Here's a story sent to me by my friend catfish Carter
Going Down
Hopper and I start down the stairwell to the water level. At the water level, I put on my helmet and climb down the cable ladder to the water, grateful to finally get the weight off as the water releases me from the gravity. As I descend I think, like everytime, how fragile the body is. Billy comes over the radio and asks me how it's going. I tell him fine except my ears aren't equalizing. If worse comes to worse, I just let em rupture, won't be the first time. No aborts today, getting double time plus dive pay. The ears are the only real sign of the pressure while going down. Coming up is a different story entirely.
I always get a kick out of those shows that talk about the depths and the pressure," Being enough to crush a man." It's all about equalizing. I try again pressing my nose on the thing.It's a really clever gizmo that allows you to clamp off your nose, since you can't get your hand to it inside the helmet. I forget who did it, but I think back to that time when hart's helmet had a finger glued in it. "So you can pick your nose while your down there," said the attached card. I don't know what it's called. We just call it the nose thing. "Damned headcold I think as I blow and try to get the ears to adjust. No luck. A few seconds later, they do equalize, unfortunately by rupturing. It's usually just a pinhole sized rupture. I can still hear fine, so nothing major.
My feet feel the mud.
"Topside, Diver down."
"ten four, Diver down."
I walk right into the wall. "damnit , " I mutter.
"Come back on that, I didn't catch it ." said Billy. I forget to think to myself, not talk to myself. Billy hears everything.
"Nothing . I reply.
Must have gotten turned around on the descent. The regulator makes that Darth Vader sound." Luke, come to the dark side." Jesus, how many times have I heard that one? I feel my way along the wall, waiting in the back of my mind to bump into something big, slick, and alive. But that never happens. I come to a corner, concentrating on the mental picture, I close my eyes. That seems to help, but it doesn't matter. The view is the same, open or closed.
This corner should be the corner of a passage into the screen room. If I go straight, the other side should be about three meters away.But it's real easy to get turned around down here.
"Topside, give me some slack," I say.
" 10-4, " Replies Hopper.
Away from the wall, my underwater stride is about half a meter. So, in 6 strides I should be there. This is where it gets tricks. You need an internal compass, because the only ;landmarks are felt, not seen.I walk with my arms outstretched Frankenstein style. Don't wish for the faceplate of the helmet to find the wall first. A breech of the helmet would be most unpleasant indeed.
After 6 strides I stop. I should be near the other wall, or maybe I've shot off on a tangent and I'm 3 meters away from all the walls. I feel confident and continue. I find the wall right where it should be in another step. A sigh of relief, that means on didn't go the wrong way. I don't want to spend an hour wandering around hunting the screen. Besides, Dave would never let me live it down.
"Hey Billy, I'm going in the screen room. Lot's of mud in here. Might want to let the boss know a super sucking is in order here. I'm sure he'll like to submit a bid."
"10-4 I'll pass it along."
How long these screens been down anyway?"
"don't know." "Looks like awhile."
"10-4"
I feel my way along past the first two screens and to number three.
"Topside, the Eel had landed."
" Roger that. How's it look?"
" Ha ha." He knows damned well I can't see. It's an old joke. Like so many others.
I feel along the screens, but they're buried in mud at least a half meter. I start to dig with my garden trowel. I work along the tracks first. I am trying to find why the damned things won't move , hoping it's something we can fix underwater. Preferably on time and materials.
I come to something, a log as big as my leg jammed in real tight." How the hell did that get in here, " I say out loud, once again forgetting Billy hears everything.
"What's that, a cat got your leg?" That's our favorite joke. The legend of the giant cat; every Joe Blow knows someone who knows somebody else who was diving at some dam somewhere, saw a catfish so big it scared him silly and he'll never dive there again. It's a rare job we go to when someone doesn't ask us if we aren't afraid of that fish. Like you can see down here anyway.
"No, but there's a log as big as my leg stuck in these screens."
" Good thing it's not as big as my dick.'
" yeah, I could get a toothpick out in a couple of seconds. That wouldn't be much overtime.Only one way that log could have gotten in here. I'll check the grizzlies on the way up."
""10-4, I bet that's the problem with the number 4 screen too.'
" Guarantee it. Hows my bottom time?"
" 45 minutes."
"Damnit."
I move over to the number 4 screen, dig around, but don't find anything right off the bat. I really want to check out those grizzlies, so I cut the search short. My bottom time is adding up and I hate decompressing. It's really boring.
"Topside? Looks like the same thing here, but the mud's even deeper." So i lied a little, who's gonna know the difference?" hey, I really want to check out those grizzlies. Jesus, Why did they wait so long? They've got two screens down and probably bad grizzlies. The river could rise , more debris, and those other two get broke and they're fucked."
"10-4"
"Hopper, I'm coming back. Keep that hose tight and give me a line pull when I'm under you."
"10-4 diver."
Going out is much quicker because I don't have to feel my way along. I let the hose guide me back. Soon I feel a jerk on my hose and know I'm under him. I return the pull, then add two more. Hopper returns the two and gives me some slack.I head off the other way. Now, I'm heading out of the factory, towards the river. Slow progress, hugging the wall. I don't know how far the grizzlies are, and I don't want to crash into them. I think about some asshole starting the pumps about now. Hopper would stop me, or at least the screens. The pumps wouldn't make me fucked soup. You think about things like that down here. There's always something that can go wrong and you're trying to anticipate it. A completely alien world, made by humans, but where nobody should be.
Then I find the grizzlies, they're rusted really bad. The former 1/2 steel bars are now razor thin.As I feel very gingerly along, I realize they're bent twisted and mostly gone. They must
be the original. The factory was built in the 40's. That means they've been down here for 45 years. Pretty much explains it. If you can't see it ;forget it, until it's broke.
"Topside, These grizzlies are shot. You could drive a v.w. through here. Tell the boss we've got something else to bid on. That ought to make him happy."
"10-4 Hell, he might even buy the beer tonight."
" Dangerous down here, these things are rusted thin like razors. Wouldn't want to get the hose caught on one. Cut through it like that." Snapping my fingers uselessly underwater.
" You copy that Hopper?"
"Sure did Bill."
"I'm heading back. What's the bottom time?"
"75 minutes.""You on that, Hopper?"
"10-4. I got the stops figured at 100 minutes. It'll be 10 more minutes before you're back here anyway."
"O.K., I'm heading back."
As I turn around, apiece of steel bent outwards, catches me. It cuts right through my wetsuit and in to my wrist. . " Uuumph," I mutter. Billy doesn't reply. I clamp my hand to my wrist and realize I can't tell if I'm bleeding or how bad it is. It feels like a minor scrape. But how do I know. That nervousness starts to creep in as the adrenalin kicks in. Time for a deep breath, clear the head. Can't afford to panic, not here. One panic can end a career.
Ten minutes back, ascent one foot a second going up, except; got to decompress. That'll be one stop 14 minutes at ten foot. At least 20 more minutes to the surface. Damnit. If I'm bleeding badly, I could die before that. If i come on up, i could get bent. I don't want to risk getting bent for will probably turn out to be a paper cut. If i am cut bad, then getting bent would be better. If I pass out, they'll never get me up that ladder. Should I tell them or not?
I realize I could be screwed. If we had a chamber, I could decompress topside. I don't want to get bent. I don't know how far it is to the nearest chamber. I think back to dive school and that guy who got bent. He said it was like a golf ball growing in his knee cap. He was lucky it wasn't a c.n.s. hit.Direct pressure; I'll just hold on tight to my wrist and wait till I surface to check it out.
I feel a jerk on my hose, I answer it. Then I feel my feet leave the mud as Hopper pulls my up.
Very slowly. This is when having a good tender is nice. You've got to trust that guy. Or else soda pop. Open a shook up can and see what can happen to your blood if you come up to fast.
I remember the dive school demonstrations. We all had a one gallon tin can. We took it down sealed and it crushed. Then we took it down opened and no problem. Then at the bottom we filled it with air, then sealed it. This is what happens if you hold your breath! Then we let them go, and BOOM! They exploded. Effective demo. I will never forget that. I always exhale on the way up.
The water is starting to get lighter, a dull brown. I should be coming to that ten foot stop by now. I know I'm at ten foot but it's still getting lighter. What is going on. Why isn't Hopper stopping me.
"topside?" No answer. Must be a bad connection, but I can still hear static. " Hopper, topside, can you hear me? " still nothing, but that wouldn't be the first time. Then I hear Hopper say to Billy," Topside, at the first stop."
"ten four Hopper,'' What the hell, it's still getting lighter. I am not stopped!
"Diver one, this is topside, How's it going?"
"Hey Billy, What's going on up there? "
" Hey Hopper, send a jerk to the diver. Make sure He's still awake. I can't get him on the radio."
I don't feel any jerk and things are getting really bright now. I must be inches from the surface. I didn't feel any jerk, but I hear Hopper come back." Topside! I'm not getting any response. There must be something wrong. Bring him up?"
"How many minutes to go? "
"Ten"
" Fuck it. I don't like this. I'm coming down to give you a hand. Pull him up."
At this moment I break the surface, but instead of bobbing, I keep going up. It's getting whiter. Hopper is under me now. What the hell is going on?
copyright 2003
Saturday, October 24, 2009
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