NOG or no NOG?
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.
