set the record... of the lowest number of dives. Only one! However, what an eventful week end!

On Friday afternoon I managed to escape from work early: 3pm. I picked up Nanci at Tyler's as her car was broken. We make such a good couple! When my van is broken, her car joins in! So we sent to Ginnie in the rental car that I am using until I get my van back.

We went back into the insulation circuit zone that lies 2000 feet from the entrance of the cave. We scootered along the main line with our doubles + a stage tank. All of them contained Nitrox 32%. We dropped the stage at 1500 feet on thirds. Then we dropped the scooters at 2000 feet, tied a jump line from the main line to the insulation circuit line and went in there after 25 minutes of bottom time (still not very efficient). This time I was much more happy than last time, so we completed the circuit. Nanci went ahead from the point where we left it last time. It was not as tight as we expected. There is one duck under place -- very manageable, did not stir a thing. Then the floor became all orange and fluffy! It's very very strange to see! Very hard to describe. You need to see it yourself. I'll ask the big guys like Ted or JJ. Then there is a little restriction that makes a right turn in a pinch. It's about 3 feet high and the floor is a nice mixture of clay + sand. Again Nanci went ahead to show me how. We went through that stuff without any impact on the visibility. Actually as Nanci decided that she would just stay there for a while I swam over her fins and lead the rest of the way. From that restriction onwards it opens up and turns right again. The total distance of the circuit is only 400 feet. So we jumped back on the scooters, snapped the stages and wrapped up the dive with 60 minutes of bottom time. We met our O2 bottles in the eye and did about 10 minutes of deco. Nanci had some gloves this time. They were waiting on her O2 bottle. They did not stop her from performing her usual "Shake Show". I wish someone could help me to convince her to use her dry suit when she scooters in 70 deg. water....

The rest of the week-end was dedicated to finding a house in a hurry, as Nanci was kicked out of where she was graciously hosted. And we did it all in 2 days. We rented a truck, moved all of her non essential stuff into a storage place, moved the rest into Erik and Tiffany's place -- they came to our rescue and we owe them a HUGE one. Then we went house hunting. In a day and a half we visited over a dozen houses. We literally lived in my rented car, ate there, called from there and drove from place to place. Not even the rain could stop us. We settled for a beautiful 1850 Sq. Ft house, 3 bedroom, 2 baths, 2 car garage in Gainesville, just north of the intersection of 43rd St NW and 222. The house is very open, full of light coming from all directions and the neighborhood is safe++. There are 3 police officers living in our block! Soon we will announce a HOUSE WARMING PARTY!!!!!!

I drove back exhausted by happy at 5am on Monday morning to St Petersburg. I will soon be moving from Miami to Gainesville so that I get to go home every WE. And I will be welcome with a lot of love by my Big Tuna! Don't ask.... :-)

Have a good one!

Herve.