A Diver's Diary

It was the day before our big dive and we had been working tirelessly for the past three days analysing gases, labelling tanks, checking equipment, fine-tuning dive plans and confirming individual support diver roles. We commandeered the classroom at Blue Marlin Dive two months ago as our base, and it was now full of JJ-CCRs, cylinders, bailout tanks, regulators, laptops, servicing tables, ropes, camelbacks and supplies, and of course the newly made deco trapeze, which I am particularly proud of. The team is now ready, having each spent three months training to do a specific task over and over again.

Changing the plan

Originally the plan had been to conduct the dive on the stunning Tunang Wall, a few kilometres off the coast of Gili Trawangan. My last tie-off was at 195m on Christmas Eve, but after another sub-200m dive in February I realised that doing the dive there was not going to be possible: the wall turned into a slope of about 30 degrees, and the effort of swimming back up while maintaining an ascent rate for the decompression profile was just too much exertion. I was heartbroken.

With a month to go, I contacted my friend and mentor Simon Liddiard, and we decided the dive would have to be done in the blue. We took 300m of rope, tied a weight and a Liquivision X1 to the end, and threw it overboard approximately 800m north of Tunang. To my relief the computer came up reading 288m and registering 10 degrees. The upside of the new plan was that I no longer had to swim across ledges or hold a shot line for deco in a current; I could now drift on a deco trapeze, dramatically reducing the risk of DCS. After four dives on the drifting line, to 100, 120, 160 and 225m, I was confident the team and I were ready.

The final briefing

Simon, Jeff Glenn and I reviewed my proposed plan before calling the team in for the final briefing. I briefed them on staggered entry times, individual responsibilities and duties. The chamber technicians, boat crew and medics had all been contacted and were on standby. During my briefing I felt extremely proud and honoured to have such dedicated friends, totally behind me and 100% committed to helping me realise my dream.

We agreed to keep the date of the dive as secret as possible. If anyone asked, tomorrow was a training dive with the actual dive in three days’ time. The truth was that we were to leave at 6am. I went home for my ritual siesta, totally relaxed, stress-free and as excited as a five-year-old on Christmas Eve.

Dive day

At 5:30am I got up and went for a run. I powered through the sand around the island with the sunset over Gunung Agung in Bali, and I could feel the energy. This is it. I had finally achieved the peace of mind that comes with a year of research, planning and training.

At 7:30am I rolled into the water with Frank, the early turnaround support diver, and descended to 6m for a bubble and valve check. I went back to the surface and began a freediver’s breathe-up, which calms me and puts me in dive mode. I told Simon and Jeff Glenn I’d see them in 26 minutes.

At 7:42am I began my descent. As I approached 50m I had trouble equalising, something I never have issues with. I forced my way to 60m and considered aborting, then flooded my hood with water and forced the equalisation. By 62m I was doing 48m per minute, and by 120m I had caught up and was totally relaxed. The light began to fade and I became hypnotised by the braiding of the rope illuminated by my computers, exactly as I had visualised during yoga.

Into the dark

My first problem was at 160m: my manual diluent button was stuck in, putting gas into the loop and slowing me down. I wrapped my right arm around the line, disconnected it, and after a couple of attempts freed it. At 210m it happened again. I disconnected, freed the button, and cautiously plugged in my off-board diluent mix of 4% oxygen, 80% helium. I was hit by a thermocline and deep-water current, now in new territory at 230m.

By 250m the narcosis and temperature began to take effect. The Xeo was no longer registering my depth, locked at 249.8m. I pulled in slow, deep breaths and got gas into the wing early so I didn’t overshoot. I passed 285m and was now the deepest diver on a CCR, but well aware that I needed to get back for it to mean anything. At 288m, due to a software issue since corrected, the X1s both stopped registering further depth. I was still dropping with over a minute to spare, the time 8 minutes 40 seconds, on a 52m equivalent narcotic depth. I made the hazy decision to grab the line and take a moment. There was no point chasing 300m when the depths would not show.

The long way back

My hands had begun to shake and my core temperature was dropping, but I stayed calm and focused on ascent speed and breathing. By the time I arrived at my planned 180m deep stop, I had lost manual dexterity and could not switch mixes. The deep cavalry appeared out of the dark at 130m, and it was then that I realised I had done it. Simon checked my computers, relieved me of my deep mixes, sent up a DSMB to tell the team I was back, and gave me a quick nod that I know so well: “well done.” Jeff helped me switch diluents and rubbed my arms for warmth as we ascended at 6m per minute.

At runtime 93 minutes, much warmer and in the light zone, I was greeted by Jan Schmid, then by Theresia at 45m, who brought me tomato soup and rehydration salts and took away the heavy back-up tanks. I then buddied with Jeff Anastas, and finally Frank, who had set up the deco trapeze with a spare JJ-CCR, two 80% mixes and air cylinders for bailout and air breaks.

The rest of the deco passed without incident. We were all in a great mood and posed for the camera when seven squid arrived during the last hour. After 592 minutes I surfaced as well and as happy as I have ever felt, asymptomatic of DCS and staying that way. We sat on the top deck for the 30-minute ride home, greeted by friends and well-wishers. We were the team, laughing and joking as the sun went down: another great day at work on Gili Trawangan with a team of dedicated individuals who will stay in my heart and mind forever.