Going South - Part 5 Fast and the Furious - 11/05/2018

We had been given options by the cruise director.

1. An extra day in fury shoals spotting dolphins (we had seen them briefly on the surface the day before)
2. An extra day in Daedalus spotting sharks

The group chose the first option. I'm not sure it was the right choice, they never saw dolphins, but that's democracy for you. What we did get was some of the most magnificent coral reefs I've ever seen.

The Playground and Claudio were beautiful dives providing some stunning coral vistas. However, it was Claudio that had us having fun fighting against a current after navigating the reef. The Battle for Sataya East had obviously weakened a number of our group. As we settled in the shelter. I saw the Kingmaker push on by. I joined him and together we made it.

The Kingmaker was particularly pleased for us to be one of the few buddy pairs that made it back to the boat.

The evening brought us to Abu Galawa Soraya. It was a nice dive also with a spectacular coral amphitheatre and small wreck. It was one of the few dives that I've done that I wish I had a twinset on to make it last longer. It was genuinely spectacular.

Masked puffer

Nudibranch

American wreck

Corals and fish

Blue Spotted Ray

Red Sea Anemone fish

Day 5 - ...Rosalie Moller, then there was 300 -14/01/2016

Day 5 was always going to be a little bit special. Today my dive log is turning 300, but I’m getting a little ahead of myself. First was the Rosalie Muller, a WWII wreck in deep water (35m+).

Our plan had been to crank up the PPO2 to 1.6 to enable us to dive around the deck without our computer playing the greatest hits of Electronic Disco. This worried me a bit, as did the entry which involved keel hauling ourselves from stern to bow of our own boat before descending to the wreck.

I’ll be honest, I don’t really like this kind of dive and I used a lot of air going down the line. Once on it, despite being at 35m, I calmed and slowed my breathing, but took a conscious decision to not take photographs as this would only deplete my air even quicker. We got back to the boat with 40 bar to spare and without hitting deco. That seemed like a win. What impressed me the most about the wreck was its eerie completeness. It’s dark and a little unnerving.  The Gandalf of the Internet described her before the dive as, “the lady of the Red Sea – revealing her magnificence one fin stroke at a time”.

Then there were 300. At first I thought it would be a poor dive, having dived it the night before, but it proved itself very worthy with an impressive drift, turtle, nudibranch and stargazer fish. The Kingmaker, Hell's Kells and Legend Roy made fine companions. We drifted for over an hour - a clear sign it was decent dive.

Dive 3 of the day was looking to be a bit of a washout with little to see until it sprang to life with the presence of an Eagle Ray. They’re such graceful animals, but sadly I have no footage to share. What was particularly amusing was Hell's Kells dance of victory aimed at Midge and I who never saw it on its first pass. Midge was diving with us because his usual buddy Russ was feigning back pain. The ray, subsequently dubbed 'the Ray of Victory' was only over-shadowed by accusations that our reluctance to swim back against the current meant that we SMB'd the 'Zodiac of Shame' - so named by the chaps of Scuba Leeds who were daft enough to swim against the current and also missed out on the ray. *chuckles*

Pufferfish

Quadricolour Chromodoris

Arabian Picassofish

Turtle

Nudi

Embriated Moray

Blue spotted flatworm

Day 3 - It Didn’t Start So Well – 20/11/2014

The day started badly. There was vomiting, medicinal drugs and time for recovery. As such I missed the first dive – yet another trip round the Thistlegorm. By the time we’d moved to the second site, the humorously named Small Crack, the drugs were kicking in. I was fit to dive.

The Small Crack began with a rhib to the outer part of the lagoon. We rolled off and dropped down to around 20m - practically on top of a large moray eel. Swimming along for what seemed like ages we finally reached the area that formed the crack. The tide which was rushing into the lagoon soon sucked us through the shallow canyon towards the boat. It was great fun. The Zookeeper and I missed it by a considerable margin and had to be towed back to the ship by the rhib. I felt a tinge of 007. The dive also saw me break my duration record – 71 minutes.

The remaining dives of the day were at a site named the Alternatives. I think  because you should dive somewhere alternative. Despite a dull first dive on the site the night dive improved considerably. The dive included:

• an inquisitive masked puffer fish
• a scrawled filefish (90cms)
• a bait ball being attacked by barracuda and squid

No biggies yet. However, tomorrow is another day.

Moray Eel

Swimming Away

Upstanding Member of the Dive Community

Masked Pufferfish

Goatfish

Scrawled Filefish