We’re back out on the boat today and the ones who didn’t do the deep dive yesterday get to go to 30m today. As we’re headed to the dive site I can barely believe my eyes when I look at the sonar. 137m and all the way down to 145. We’re not even that far from the coast. It almost seems like I could swim to the beach from here. I had no idea it drops off that far, that close to shore. Amazing.

The current is quite a bit stronger today and the group has to do their exercise a few meters above the ground.

Juan Carlos is in the water as safety diver, apnea safety diver. Trained to free-dive to depths of 50 meters, 30 is no problem for him. Should there really be an emergency, he would be down there and able to intervene much faster.

… VIDEO COMING SOON …

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When the divers are back on the surface the situation has only gotten worse. The current has picked up even more and Tato has cancelled the trailing exercise for the day. Too dangerous. Damn it, that looked like such a blast. Hopefully we’ll have better luck next week.

After we (hopefully successfully) complete this course we will be trained and legally allowed to work at depths up to 30m. So, today is the time to go deep.

For most of the guys, yesterday’s 20m was the deepest they’ve ever been. Ronan and I have had deeper dives in our recreational diving career and Juan Carlos (which still blows my mind) dives almost twice as deep on a single breath. In class we’ve already extensively discussed the physiological process behind as well as the symptoms of nitrogen narcosis, which can occur at depths below 25m. It’ll be interesting to see if any of the guys get “NOGed”. I remember the one time I clearly felt it. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling I must admit, but then again, everyone reacts differently to it.

Toni and I are paired up and together with Ronan and Juan Carlos we get ready and jump in the water. It’s cold and it’s only gonna get colder the deeper we get.
Gautier and Cesar are going down with us and Cesar’s brought a rope with him. In oder to show our ability to work at such depths as well as test if any of us are affected by the increased Nitrogen in our bloodstream, we each have to do a nautical knot on the bottom.

As we descend down the line the visibility gets worse and worse. At the bottom it’s almost like back in the dock, only colder… and darker. My dive computer shows 31.7m.

… VIDEO COMING SOON …

Toni is the first one to do the knot. Cesar hands him the rope and Toni begins to fumble. He can’t get it done. Cesar takes the rope and shows him with swift and practiced movements.
Watching Toni’s process I have slowly started moving my hand onto his BCD and by now I’ve got a firm hold of him. “You OK?” I signal him. “OK!” he signals and smiles at me before he gives it another try. Again he can’t get the knot done. He starts laughing and tosses the cable back at Cesar. I look over at Gautier to ask if he also thinks that Toni might be feeling the Nitrogen a bit. A vehement nod on his part only confirms my suspicion. Slightly worried about my dive-partner I ask him again if he’s ok, while Cesar hands the rope off to Ronan and Toto. “I’m OK!” he assures me, but I’m not convinced. The rest of us finish the task without problems and we begin our ascent. I keep close contact with my partner and repeatedly make sure that he’s fine. 
A little too often as it turns out. Back on the surface, Toni assures me that it was only about the fact that he didn’t know how to do the knot in the first place and that he was feeling perfectly fine the entire time. I don’t know. I’m not convinced. Gautier and Cesar seemed to have seen the same thing I saw and as a Divemaster I followed my instinct to try and make sure he’s ok. Either way, I’d rather ask a couple of times too often than not enough.

When we get back on the boat and out of the water for the day, for the other four in our group the fun is only just starting. Today they’re going to be pulled behind the boat on a long line, holding on to a board with which they can control their depth. It looks absolutely nuts and like so much fun. I can’t wait to try it tomorrow.

After giving my sinuses a few days of rest I’m more than ready to get back in the water. Today’s task is training search patterns at 20m depth. The thermometer shows 7 degrees this morning and the fact that the water is twice as “warm” is little consolation. But we’re getting back on the boat, my suit is dry when I put it on and then sun is shining. The sky is crystal clear and on the horizon you can see the snow on the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Seems like the perfect day to go for a dive.

We pack up all our kit and even though the loading process (we seem to be especially gifted in that regard) is slightly chaotic we don’t seem to be screwing up too bad. Phew. Looks like we’re off to a good start.

This time the new additions to our equipment include a brick, used as dead-weight to signal the start of our circular search pattern and a nylon chord.

Toni, Ronan and I are teamed up we’re among the first two teams to jump in the water.  “Prepare! Ready? Water!”

We descend down the buoy line and reach the bottom, so far so good. We attach our nylon chord and after a few initial communication issues we get our search started. I place the brick at our starting point and off we go. One big round, looking for weird or out of place things. I find an odd looking bucket and show it to the guys. We all shrug, unsure what to do with it. Were we supposed to bring the things with us?

… VIDEO COMING SOON …

I recognise a rock formation an am pretty sure that we’re getting close to our brick when Cesar comes over and signals me to ascend. I point towards the direction of our dead-weight and try and signal that we’re only a few meters away. But when he signals me again to go up, I return to the buoy line with the guys and we begin our ascent. Did I misunderstand what we were meant to do? Were we meant to leave it there for the next group to find? I did hear someone on the boat say they didn’t have one. I’m a little bit confused.
At the safety stop I try asking the guys by writing on my little slate. But my illegible scribbles earn me only a giggle and a shrug.

When we get back to the boat Tato immediately notices the missing brick and gives us quite the talking to. Well, at least that clears that up, either misunderstood Cesar on the surface or under water. Either way, we woke the angry polar bear.

The rest of us don’t seem to be doing much better. An anchor was supposed to be brought up that wasn’t and we all feel a little dazed and confused. Clearly we missed something here. For a while its almost quiet on the boat. But the spirits lift soon and by the time we get back everyone’s back to their old, cheerful selves.

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I’m not the biggest fan of getting up early, but today is different. We’re going to use a surface-supplied air source for the first time. This it the part of commercial diving everyone’s seen before, in movies and documentaries, even without knowing anything about it.
Everyone’s excited to get started with the “cool stuff”.

In the classroom we get a thorough briefing on what is about to happen. It’s my turn today to be Team Leader, which means I’m in charge of getting all necessary and mandatory equipment to and from the pier safely.

Cesar and Gautier are getting the compressor and umbilical ready while the rest of us ready our kit. Some of us will be having another go with the full-face masks, while two at a time will do their first surface-supplied dive in the dock.
Of course we’re not just going to sit around on the mirky bottom. The flansh with its nuts and bolts is packed up as well and along with it pieces of wood, the saw, buoys, ropes and other things. They’ve been our steady companions since the day we met them.
After all it’s not just about mastering the new equipment. As commercial diver’s we’re expected to work on construction sites and oil platforms, fix and inspect damns and reservoirs and do a multitude of other challenging things under water.

Once all the kit is at the pier, Tato and Gautier show everyone how to equip and dress the first pair of divers before it’s on us to help our colleagues out. Of course Tato and the other instructors are keeping a strict eye on things.

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While half the group is busy getting the surface-supplied divers ready, the others are placing buoys and getting their full-face masks ready.
We only have a limited time in the water, so the teams have to work parallel. It’s an exercise in coordination and timing, while mastering recently learnt skills and acquiring new ones.
There’s three of us in the team and while the others fulfil their tasks underwater, act as safety-divers or control the surface-supplied divers, I make sure all the equipment is in its place and with everyone ready to go, I get a chance to take some pictures and videos.

… VIDEO COMING SOON …

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So instead… Spectacular Sunrises

Since the start of the second week, part of our morning routine, designed to keep us in shape for a physically challenging job, is running.

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And while I truly and utterly despise running, the sunrises are absolutely spectacular and Loki, my Husky who accompanies me on most of my adventures, appreciates a second round of morning exercise.

A post shared by Patricia Francisconi . (@patriciamfrancisconi) on Dec 6, 2017 at 11:48pm PST