HAPPY NEW ERA....
Well, Christmas was a quiet affair. I was working right up until Christmas Day and then back in the water again on Boxing Day. I enjoyed a lovely Christmas with just a few friends... lots of red wine and a beautiful turkey dinner.
Unfortunately on 27th I started to feel ill. I made it into the dive centre but cancelled and made my apologies before heading straight back to bed for a couple of days. Nothing really came of it, but I knew I was on the verge of something... I made it back in for a day guiding at Eel Garden and Islands but sorry to say that for the first time I couldn't wait to get out of the water! It was a beautiful dive at Islands and I was guiding 1:1 so it was very relaxed, but every twist and turn of the coral maze was incredibly uncomfortable. I again headed straight home for bed... a week later I visited the doctor and found out I had a case of Amoebic Dysentry... lovely. New Year's Eve was a little lame as I certainly wasn't in the mood for getting drunk and partying, and at 11pm when Harry knocked a pint of beer over me I realised that sitting at the bar cold & wet and watching everyne else having a good time was not my idea of fun so I was in bed by 11.50pm! Shocking. Will have to make up for it next year!
I've finally gotten over that and now just have a nasty cold so I haven't been in the water for a couple of weeks..... and now it doesn't look like I will be back in the water in Dahab again for a while. Harry and I have decided to move back to the UK, settling in either Devon or Cornwall. We've been talking about moving on for a while now. It doesn't mean that either of us will give up our diving... we hope to carry on in the UK (after I have bought a drysuit and plenty of thermal layers!!) both teaching and fun diving. I have never dived in the UK before and I feel like I'm due for a change... I don't want to start taking Dahab for granted, I want to leave with all the happy memories that I have. A few of our Dahabian friends have already returned so I am sure we will catch up regularly, whether for diving or drinking or both!
I'll be back in the UK in a week, spending a while getting pampered by Mum & Dad and eating lots of pork before looking for a 'real job' and a flat. Harry will be following shortly after. It's a quiet time of year work-wise here so there's no point in me hanging around... so I hopefully will be able to catch up with you all in person very, very soon. As soon as I have my UK mobile back in operation I'll let you all know.
Here's to a Happy New Era!!!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Warning - this is going to be a long one! Make yourselves comfortable....
THISTLEGORM
I have guided the Thistlegorm!! It was a few weeks before Xmas and I was doing a week's guiding work. Some of the guests wanted to take a day trip to dive the Thistlegorm... now bearing in mind that I have only ever dived it twice on a one-day trip I was a little nervous... thoughts of losing the shot line, surfacing at the wrong boat, getting caught by a current and going in the wrong direction (i.e. away from the wreck), poor visibility, losing a diver etc... oh my over-active imagination had a field day!! Anyway, I had paid for the first trip so that I would be able to guide, if I didn't give it a go now then who knows when the next time might be? Best to do it sooner rather than later. So I studied the maps and photos in the Sinai Dive Guide and spoke to a few of the other instructors... piece of cake apparently, just watch out for currents and boat motors! I was reassured by the fact that Jan, Phil and Petra were all very experienced divers and I couldn't be going with a better first group... of course I didn't tell them they were my Thistlegorm virgins!!
The day before the trip I made sure we had all we needed... and for safety's sake I took an SMB from the club and Harry gave me a crash course in how to use it! You don't ever need Surface Marker Buoys when diving from the shore in Dahab, unless you are doing a technical dive, so I have never been shown how to use one - crazy huh? I will be getting some practice in asap though!
It was an early start - meeting at the club at 5am - then in the bus down to Sharm El Sheikh, straight onto the boat 'Wind K', and headed towards the wreck. The boat manager called all the guides for a briefing and when he learned it was my first time he offered for me to follow his group. Very sweet of him, but I decided to take the bull by the horns and give it a go.... I couldn't have hoped for a better day, better conditions, or better group of divers! There were very few boats when we arrived (ours was about the sixth), the shot line was in a good position and easy to find, there was practically no current, the visibility was suberb and we spent the first dive pretty much on our own with just the company of the house turtle! A fantastic first dive. Humdoolelah!!
A one hour break and then straight back in for the penetration dive. Armed with torches we watched the turtle on the surface for a while before following him down to the wreck again and making our way into the holds to look at the Bedford trucks, the motorbikes, the wellington boots etc. There was one small heart-stopping moment when it got busy with divers in the hold and after a few twists and turns I had managed to lose sight of two of my group -out of the corner of my eye Jan was ascending to the next level whilst Petra had failed to appear around the corner.. yikes... luckily Phil was easy to spot in his twinset right behind me & peering into the dark recesses of the hold. I headed for the fins disappearing up to the next level, tugged on a fin and signalled Jan to come back down then I went back to the junction at the corner and waited.... moments later Petra shot from around the corner with camera extended, chasing a beautiful giant moray! Phew. Another successful and wonderful dive.
We dried off and stuffed ourselves with food whilst heading for Ras Mohammed. Phil and Petra wanted to do the third dive on Shark & Yolanda Reef. Just as we were climbing into our wetsuits the boat's horn sounded, followed by lots of banging on the railings and whistling. Then I heard the shout "Dolphins!". We were being followed by a large pod of dolphins, jumping and playing in the wake of the boat. This is the second time that I have had the opportunity to experience this sight (the first on my birthday on the way back from a day's fun-diving with Harry at Gabr El Bint) - I can't find words enough to describe it.... it made my heart skip and my tummy turn.... something about seeing them dancing in the waves makes you feel so amazing that it leaves a smile on your face for the rest of the day. Unfortunately we were forced to turn away and get ready to jump as we were nearing the reef. A short swim from the boat and we were at the wall. I had enjoyed the Thistlegorm, but there's something about reef diving that wreck diving will never be able to match. It's like floating weightless around the most beautiful garden, surrounded by shapes and colours that are unimaginable, and in the company of incredible marine life - it's almost liking being on another planet.... except for the Yolanda wreck which has left a large amount of toilets littered on the sea floor!! Still, the swim between Shark and Yolanda showed us blue-spotted rays, barracuda, free-swimming giant morays, stationary giant morays, napolean wrasse, large groupers... to name a few.
It was a long and relaxed dive... forced only to ascend as it was getting cold. On reaching the surface we signalled the boat and floated on the calm sea watching the sun set behing the Sinai mountains as we waited to be picked up. I dried and changed and then made my way onto the upper deck to grab a hot drink and watch the last of the sun descend, leaving the clouds and mountains aglow with reds and oranges and purples.....
It is a day that I will never forget.
N. B. If any diving buddies have Thistlegorm photos please email them to me so I can insert them in.... until I get my camera housing I'm reliant on other people, sorry!!
For now - please visit Keith's fab website which has pics and details of his own Thistlegorm adventure! http://www.diveportal.eu/Thistlegorm.htm
THISTLEGORM
I have guided the Thistlegorm!! It was a few weeks before Xmas and I was doing a week's guiding work. Some of the guests wanted to take a day trip to dive the Thistlegorm... now bearing in mind that I have only ever dived it twice on a one-day trip I was a little nervous... thoughts of losing the shot line, surfacing at the wrong boat, getting caught by a current and going in the wrong direction (i.e. away from the wreck), poor visibility, losing a diver etc... oh my over-active imagination had a field day!! Anyway, I had paid for the first trip so that I would be able to guide, if I didn't give it a go now then who knows when the next time might be? Best to do it sooner rather than later. So I studied the maps and photos in the Sinai Dive Guide and spoke to a few of the other instructors... piece of cake apparently, just watch out for currents and boat motors! I was reassured by the fact that Jan, Phil and Petra were all very experienced divers and I couldn't be going with a better first group... of course I didn't tell them they were my Thistlegorm virgins!!
The day before the trip I made sure we had all we needed... and for safety's sake I took an SMB from the club and Harry gave me a crash course in how to use it! You don't ever need Surface Marker Buoys when diving from the shore in Dahab, unless you are doing a technical dive, so I have never been shown how to use one - crazy huh? I will be getting some practice in asap though!
It was an early start - meeting at the club at 5am - then in the bus down to Sharm El Sheikh, straight onto the boat 'Wind K', and headed towards the wreck. The boat manager called all the guides for a briefing and when he learned it was my first time he offered for me to follow his group. Very sweet of him, but I decided to take the bull by the horns and give it a go.... I couldn't have hoped for a better day, better conditions, or better group of divers! There were very few boats when we arrived (ours was about the sixth), the shot line was in a good position and easy to find, there was practically no current, the visibility was suberb and we spent the first dive pretty much on our own with just the company of the house turtle! A fantastic first dive. Humdoolelah!!
A one hour break and then straight back in for the penetration dive. Armed with torches we watched the turtle on the surface for a while before following him down to the wreck again and making our way into the holds to look at the Bedford trucks, the motorbikes, the wellington boots etc. There was one small heart-stopping moment when it got busy with divers in the hold and after a few twists and turns I had managed to lose sight of two of my group -out of the corner of my eye Jan was ascending to the next level whilst Petra had failed to appear around the corner.. yikes... luckily Phil was easy to spot in his twinset right behind me & peering into the dark recesses of the hold. I headed for the fins disappearing up to the next level, tugged on a fin and signalled Jan to come back down then I went back to the junction at the corner and waited.... moments later Petra shot from around the corner with camera extended, chasing a beautiful giant moray! Phew. Another successful and wonderful dive.
We dried off and stuffed ourselves with food whilst heading for Ras Mohammed. Phil and Petra wanted to do the third dive on Shark & Yolanda Reef. Just as we were climbing into our wetsuits the boat's horn sounded, followed by lots of banging on the railings and whistling. Then I heard the shout "Dolphins!". We were being followed by a large pod of dolphins, jumping and playing in the wake of the boat. This is the second time that I have had the opportunity to experience this sight (the first on my birthday on the way back from a day's fun-diving with Harry at Gabr El Bint) - I can't find words enough to describe it.... it made my heart skip and my tummy turn.... something about seeing them dancing in the waves makes you feel so amazing that it leaves a smile on your face for the rest of the day. Unfortunately we were forced to turn away and get ready to jump as we were nearing the reef. A short swim from the boat and we were at the wall. I had enjoyed the Thistlegorm, but there's something about reef diving that wreck diving will never be able to match. It's like floating weightless around the most beautiful garden, surrounded by shapes and colours that are unimaginable, and in the company of incredible marine life - it's almost liking being on another planet.... except for the Yolanda wreck which has left a large amount of toilets littered on the sea floor!! Still, the swim between Shark and Yolanda showed us blue-spotted rays, barracuda, free-swimming giant morays, stationary giant morays, napolean wrasse, large groupers... to name a few.
It was a long and relaxed dive... forced only to ascend as it was getting cold. On reaching the surface we signalled the boat and floated on the calm sea watching the sun set behing the Sinai mountains as we waited to be picked up. I dried and changed and then made my way onto the upper deck to grab a hot drink and watch the last of the sun descend, leaving the clouds and mountains aglow with reds and oranges and purples.....
It is a day that I will never forget.
N. B. If any diving buddies have Thistlegorm photos please email them to me so I can insert them in.... until I get my camera housing I'm reliant on other people, sorry!!
For now - please visit Keith's fab website which has pics and details of his own Thistlegorm adventure! http://www.diveportal.eu/Thistlegorm.htm
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