Red Sea 2001

Imagine, you haven't told your boss that you are going, and then your wife throws herself down the stairs, and even through the agony, helps you load your gear into the car. Such was the commitment of those embarking on this great adventure. Others had different worries, "Did you see that shark programme? If I see one of those I'll freak!"

For some of us sharks were top of the wish list!

We made our various ways to the airport, meeting amid tight security, "Your bags won't fit down the conveyor belt, take them to the special baggage check." Translated that meant, leave your bags in an unattended pile, while two airport workers occasionally appeared, and threw the odd bag onto a bigger conveyor belt!

Meanwhile, America bombed Afghanistan for the first time!

White knuckle ride out of Gatwick, bad weather, plain bad landing at Sharm! Was the pilot (an American) ex Navy? The way he threw the plane at the ground felt like he was trying to stick it to an aircraft carrier deck! Well it was dark!

Next is the game of getting your luggage back from the kind locals, who grab it from the conveyor, and then try to sell it back to you! This results in an amusing bunfight, flared tempers, and the occasional accidental(?) dropping of heavy dive bags, onto lightly shod Arab toes!

Once safely on the minibuses we are whisked off to our hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, good job there are street lights as they don't seem to want to waste electricity by turning the headlights on. (doesn't wear out the bulbs either!)

Great hotel, the Sanafir, well laid out, rather like a small village, but very quiet this year, the locals were complaining that Bin Laden was very bad for business!

Diving was to be on one of the day boats, run by the Red Sea College, the dives ranged from the Straits of Tiran to Ras Mohammed and the Dunraven.

The Dive masters made a big mistake, dividing our mob into the 'A' team and the 'B' team, led to instant rivalry and a wind up merchants paradise, why did we take Martin?

This set the tone for the week, I'm sure the crew were on Valium by the end! Particularly when Adrian drove the boat!

First day, shakedown dives, some were more stirred than shaken, but that had something to do with scantily clad Italian ladies, doing aerobics on a nearby beach, and 'road testing' the zoom lens on a video camera!

While the intrepid divers were shaking down, Kate, dangling her toes in the Red Sea, at the bottom of the ladder, was a little taken aback by the flash of steely grey and white, as a White tip shark cruised past her feet. Did the divers see one, did they .!

As at the end of every day, the shaken down teams adjourned to the Camel bar, a much visited local hostelry, to reflect at length on the rigours of a hard days sunbathing, eating and little bit of diving. Draped on the floor cushions of the roof bar as the light faded, sipping (!?) ice cold beer was a great way to unwind after a hard day's relaxing, shame about the band down the road, were they strangling cats or playing music? Opinions were divided.

Returning to team work...a jolly wheeze was devised by certain members of the 'B' team, in cahoots with an untrustworthy member of the 'A' team!

The following afternoon, the 'A' team were to dive in formation, descending from the surface like Freefall parachutists, in a ring holding hands, down to a set depth where the ring would break into the respective buddy pairs, swim to the underwater cliff, peel off, and conduct the rest of the dive in tight formation. The was the plan presented to the unsuspecting 'A' team members at breakfast the next morning...panic! When we practised it on the quayside, in front of other assembled divers, it was quite noticeable that we gained space, as others backed away! One bright spark thought it was a wind up, but wasn't quite sure, so he wouldn't mention it to the others, and spent the rest of the day worrying that he should have told someone!

The 'A' team lying on the deck of the boat in a circle practising the descent complete with hand movements and sound effects, just had to be seen! Come the afternoon dive and we were all in the water, in a circle, ready to descend, when Skippy realised he had forgotten his weight belt and the plan fell apart (thank God! I think they really meant to do it!). The 'B' team claim to have performed the trick, but there is no photographic evidence and no one from the 'A' team witnessed it, I leave it to you to make up your own mind, never trust anyone who wears rugby socks and a sweatshirt, instead of a wet suit! The day was rounded off by the appearance of a pod of dolphins, who played with the boat, too soon they were gone, but we enjoyed them while they were there.

Eating at the beach restaurants, in the evenings, was a treat for us rain soaked West country folk. Tables on the sand right next to the sea, terrific atmosphere, but who did swipe Jo's shoes? The cad even gave them to Martin! In the dark they were hidden in full view, which was only apparent from a flash photo seen later. Poor Jo spent ages looking for them... found them on her chair...! (I've still got the bruises!)

Shopping is fun (!?) the locals really helpful(!?) One shop keeper was prepared to offer 100 camels and 2 Mercedes Benz for one of the young ladies in our party, I was tempted but couldn't see a way of getting the cars on the plane home, though come to think of it she had lost her ticket!!! Good job she eventually found the missing ticket.. shame it was when she got home!

Once again we return to the Camel bar, with it's tradition of chucking peanut shells on the floor. Ok, so you are not supposed to throw whole ones off the roof onto the Bridge players in the street café below, but the temptation could not be resisted, sorry Malcolm, but you must admit it was a great shot, at least it didn't go in your beer!

Alas all good things come to an end. After a week of excellent diving, dodging the odd Titan triggerfish, riding the currents, leading Italian divers into a dead end cave (of course it was an accident!), actually seeing sharks and generally having a good time, it was time to once again face the particular excitements of the airport. Huddling round the baggage trolley, rather like a rugger scrum, and wearing Arab head dress (!) we managed to keep 'helpful hands' away from the bags. Having to 'buy' your boarding pass from a helpful official was a bit of a surprise, but at least it got you to the Duty free, now that is another story! Locals can be 'confused' by Dollars! tee hee!

Flying home overnight brought it's own problems, arriving home with half an hour to spare before going to work was pushing it a little! Particularly when you can't remember what you were supposed to be doing that day! (well he had got his socks wet!)

Thanks to all the group who went, it was a magical week. Thanks to Andy for organising it.. where are we going next?

Nick Parsons