Well my girlfriend was with me for two weeks at the start of the month, the time went too quickly. We did have a great time, even though I had to work for a lot of it. Climbing Mount Sinai was something I could only really do with her, as I would have never got round to it on my own. Near the end of the stay I took Rach for an intro dive, put on some scuba kit and go for a dive with no formal training basically. These trips usually consist of kitting the person up, getting them in the water then dragging them round by the tank and pointing at fish. They then get out, say it was awesome and sign up for a course. Rach on the other hand was a natural, by the end of the dive she was neutrally buoyant swimming around on her own pointing at fish. She was clearly an amphibious animal in a previous life.
Guiding has been fun for the last couple of weeks, I’ve finally had the chance to use my camera under water but its getting them on the net that’s the problem. I received my official PADI Divemaster card the other and was reminded of what all that effort was for. The problem is I am kind of in the eye of the storm. If you’ve ever seen the film perfect storm then this will make sense. The scene when they are hammering through 50ft waves with no sign of getting through the night. Suddenly the clouds part and shards of sun light stream down with a climes of blue sky. The crew celebrate as they think they’ve made it, just as I have put a lot of effort in to get this level. Then the clouds roll in again, it was merely the eye of the storm and they had a long way to go before the night was through. I am now heading for part two of the journey, taking the steps to become an instructor of the sport I enjoy so much. Just as the crew accepted the sun and enjoyed that moment so I have enjoyed working as a DM and I am now ready for the challenge of becoming an instructor.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
Saturday, 15 November 2008
A WEEK ON THE BOAT … AND SOME!!>>>>
I return to work and check my emails, a message from PADI has arrived and its official, I am a PADI divemaster #650370.
The next week is spent on the boat, for the most of it the Romy Star. A group of disabled ex-military are staying at the maridien and are diving with us, but due to access problems need the boat for a week. What a bunch of guys, all in high spirits and ready for the challenge. Some where able to walk but others could not and needed full assistance. There was a group of AB’s ( able bodies) on hand to help, such as friends and family. There were three main dive groups and I was assigned to private guide Jacko. An ex member of the grenadiers guard, with the ink to prove it, and a keen basketball player….wheelchair basketball that is.
Jacko and I dived together all week, he had minimal use of his legs but was still able to fin a little. He was a gas guzzler and the first two dives only lasted 15 minutes. We dived together all week and over this time Jacko’s diving improved ten fold. We began to bond and we seemed to be the only team to spot all the best animals, blue spotted rays, huge napoleon fish, grouper and many more. The one thing Jacko wanted to see was a moray eel. He had dived in Cyprus many years before and had a magical encounter when the dive guide had tickled a giant moray right in front of jacko’s eyes (not safe diving practice and not endorsed by me in any way). All week I had searched for a flipping moray, even the other groups had seen one but not us. We even went to Gabr El Bint, one of the most pristine dive sights in the Sinai, still nothing.
On the final day we descended onto Napoleon reef for our final dive, Jacko wanted me to take a photo of him holding a news paper. The particular paper had a competition to see who could be seen reading it in the strangest place, we where sure Jacko could win with this one. After returning the camera to the boat we set off. We looked under every rock and I every crevice. We saw two huge napoleon fish swim past, nearly a meter and a half in length and half a meter tall, their beautiful giant eye ball rotating to monitor our movements. It was an early morning and the lion fish where still out hunting, what an awesome dive but no sign of the moray. We returned to the boat and we swam around under the boat before starting our ascent. Jacko stopped, under a large lump of coral just below us was a little grey moray eel with its head exposed. You cant talk under water but Jacko and I celebrated with flailing arms frantic signals of OK!!! Mission complete, time to return to base.
The next week is spent on the boat, for the most of it the Romy Star. A group of disabled ex-military are staying at the maridien and are diving with us, but due to access problems need the boat for a week. What a bunch of guys, all in high spirits and ready for the challenge. Some where able to walk but others could not and needed full assistance. There was a group of AB’s ( able bodies) on hand to help, such as friends and family. There were three main dive groups and I was assigned to private guide Jacko. An ex member of the grenadiers guard, with the ink to prove it, and a keen basketball player….wheelchair basketball that is.
Jacko and I dived together all week, he had minimal use of his legs but was still able to fin a little. He was a gas guzzler and the first two dives only lasted 15 minutes. We dived together all week and over this time Jacko’s diving improved ten fold. We began to bond and we seemed to be the only team to spot all the best animals, blue spotted rays, huge napoleon fish, grouper and many more. The one thing Jacko wanted to see was a moray eel. He had dived in Cyprus many years before and had a magical encounter when the dive guide had tickled a giant moray right in front of jacko’s eyes (not safe diving practice and not endorsed by me in any way). All week I had searched for a flipping moray, even the other groups had seen one but not us. We even went to Gabr El Bint, one of the most pristine dive sights in the Sinai, still nothing.
On the final day we descended onto Napoleon reef for our final dive, Jacko wanted me to take a photo of him holding a news paper. The particular paper had a competition to see who could be seen reading it in the strangest place, we where sure Jacko could win with this one. After returning the camera to the boat we set off. We looked under every rock and I every crevice. We saw two huge napoleon fish swim past, nearly a meter and a half in length and half a meter tall, their beautiful giant eye ball rotating to monitor our movements. It was an early morning and the lion fish where still out hunting, what an awesome dive but no sign of the moray. We returned to the boat and we swam around under the boat before starting our ascent. Jacko stopped, under a large lump of coral just below us was a little grey moray eel with its head exposed. You cant talk under water but Jacko and I celebrated with flailing arms frantic signals of OK!!! Mission complete, time to return to base.
Monday, 10 November 2008
A DAY TRIP FOR THE MEMORY BOOKS>>>>>>
It’s been a while so this update will be a long one, here goes:
A day off, the second one I have had since I arrived. Well needed not only because I was tired but also to recover from my snorkel test the previous night, a story I will have to tell you all in person. After a day of nothing it is off to bed early, have to be up at 2am the next morning.
I awake to my alarm and snooze until 2:30am on the 26th October. I make my way over to the dive centre and meet with team Netherlands, a group of Dutch divers, family and friends, that I will be joining for a dive on the Thistlegorm. The wreck is about a two hour boat trip out of Sharm El Sheik, so we board the taxi at 3am and set off through the Sinai mountains.
We arrive 45 minutes late and hurry down the jetty to board the boat at around 4:45am. We depart, after stocking up with tanks, into the gulf of Aquaba. After drifting off to sleep on the top deck I am awoken by screams of joy as we find dolphins surfing our bow wave and playing in the early morning light. I stay awake to watch the beautiful sunrise. As we turn north at around7:30am we make our way up the Gulf Of Suez while tucking into pancakes and coffee.
We arrive at the wreck to find around 10 other boats moored to the ship, apparently this is not as busy as it can be.
We enter the water for our first dive around 9:00am, wow. We are greeted by the stern of the ship, appearing out of the mist as we descend to around 30 meters. There is no current, we come first to the rear gun, an awesome sight almost as if it was lifted from the film set of alien. The stern sits at an angle on its side, we then get to the blast hole, bend shards of metal bending up to 10 meters in the air. On the deck we find live rounds and shattered metal.
We are then greeted by the bow section of the ship where we enter the hold, torches on. One of the first things that we find is army jeeps parked end to end, windscreens in tact, 10 maybe 20 of them. We then twist and turn through the hold, over numerous motorcycles, all still in good condition. We then enter the captains cabin to find his bathroom still in tact, bath toilet and all. Trough the front door and onto the bow, looking up to find giant travally hunting and spade fish circling us. We swim back over the top deck and ascend up the mooring line for the surface interval.
After a cup of coffee and a chat about how amazing the dive was we were ready to go again. We kitted up and entered the water. Our group was second in and the instant we hit the water we could feel there had been a change. The current had picked up and was rushing from the bow to the stern. We pulled our way up a rope to the bow of the boat and began to pull ourselves down the mooring line and onto the wreck once more. As we descended I looked down to see the first group fining against the current. We where pulled horizontal on the rope as we continued down. We eventually made it down and began to swim, the original plan was to look at the exterior of the ship on this dive but it would not be possible. We swim into the hold once more, the water is calm inside and many of the smaller fish take refuge around the cars and cargo.
We find our selves in a one way traffic system for divers, every room and corner is filled with visiting humans all eager to look around the famous wreck. After battling through Trafalgar square we once again arrive at the bow, this time its different. When I emerge from the hatch I have to fin, full power, to catch hold of the hand rail. We stay for a while, the water rushing past us, it feels like the ship is powering along under the sea like a crazed ghost ship. Giant tuna and spade fish swim along side us. I look back to see masses of bubbles bellowing out of the old chimneys like smoke. Its instantly dragged into the distance by the current. We decide to leave, letting go of the rail we fly down the side of the wreck at an amazing rate. Just as we reach a train carriage that is on the top deck two of the Swedish divers I am with ask me to take a photo, I oblige and swim backwards. After getting the shot we once again are swept by the current to the rear mooring line, we ascend and get lunch, awesome.
Toby dives down to untie the mooring lines and we set off for home, but not without a final dive. After around two hours we reach shark reef. Unfortunately no sharks today but the strongest current I have ever felt, we are swept past a beautiful reef then our guide says we have to swim against the current. After making slow progress for a while, hoping from rock to rock, we give up. We let the current carry us, then a giant moray is spotted and a blue spotted ray. The current carries us round further and we deploy our DSMB (delayed surface marker buoy) for the boat to locate us. As I look down I see a very large pile of porcelain toilets and baths, a very strange site, obviously dumped or a lost cargo. We return to the boat and head for harbour. As the sun goes down we relax with a couple of beers, after being awake for nearly seventeen hours we head for home, and a well needed sleep.
A day off, the second one I have had since I arrived. Well needed not only because I was tired but also to recover from my snorkel test the previous night, a story I will have to tell you all in person. After a day of nothing it is off to bed early, have to be up at 2am the next morning.
I awake to my alarm and snooze until 2:30am on the 26th October. I make my way over to the dive centre and meet with team Netherlands, a group of Dutch divers, family and friends, that I will be joining for a dive on the Thistlegorm. The wreck is about a two hour boat trip out of Sharm El Sheik, so we board the taxi at 3am and set off through the Sinai mountains.
We arrive 45 minutes late and hurry down the jetty to board the boat at around 4:45am. We depart, after stocking up with tanks, into the gulf of Aquaba. After drifting off to sleep on the top deck I am awoken by screams of joy as we find dolphins surfing our bow wave and playing in the early morning light. I stay awake to watch the beautiful sunrise. As we turn north at around7:30am we make our way up the Gulf Of Suez while tucking into pancakes and coffee.
We arrive at the wreck to find around 10 other boats moored to the ship, apparently this is not as busy as it can be.
We enter the water for our first dive around 9:00am, wow. We are greeted by the stern of the ship, appearing out of the mist as we descend to around 30 meters. There is no current, we come first to the rear gun, an awesome sight almost as if it was lifted from the film set of alien. The stern sits at an angle on its side, we then get to the blast hole, bend shards of metal bending up to 10 meters in the air. On the deck we find live rounds and shattered metal.
We are then greeted by the bow section of the ship where we enter the hold, torches on. One of the first things that we find is army jeeps parked end to end, windscreens in tact, 10 maybe 20 of them. We then twist and turn through the hold, over numerous motorcycles, all still in good condition. We then enter the captains cabin to find his bathroom still in tact, bath toilet and all. Trough the front door and onto the bow, looking up to find giant travally hunting and spade fish circling us. We swim back over the top deck and ascend up the mooring line for the surface interval.
After a cup of coffee and a chat about how amazing the dive was we were ready to go again. We kitted up and entered the water. Our group was second in and the instant we hit the water we could feel there had been a change. The current had picked up and was rushing from the bow to the stern. We pulled our way up a rope to the bow of the boat and began to pull ourselves down the mooring line and onto the wreck once more. As we descended I looked down to see the first group fining against the current. We where pulled horizontal on the rope as we continued down. We eventually made it down and began to swim, the original plan was to look at the exterior of the ship on this dive but it would not be possible. We swim into the hold once more, the water is calm inside and many of the smaller fish take refuge around the cars and cargo.
We find our selves in a one way traffic system for divers, every room and corner is filled with visiting humans all eager to look around the famous wreck. After battling through Trafalgar square we once again arrive at the bow, this time its different. When I emerge from the hatch I have to fin, full power, to catch hold of the hand rail. We stay for a while, the water rushing past us, it feels like the ship is powering along under the sea like a crazed ghost ship. Giant tuna and spade fish swim along side us. I look back to see masses of bubbles bellowing out of the old chimneys like smoke. Its instantly dragged into the distance by the current. We decide to leave, letting go of the rail we fly down the side of the wreck at an amazing rate. Just as we reach a train carriage that is on the top deck two of the Swedish divers I am with ask me to take a photo, I oblige and swim backwards. After getting the shot we once again are swept by the current to the rear mooring line, we ascend and get lunch, awesome.
Toby dives down to untie the mooring lines and we set off for home, but not without a final dive. After around two hours we reach shark reef. Unfortunately no sharks today but the strongest current I have ever felt, we are swept past a beautiful reef then our guide says we have to swim against the current. After making slow progress for a while, hoping from rock to rock, we give up. We let the current carry us, then a giant moray is spotted and a blue spotted ray. The current carries us round further and we deploy our DSMB (delayed surface marker buoy) for the boat to locate us. As I look down I see a very large pile of porcelain toilets and baths, a very strange site, obviously dumped or a lost cargo. We return to the boat and head for harbour. As the sun goes down we relax with a couple of beers, after being awake for nearly seventeen hours we head for home, and a well needed sleep.
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