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 - The Narc Shark and the Deep Blue - 12/01/2016

Shark & Yolanda reefs are two of the more spectacular reefs in the northern Red Sea. Although, I sometimes think they are so vast and sweeping that vista sometimes that you miss the life that makes its life there. It was on the this reef that I had my first narc of the week. Dives one and two of the day were on this reef.

I always like to keep my eyes on the deep blue. It's where you see sharks and some of the bigger marine life. Well on dive one I was squinting into the blue and I saw one. Well, I thought I did. It seems it was a turtle, but at 35.5m and working hard into a head current it was definitely a narc shark at the very least. I chased it, until my dive computers started playing the classic hits of disco-electonica sending me up to more sensible depths. Meanwhile, the rest of the group looked on bemused. I rallied at the end of Yolanda and regrouped my senses. It was a great dive though! Back on the boat I was the butt of the jokes. I didn't mind, I saw a narc-shark.

For the Kingmaker, a large Napoleon Wrasse seemed to hold his attention. It's not the best picture, but you can certainly see the scale of it.

Our second dive saw the Kingmaker who knew this reef well take a short cut across 'the saddle' between the reefs in the deep blue. I think the we went into slightly deeper blue than expected because we arrived on Yolanda Reef on the shallow remnants of the Yolanda from which the reef takes its name. We also arrived before everyone else. The upside was that we got to spend a lot longer on Satellite Reef and with a turtle we'd seen earlier.

The third and fourth dives of the day were at Beacon Rock. The highlight of the dives here was getting to dive on the wreck of a liveaboard that sunk here a few years ago. There really wasn't that much to see. Although Hells Kells did spot a warted nudibranch of some kind.*

Turtle

Kingmaker & Napoleon Wrasse

Turtle

* I know, it's amazing how nonchalant you become about some of the diving very quickly.

It'll Be Just Like Beggar's Canyon Back Home! - 01/01/2015

Today was the day when Gill.I.am was finally doing the deep dives of her PADI Deep Speciality with Aqaba's Anchor in Jordan. We were going to be doing two dives to 40m today. The first at the Power Station and the second down a deep canyon near the wreck of the Cedar Pride. 

As the Power Station was to be Gill's first dive down to 40m I never took the camera even though this would be our best chance of seeing a shark. The site reminded me a lot of Dogfish Reef / Furnace Quarry back home for a number of reasons including:

• Steep slope straight down
• Popular with fishermen
• Lots of discarded fishing line and litter on the reef

It was comforting to know that we all face the same problems.

The dive went well without being too eventful. We saw stonefish, mantis shrimp and morays but no sharks or turtles.

We went to the second site where they were also running a rescue course. I got to be the panicked diver and got to shout for help theatrically in both English & Arabic. I was told my performance was excellent. The guy passed.

Our second dive took us down a deep canyon and as we hit 40m we finally struck gold for the day. A whopping 1.4m green turtle. I got excited, started taking pictures and gunned through my air at depth.  Fortunately, Abood the DM was carrying a spare cylinder so I borrowed that for 50 bar and a few minutes of deco. :)

Abood enjoys a fresh beverage

Turtle

Turtle

Cedar Pride

Starry Puffer

Gill and Diver

Day 6 - Time To Say Goodbye Part 1 - 23/11/2014

The final day on the boat was provided us with two dives. The first at Jackson Reef and the second at Ras Umm Sid.

Jackson Reef delivered a very pleasant red anemone without much excitement. By way of contrast, Ras Umm Sid (one of the fluffiest dives) gave us a free swimming conger and a turtle as well as underwater high jinks.

Al-chemist demonstrated his underwater BCD surfing technique while I rode the Lawman as though he were Seabiscuit. It was a fitting final dive.

Riding Seabiscuit by Vivianne

Red Anemone

Giant Trevally

Spanish Dancer Eggs

Moray

Turtle & Bubble

Turtle

Day 5 - The Road To 200 - 22/11/2014

They say in diving that if you don't have a picture then it never happened. It's true, underwater your eyes can be easily decieved.

Today saw me undertake dives number 197-200. It seemed fitting that dive 200 was going to be a night dive. My log book is about 50% that.

However, before that particular moment of legend I still had to dive, Thomas, Woodhouse and Jackson reefs. The reefs lie in the Straits of Tiran in the Gulf of Aqaba.

The day was always going to be a bit farcical with one of Snapdragon's rhibs either broken down or burst. They hadn't been very reliable all week.

During the first dive (Thomas Reef) I spent most of my time watching the space between the edge of the reef and the blue. Then I saw something, something big. I was sure it was another reef shark. At the surface the Zookeeper disagreed, but the Lawman also claimed to have seen it. However, neither of us took pictures therefore we never saw it. Them's the rules!

Woodhouse Reef provided us with more drifting and an alleged 'cleaning station'. It did however provide us with one half of the legendary Derola buddy pair being that the first half was sitting the dive out. I liked it as a dive - long and straight with porcupine fish and a turtle.

Jackson Reef provided us with more drift diving and a prolonged wait on the surface to be picked up. However, the boat banter was enough (for some of us) to make up for the certain doom had it been an emergency. :)

Then came two hundred....

Banners and Butterflies

Turtle

Red Anemone

Camera Failure

Zookeeper & Porcupinefish