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.
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