Agatti 123

It was morning 10 ‘o clock and the Sun was high up in the sky. There were a few clouds with a slight wind. It was hot yet cold when we walked up to the jetty. Hot because of the Sun rays and cold from the monsoon wind. Yet the sand was unbelievably white and the waters azure, a kind of mystic green colour...as usual ! Me and my dive buddy (in this case my brother) lugged around 20 kg of equipments (Tanks, BCD, Regulators, Fins and Masks) to the assembly point. Presently, our instructor walked up to us, made us ready the equipment and then took out a card from his BCD. He then proceeded to tell us, in 5 seconds, broadly what we will do. Then by 11.15, a small boat chugged up lazily along the jetty. It was a small fishing boat but quite big enough for our purpose. But, it was not covered. Then we put our stuff on the boat and by 11.30,we were ready to leave. The bo’sun, perhaps heartened by our enthusiasm, now handled the boat like a ‘schnellboote’ and we were literally thrown off our feet onto the deck. Furthermore, on turning from jetty to the dive area, our boat came so close to the shore, that I could see the sand being churned up underneath. Probably the bo’sun enjoyed showing off his skills to us mainlanders, but what the heck, we enjoyed that too!

Then started the long journey to the dive site. The Lagoon was calm and we made good time. We passed over turtles swimming, small fishes darting away and white birds flying around us. The time of the year is just before monsoon with moderately strong winds and scattered clouds. At the reef, two channels had been dredged for navigation purposes. One of them was in the northern part of the lagoon while the other was in the western part whose navigation channel was relatively deeper. This was the channel our boat was taking to the sea. The channel was marked by two bare-all steel structure lighthouse whose occupants were flying around us. Just as we passed their abode, our boat became a rollercoaster as we left the sheltered water of the lagoon. The sea was not choppy but it wasn’t calm either. I reached the bow-pole of the boat and just sat there. When the boat fell, my legs were brushing the water. The motion of the boat in the vertical plane was sinusoidal and for a short time ... I was experiencing weightlessness! Presently, our boat moved further into deeper water and slowed down. Our instructor guided the helmsman to a designated space (Still trying to figure out how...was it because of his experience or superb eyesight?) where there was no corals, only sand and a big stone. The boat was anchored and we prepared to dive. The dive site is known as Agatti 123,123 being the different levels of the seafloor (the seafloor descended as a staircase-level 1 , level 2,level 3).Since laying the anchor, the grumble of the motor was silent with only the sound of the wind being apparent. The absolute stillness of the sound was only matched by gentle bobbing of our boat on the high seas. There was an absolute stillness which is achievable only on the high seas. Try as hard to hear any sounds except those of the waves, there was only white silence. In a low voice, our instructor told us, now in detail, what was going to be learned. We then strapped on our gear and sat on the edge of the boat facing inwards. From a boat, there can be two ways of entering water. Stand on the edge, stick out a leg and jump. Else, as we did, sit, facing inwards and just keel over backwards. The advantage of the latter over former is that the face mask is not loosened by the force of the entry. However, this method can only be tried from a low deck boat and causes disorientation underwater. Soon after entering water our instructor directed us to follow the anchor line. There are two ways of descending to the sea bed. You can do so vertically or follow the anchor line. Since this was to be our first dive in open seas we opted for a gradual descent by following the anchor line. This was also done so as to equalise the water pressure in the ear. So, whenever we could not equalise the pressure, we would go up a metre or so and then come down again. When the pressure in the ear drops, you can feel it as a series of pops. Presently, we saw the anchor. The anchor line was either taut or going slack as per the bobbing of the boat. Hence we could know what was happening on the surface without the need to surface and see it. As we reached the floor, our instructor told us to just swim along with him, a half metre above the sea floor. We were to touch nothing and whatever happens, never to lose sight of him. And so we just cruised along, above astonishingly white sandy bed littered here and there with Christmas tree corals. Then we came to the second level of the dive site. The first level was only 10 meter deep, the second was at a depth of 15 meter and the third at a depth of 18 to 20 meter. Now the sea bed was predominantly smooth corals with few patches of sand. Here, we did our lessons chiefly mask clearing, regulator recovery and so on...and then on to third level. Now there was no sandy patch, where we could rest. Like sharks, we had to continuously swim and balance our buoyancy by using the BCD jackets. 

We could not rest on smooth huge mushroom like corals for the fear of damaging them. The scenery was something straight out of Pandora, only it was underwater. Huge layers upon layers of blue green mushroom like coral structures whose antiquity could be judged by their size, or the countless little  fishes  swarming around, of myriad colours and sizes, from the shy clownfish to the unperturbed penguin fish. Slowly, the realisation dawned that this dive has to end. Our instructor then took an orange crumpled bag, which inflated looked like a flaming long orange cigar. He let go of it and explained that it was the signal for the boat to come near us. And this time, we did a vertical ascent, but ever so slowly. At 5 meter depth, we stabilised and stayed at that depth for about 10 minute. This procedure is necessary to prevent bends. The air we breathe has 70% Nitrogen. Nitrogen dissolves in our blood. The more the depth, the more the depth, the more the pressure, the more the time spent at that depth, the more the Nitrogen dissolved in the blood. If the ascent is fast, the dissolved Nitrogen, now at lower pressure, forms bubbles and flows in the bloodstream separate from the blood. It causes painful contractions in the knees, backs etc, thereby giving rise to the word  – ‘bends’, bending the knee or back would be very painful. For any diver, bends is the most dreadful phenomena. Hence, it is also well researched. So at 5 meter for 10 minutes was the standard for our dive according to the dive table. And then, we broke the surface of the water. Sunlight blinded us, the colours were more bright. And so the first of the four dives came to an end.

Soon the droning of the boat came over the air...and water. We were told to remove our tank, regulator, BCD and hand it over to the boatmen, all the while swimming around the boat. Which was not difficult considering it is easier to float in salty water. On the boat, it was contrastingly hot and dry. So we donned our caps and sunglasses and waited for the journey back to the shore. The boatmen made us a cup of tea, which at that time felt like the elixir of life, and the sweetest, pleasant drink we ever had. Some Rusk breads to go along with it, but to us that might have been Caviar. Diving not only makes one thirsty, but also very hungry. And so, time flew by and we were at the jetty unloading our gear, washing them in non salty water and trudging back to bed to get some sleep before the afternoon dive.