We’re all pretty nervous when we arrive in the morning. Official examiners from the regional Andalusian government are going to be overseeing and grading the theoretical and practical part of the exam.

IDs and phones on the corner of the table, pencils and calculators ready. We have 1,5h for the theory part and then there’s an hour of problems to calculate and dives to tabulate.

I’ve spent most of the night trying to memorise parts of human anatomy in Spanish, dreading the physiology part. No physiology questions, “Me c*#o en la leche!”.

So far so good, the theory and calculation part of the day went well I think. It’s time to get in the water.

We will have to navigate our way to a point marked by a buoy and cut a piece of metal, ascend and show our work. Of course all the kit preparation, entry procedures and our demeanour on the surface and in the water is being judged. We will have to be perfectly co-ordinated and the examiners are watching our every move.

Ronan and I pair up. We’ve done most of the course together and it’s the natural choice.

“Prepare! Ready? Water!” We hit the water perfectly and our co-ordination and timing is spot on. We come up right next to each other and give the “OK” to the examiners. “SHIT!” I look over at Ronan, his mask is gone. He has a look of terror in his eyes. It fell off on the impact.

Toffy, deployed as safety diver quickly dives down into the mirky water and a split second later, Ronan has his mask back in his hand. He quickly puts it on and I can see in his eyes that he’s completely sure he has already failed the exam. We’re not supposed to talk in the water and as we swim over to where we’re sent, I stroke his arm to let him know “don’t worry, it’ll be ok”.

We’re safety divers for the first pair to complete the exercise and quietly wait on the surface, watching our colleagues bubbles. “Don’t worry” I whisper into my snorkel. “There’s still the whole rest of the exercise.”

It’s our turn to cut the piece of metal. We swim to the buoy, right next to each other, making sure we do absolutely everything perfectly. “Ok. Descend!” and we descend at the exact same time. Phew. Ok, we’re under water, the examiners can’t see us. Time to take a deep breath and calm ourselves a little. It’s a strange thing for me, and Ronan has told me the same. But the moment my head is under water and I hear that familiar “TSHHH – tsssss” coming from my regulator, there is a calmness that comes over that I can’t compare to anything and have a hard time describing.

We’re in our element now, this is the easy part. Cesar is already waiting for us with the saw and metal. We work away and everything goes smoothly. “Ok. Ascend!”

Our heads reach the surface at the exact same time as we ascend to show our work. We get the “OK” and get out of the water. Time for the next pair.

Ronan is freaked out and convinced that he failed. We all assure him that we don’t think so. After all we did the rest of the exercise perfectly.

Everyone’s done and we start cleaning all our equipment. We’re all still a little bit tense. No news yet on whether we passed the practical part. I glance over at the examiners, they’re huddled together, discussing our results. Tato is with them too.

I go back to cleaning my kit when suddenly from somewhere the message gets passed down the line. “Everyone passed the practical part!” YAY!

Ronan sighs a big sigh of relief and we all cheer. Everyone was nervous.

We head back to the school and as I pack up all my kit, I can’t believe that its really over.I’ll miss the guys and I’ll miss Tato, Teresa and their lovely daughters. I these five weeks of learning, studying and training together we’ve all grown quite close.

Before saying good-bye to everyone we all go out for a meal together, laughing, telling stories and reminiscing.

There’s lots of hugs and kisses as we say good-bye to Tato, Teresa, Toffy and Helena. They’ve been like a family to us this entire time and we’re all a little bit sad to have to leave them.

I hug the boys one by one, I’ve gained 8 brothers. We’ll see each other again sometime, somewhere, perhaps underwater.

Photographer: Helena, Camera: Smartphone

Ronan, John and I, having worked the control panel didn’t go in the water yesterday. It’s our turn today.

I can barely contain myself, I am so excited. This is so cool!

Having learnt how to do it yesterday, it’s on my colleagues to get me dressed, connected and ready. The harness, weight system and emergency backpack are quite heavy, a little bit big on me. Gautier pulls the straps tighter on one end, Toto pulls on another end.I’m being pushed and pulled and strapped in and connected up.
The band mask is heavier than I thought and Toffy pulls is tight on my head. All hoses connected, ready for the equipment check.

Photographer: Helena, Camera: Smartphone

“Diver One, receiving loud and clear?” asks Toffy. “Loud and Clear!” I respond and we go through the kit step by step. “Opening Emergency Valve. Emergency Valve open.”

“Diver, approach pier!” “Approaching pier.” “Prepare! Ready? Water!”
I take a big step. The water is low today so the drop is a little higher than usual. A big splash and I hit the water. Down I go, yup, this is what it feels like not to have a BCD. I can’t help but laugh. The big harness and heavy band mask make feel a little bit like a robot.
I feel John’s hand under my arm and he quickly pulls me back up, Gautier is keeping tension on the umbilical.

We descend to the bottom and start making our way to the deadweight where I’ll have to complete my task. I notice that we’re a little far left of the main mooring chain as we leave the surface and once we hit the bottom, John notices too. With no visibility there’s no chance we’ll find it even if we’re only half a meter off. John starts navigating towards where he thinks the chain is and as I’m dependent on him to get me to site, I have little choice but to go where he takes me. I’m pretty sure we’re going the wrong way, but honestly I don’t really care. I’ve got my giant, heavy, metal mask, air coming from the surface and this is unbelievably fun. I really don’t mind spending a little more time in the water, trying to find our way.

“Hold on, John! I’m stuck”. Oh no! We moved underneath the mooring chain of one of the boats and my umbilical got wrapped around it. My peripheral vision is quite restricted in my “robot-head” and the zero-visibility doesn’t help the situation. I try to figure out which way to go around the chain and how to untangle myself. At least we can use this one to follow it down to the main chain.

This is tricky and I can’t seem to get it but I enjoy this equipment way too much to be freaked out by this. “Whatever” I think to myself “I’m loving this, I’ll just stay here a little longer then”.

Suddenly see the familiar grey silhouette of my old wet-suit, now Toto’s new wet-suit. TOTO!!! Thank f*#k!! I grab his arm. We both laugh a little as he untangles the mess we have managed to get ourselves into. Confident and sure of the way little Toto swiftly has us back on the main chain and at the work site. “Thank you, honey!” I squeeze his arm tight and look him in the eyes. He smiles at me and nods. We’ve been underwater together for a month now, he knows what I’m saying.

I get handed the flansh and start taking it apart. Carefully I hand all the bolts and nuts to John, who puts them away in their designated container. One, two, three four, this is easy and my “robot-outfit” is incredibly comfortable. The mask seals off my suit perfectly, I’m nice and warm and cosy. I can breathe through my nose (which to be honest, I mostly forget about) and I’ve got this flansh and zero-visibility thing down like a pro. I am having an absolute blast down here. This is amazing!

… MORE PICTURES AND VIDEO COMING SOON …

Done! “Damn it, I should have gone slower” I think to myself as I signal the “OK and return”. Now I have to get out of the water. It’s too soon, I don’t want to get out yet! Just five more minutes, please! I feel like a little kid, playing with new toys.

Back at the dock wall we ascend to the surface. John and Toto keep me afloat and Gautier keeps tension on the umbilical.

The water level is low and the first step of the ladder is about 10 cm above the surface. I reach a few steps higher, pull myself up and rest my knee on the first step. Ok, good to know that I can get out by myself this way. I won’t be nervous about it for the exam then.

As I climb up the ladder Helena and Toffy are taking pictures. I can’t wait to show them everyone!

As my colleagues take off the mask and harness, Toffy, Helena and Teresa start laughing. My facial expression must clearly convey that I absolutely love this.

A little consolation to the fact that I had to give up my “robot-suit” again is the fact that I now get to go play with a pneumatic hammer, chiselling away at the dock wall.

Photographer: Helena, Camera: Smartphone

Ouch! This is somewhat unpleasant. The pressure coming from the hammer is quite uncomfortable on my ears, but when I move my head further away, I can’t see a thing in this water. It takes me a bit, but I finally find a comfortable distance. This is fun “takatakatakataka”. Nestor said he drew a heart on the wall. No chance, I’ll find it. I try and draw a circle, but I’m pretty sure it’s more of a squiggly egg shape in the end. I don’t know, I can’t really see it.

Finally we get to play with all the cool toys and now the course is over? Can’t be!

Ready for the Final Exam?

In the afternoon Tato gives us a last quick run-down of what will be asked in the exam.

I can’t believe tomorrow is already the last day. These five weeks have passed way too quickly. Not to mention…. HOLY SH*T!!! Final exam is tomorrow!!! Somehow I thought I had more time, I guess this will be a long night tonight.

Today is the day, finally we will all look like real commercial divers.

When Gautier and the instructors ge the kit ready, we’re all teeming with excitement.
The Gas Control Panel comes out and we ready the umbilical. Blue hose for air, yellow gives us the depth of the diver and red is for communication. “This will be asked in the exam!”, Tato reminds us.
Ronan and I are going to be the the Tenders today, controlling and monitoring the divers under water through the panel.

Once all the equipment is on the pier (much faster and more organised this time) the first diver is getting ready. Gautier, Tato and Toffy show us how to dress and connect the diver, before it’s our turn to get our colleagues ready. The heavy Band Mask comes on and the diver is ready.

“Check Equipment!” Toffy starts out. “Checking Equipment” responds the diver. “Loud and Clear?” “Loud and Clear!” “Open anti-fog valve!” “Opening anti-fog valve. Anti-fog valve open.”. All parts of the equipment need to be checked and tested before the diver gets in the water. Two safety divers are already waiting in the dock, ready to catch the diver and pull him back to the surface. With the heavy kit and weight system, and without a buoyancy control device or fins, the surface supplied diver is dependent on his colleagues to get him to and from the work site.

“Approach Pier!” “Approaching Pier.” Ronan and I are ready on the panel, Gautier is controlling the umbilical and keeping physical contact with the diver. Four pulls means ascend, one pull is “Are you OK?”. I hope I’ll remember all the non-vocal communication signals.

“Prepare! Ready? Water!” Toffy sends the first diver in the water, the safety divers catch him, descend and transport him and our friend the flansh to the first buoy. Ronan and I watch the depth of the diver steadily increase on the panel and keep an eye on air supply and pressure. “Make sure you keep talking to the diver” Toffy reminds us “At greater depths he can enter narcosis or experience any number of other problems. Don’t let him be quiet for too long, you won’t know if something is wrong.” It’s a little bit nerve-wrecking, I must admit. Our colleagues and their lives are literally in our hands right now.

Tato keeps a watchful eye over everything and reminds us to keep checking the depth regularly. The diver might fall off a ledge or not notice that he has descended further than he should.

This is absolutely amazing. Ronan and I take turns on the panel and I get a chance to take some pictures, or lots and lots of pictures.

… MORE PICTURES AND VIDEO COMING SOON …

We will be taking turns today using the different kinds of equipment we’ve gotten to know so far, while completing the now familiar exercises under water. I’m paired up with Toto and it’s our turn to use the umbilical, through which air will be supplied to us from  the surface.

   Tenders and assistants are equipping surface-supplied divers, while others prepare masks on their autonomous kit. The instructors are connecting the air supply to our regulators and we carry an emergency scuba tank on our back. This is pretty cool.

As the diver you basically just get to stand there while other people dress you, connect you and get you ready to work under water.
Toffy has taken over the roll of photographer for the moment.

The equipment assembly and parallel tasks seem to be working a lot better today and we get into the water quickly. “Oh no!” I think to myself as Cesar hands us the saw and piece of wood, it’s the horrible old one, that doesn’t cut anything.
As we descend I notice that I’m having trouble staying down. Crap! I’m suddenly painfully aware of fact that I usually carry two kilos in my BCD, which I’m not wearing with the surface-supply harness. I signal Toto to go back up and back on the surface Gautier quickly hands me Nestor’s weight-belt, who is currently minding my umbilical.
It’s ridiculously heavy and without the BCD I have to work hard to stay on the surface, trying to wrap the way too big belt above mine and under the harness somehow. “Why am I being so silly?” I think to myself, I have an unlimited air supply via the compressor, “Screw it! I’ll fix it down there.” With plenty of weight now, I have no trouble keeping myself on the bottom.

Toto starts out on the saw and with a little bit of help from some pre-made cuts, he manages to saw off a chunk remarkably quickly. We ascend, get the “OK” from Cesar, switch and descend again. My turn.

… VIDEO COMING SOON …

This saw is terrible, I can barely get it to move back and forth, the stupid piece of wood is moving all over the place and I can’t see f*#k all. It was already frustrating with the “good” saw, this is a million times worse. I can feel the rage building up inside myself. “STUPID F*$#ING THING!” I yell into my regulator while flipping this rusty piece of metal off. As if that would help. “Fine!” I growl and pull the piece of wood back in place. Poor Toto must think I’ve lost my mind. There’s a rock in the way of the saw now. “Me c*#o en la p#$a leche!”, cussing and swearing in all languages now. Fine! I’ve got all day. Or at least until the compressor runs out of fuel. I’ll just sit here and saw away at this stupid thing until it gets dark.
My arm is starting to hurt and the exorbitant amount of weight I’ve got around my waist now is starting to put a strain on my back. I angrily work away, occasionally hitting this absolute pain in my a*$ against a rock as it gets stuck over and over again.

Finally a face appears out of the mirky water, about 10 cm in front of me. Ronan. “You OK?” he asks me. “I’M FINE! THIS F*#%ING %#$*&….” I wildly gesticulate and wave the saw around. “Up!” he signals and lets me know that Cesar has terminated the exercise.

Cool Toys in the Classroom

In the afternoon Tato and Gautier bring out the next cool piece of kit we’re going to try. We all gather around in fascination as Tato explains the use of the air supply panel and communication system. Tomorrow we’re finally gonna look like commercial divers, band mask, umbilicals, tenders and minders at the ready, I can’t wait.

… MORE PICTURES COMING SOON …