Yesterday Chris and I went on a charter boat to Rottnest Island for a couple of dives. First was Swirl Reef, which was basically a big limestone hill under water, hollow on the inside with holes you could swim through into a great big cave full of fish, and second was Grouper Caves, a bunch of smallish caves and limestone outcrops just north of the main settlement. These were a couple of the best dives I’ve ever been on - clear water, big fish and amazing caves and rock formations. We also got free snags, so it was a kickarse trip.

BUT, anyhow, Chris’s dad just came over and told me he came down with THE BENDS this morning and now he’s up in Fremantle in the hyperbaric chamber being compressed again and slowly decompressed. Jesus. His dad said he woke up and couldn’t stand on his ankle properly. He thought he had sprained it but when he went to see the doctor it turned out to be decompression sickness. That’s where nitrogen bubbles form in your blood vessels, causing joint pain and, potentially, brain damage and death. Luckily with Chris it’s only a mild case - and even though I was his buddy and did the same dives with the same depth and bottom-time I’m not feeling any symptoms.

It wasn’t the charter company’s fault or anything - they are strict on safety but they don’t plan your dives for you. We did a repeat dive that was longer than the allowable time on the tables (even though it was still shorter than the allowable time on Chris’s computer model) so we kinda brought it on ourselves. Plus Chris is in the high-risk zone, being husky in build and a bit unfit.

I’ll give Chris or his parents a ring this evening to find out how he’s doing. He should be fine, but the whole thing is a bit worrying still.