It has been years that I have waited for this moment: I am comfortably sitting on Denis Bignand’s U-Levante Diving Center’s boat. Under my fins that are already in the water, a 400-meter drop off! 

The Valinco waters are unexpectedly quiet! We had to push back this dive so many times because of the wind!

The realization of this dive had become an obsession, an idea stuck in my head.

At a short distance, on the coast, we can see Porto Polo. At my feet is the big buoy, attached to which is the 350-meter rope weighted with 50 kilos, plunging into the abyss… and waiting for me.

Too bad I still have this knot in my stomach, which remains despite the relaxation, quiet respiration and especially such good conditions. The team is active around me: Hubert, François, Tono, Christian, Sophie, Frank and Denis from U-Levante. I have already put on the 18-liter double set with another 7-liter for the dry suit, and very compact double wings.

I have reduced the equipment to the strict minimum, in order to lower the risks of mistakes and confusion at the bottom.

Only the gas quantities have been “over rationed”. My fear has always been to ru ut of gas.

I enter the water and finish gearing up a little laboriously, but it is necessary. I don’t want to leave anything to chance. I try to keep concentrating in spite of the little last-minute problems.

I visualize the dive one more time, making sure I didn’t forget anything from the checklist, like you would go to space. Indeed, the ascent from the bottom will be even longer than a return journey from space. It really is for a trip to the unknown that I am preparing. In spite of the meticulous preparation, uncertainties remain, especially concerning my state of mind and body at the bottom, since only three scuba divers dove below 300 meters. 

With my movement slightly restricted by my six large tanks, I finally start my immersion. I break the surface of the sea, the barrier that separates the air, my friends and security from the depths of loneliness. At this moment, my stress should disappear… but it doesn’t. “Concentration” stops at -6 meters, but only for a moment,  I am in a hurry to be at the bottom. The descent commences, slow at first, then increasingly faster because of my weights.

At -70 meters, I hang my 18/50 tank, switch to the 6/72, and start gaining speed.

I break the minus one hundred meters level without paying much attention and continue gaining speed.

I pass the -150 meters tag. During my first gas mixture dives in 1993, that depth seemed quasi-inaccessible. But since 1996, between the underwater caves explorations and assisting dives with Pipin and Audrey Ferreras, I went back down between -150 and -174 meters about fifteen times, often with difficult conditions and tasks to accomplish (exploring, unwinding lines, filming, assisting…), which gave me a certain psychological comfort at this depth during the descent, but especially during the ascent at the decompression stops.

I just went to pass the -200 meters, for the third time since I have practiced deep diving.  The first time was in the huge underwater cave of Fontaine de Vaucluse in 1998, at more than – 250 meters! The second time was on the open sea off the Catalan coast, with the same team as for the record; I dove from the Majunga, François Brun’s boat, at -231 meters. But today, this is almost just a formality, since the objective is to go much deeper! 

Still no HPNS.

The rope slips quickly between my gloves. Too quickly! I need all my concentration to equalize,  to pass the tanks onto the big snap hook that secures me to the rope, to inflate my dry suit which is fortunately equipped with a big flow rate…

 I am approaching the last 20-liter tank, which is attached to the- 250 meter tag, although it is actually situated at -265 meters (because of the elasticity of the rope) with a chemical light stick, like for all cylinders at a depth.

Difficult moment: I abandon the 6/72 20-liter travel gas that I have been breathing since -70 meters, start breathing on the bottom mix, make the knot… too many things to do at the same time: the High Pressure Nervous Syndrome is well developed, in the form of light shivers, but especially with difficulty to concentrate.

Moreover, the travel gas tank that I was supposed to attach slips on the rope and gets away from me! My friends get it back a few minutes later without really understanding what is going on and not without a certain apprehension.  For me, of course, things are not getting better with the depth. I now feel comfortable with only four big tanks filled with bottom mix.

Strangely, passing -200 meters, I am shaking less than I was at the Fontaine du Vaucluse. I am not having any obvious visual disturbance (distance problem) either, except for an advanced “tunnel vision” effect: my visual field seems restrained, without much peripheral vision. My Apecks regulators and my Aqualung titan work wonderfully well. I hardly notice the -300 meter tag that really should grab my attention. A flasher is blinking, indicating the very deep zone. I reach the minus 320-meter tag (situated at more than -335 meters) when a big deflagration happens in my right ear, along with a sharp pain. My stress, that was gone since -70 meters, suddenly returns. At the time, I am sure that I had a big lesion on my eardrum. I quickly inflate my wings and begin the ascent. The pain in my ear doesn’t get worse. I avoid thinking about what is next, concentrating only on the ascent. 

At -265 meters, I happily reach the decompression tank for my first deep stop. Then the ascent starts again, slower (10 meters/min). Here again lies a big difference with the Fontaine du Vaucluse dive: THERE, the HPNS had touched me earlier, while leaving me later, around -70 meters. Today, I feel as though from -220 meters, few or no symptoms remain. At -215 meters, I make the second deep stop while I hang the second deco tank on. And it is even slower (5meters/min) that I reach the -165 meter deco stop and the next tank. My ear doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would and I am in a familiar area. From -150 meters, the ascent becomes extremely slow (3 meters/min) especially with all of the tanks accumulating around me, on the rope and on my harness. 

When I get to -70 meters, there are nine 20-liter deco/travel tanks that I have to manage. 

At -65 meters, I get onto the second rope. There, I am happy to find François Brun, with whom I usually explore deep shipwrecks, one of them in particular, situated off the Catalan coast at -110 meters. Our last journey was a training exploration three weeks ago.  He’s using a Buddy Inspiration rebreather. He comes for an update and provides me with food and drink. I let him know about my pain in the ear and a light nausea. He helps me to get rid of four tanks by taking them and after spending a little while with me, goes to his own deco stops. 

Hubert Foucart relieves him at -50 meters. He is a follower of what he calls “baroque” diving: deep dives either in caves or on the open sea, down to -211 meters (not bad!), then assisting Pipin. He gives me a mix of water and vogalene in order to prevent nausea. Then, it is Denis’ its his turn to come to see me, also with his rebreather and brings me Sophie’ s good little purees and soups, in giant syringes. This salty food is a good alternative to condensed milk, sweet chestnut puree, marmalade, jelly and water already absorbed. Then he brings me a rebreather  that won’t work. Therefore, the rest of the ascent will be done in open circuit, but without any particular technical problem, in spite of the high percentages of helium.

From -30 meters, I start to feel more and more the effects of the strong surface swell. The pain in my ear increases and soon, each movement of the rope is going to become a nightmare. The decompression turns into torture. Moreover, at about -12 meters, the seasickness begins.  Dealing with the pain and the nausea begins to exhaust me. The end of the decompression is with Christian , Pierre, Lolo, Théo, Francis and his wife Sylviane who stay with me up to -3 meters and to the surface that I break after an 8 hours and 47 minutes dive.

The return to the surface that I dreamed of during the whole time of the decompression is brutal: I am shaken by the swell, which doesn’t help my seasickness. My friends help me get rid of my equipment, while I raise myself with difficulty on the Zodiac.

There, I am taken care of and quickly rushed to the shore by my old buddies Tono and Deit. Still exhausted, I keep breathing the oxygen for another half hour on the ground while rehydrating myself abundantly (water and water + Adiaril).

I should be happy. But I just feel a little bit more serene, and a little bit frustrated by the vertiginous, but too short descent… already a memory.

The GAME has worked today; my blood analysis wasn’t too bad.

However, I am already thinking about what could be improved.

Thanks:

To Henri Benedittini who brought us all of his help one more time.

To Bernard Gardette, the Comex scientific director, for all his valuable advices.

To the Professor Bourbon, from the Nervous System Functional laboratory (CHU Toulouse-Rangueil) for his formation in mental preparation.