I've received several emails asking me when or if I will come back. My reasons for not participating (and not even looking in) are more than just "being busy." However, this is not the appropriate forum for that discussion and I'm not really interested in having that discussion at this time. That said, I've no desire to abandon the hobby or my friends and I'm only an email away.
Moving on to more fun things. I went for a Birthday dive into a spring boil in the middle of one of Florida's infamous Hammocks. A spring boil is where water comes to the surface from the underground aquifer. A "boil" can be a bubbling patch of sand all the way up to a pond where the water comes out of an underwater cave. As the water rises up, it hits the surface of the pond like water in a pot at a rolling boil. A hammock is a jungle/wooded area with swampy patches. Many artesian wells and springs pop-up in these areas.
That's the case where I'm standing in this photo. A spring comes up from an underground cave in the middle of the jungle like woods. It forms a small crystal clear pond and then wanders off into the woods in several little streams which feed into swamps.
There is no road, trail or even a path to this location. We find it using GPS coordinates and have to hand carry all our gear in through the swampy woods to reach the spring. I was hot from the trek and was even warmer after putting on my wet suit. I was taking a swim to cool off, before putting on all my gear, when this photo was taken. You can't see how clear the water is but you can see how dense and rain forest-ish the hammock growth is. It was a fun dive into the spring and once inside the opening of the spring, we entered into a massive underground cave.
Last month, me and another adventurous friend located this spring ...
It's all that's left of a company that made Clear Springs brand Ginger Ale in the early 20th century. Ginger grows wild here and there is no shortage of the stuff. This little enclosed artisan well was the source of their water and the wild ginger plants surrounding the spring were harvested to make the beverage.
Happy Collecting everyone!
