I was doing my usual scan through the ‘available boat spaces’ on yorkshire divers and came across a cancellation space for a three night liveaboard on Pride of Bristol
This 25m former Royal Navy Fleet Tender was our home for the next three nights.
We set of from Bristol on Friday evening for the 10 hour trip to Lundy, I was sea sick again as the journey out to Lundy was a little rough although the weather was very pleasant
Gannett Cove
We had arrived early and the seals were in the water when we arrived. They were very inquisitive as you would expect and fun to be in the water with. They would bit at our fins and give them a tug, I couldn’t believe how strong they are
Knoll Pins
This dive was quite challenging. Descending was interesting dragging myself down on the rock face Once down, the dive was great fun and spectacular.
The ‘pins’ were quite small and narrow but the 10 of us managed to not crash into eachother during the 40 minutes we were down there. The current between the pins was really strong, I don’t think anyone made it through the gap
I saw something that I’d never seen before. Back on the boat I described it to the experts and it turns out that I saw a sunfish …. fabulous!
There were spider crabs laying on the kelp, I don’t understand how they did not fall off
It was a really good dive with spiny starfish, fan worms, anemones, sea squirts and sea fans
October 31st, 2007
Posted by
scubagirl |
Lundy |
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I was doing my usual scan through the ‘available boat spaces’ on yorkshire divers and came across a cancellation space for a three night liveaboard on Maureen of Dart
The boat was booked by Aberdeen Sub Aqua …..
October 31st, 2007
Posted by
scubagirl |
Scillies |
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I was doing my usual scan through the ‘available boat spaces’ on yorkshire divers and came across a cancellation space for a three night liveaboard on MY Faithfull
The boat was booked by Nottingham University ….. not current students, but students who graduated years ago
I got quite a shock when I met them at the jetty
I arrived early and was asked, by the Skipper, to remain on shore until the boat was ready, so I was the first on the boat when I was finally allowed on board
FAITHFUL is a Scottish style converted fishing boat measuring almost 20 meters, it is heavily built of Larch on Oak and is powered by an 8 cylinder Gardner engine with a cruising speed of 8 knots
Below deck the accommodation has 3 cabins, one 6 berth, and two 2 berth, each with a wash basin and hot and cold fresh water. There is also a shower and a serparate toilet (sea head).
Above deck is the galley, toilet and lounge/dining area with colour TV, VCR and DVD and a selection of films. I watched most of the first episode of Big Brother while I was waiting for the others to arrive
October 31st, 2007
Posted by
scubagirl |
Plymouth |
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I was quite lucky in the jobs I’ve had …..
I was invited to the Big Brother house for an after party becaue I worked on the BB programme for a couple of years
My company put us up in the Thistle Hotel after the party and then at 6am I got in the car and headed west ….
October 31st, 2007
Posted by
scubagirl |
Manacles, Cornwall |
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This is a Trip Report with a difference
It’s a ‘post trip’ Trip Report titled ……… Oh Sh!t - I’ve Lost my passport
Thursday
After a wonderful weeks diving at the Brothers and Elphinstone on Excel - it was time to leave my ‘ocean going luxury liner’ and head for home
I packed up my gear collected my passport and paid my the well deserved crew tips
We drove from Marsa Alam to Hurghada in record time and checked into the Marriott
My journey in October took over 8 hours !
l decided to get myself organised for the return flight
l took out my travel clothes, ticket, passport ….. ‘Oh Sh!t - I’ve Lost my Passport’
Somewhere between leaving Excel and arriving at the Marriott my passport went missing
My room mate, Jill, checked my gear and bags
My tour rep Ashraf also checked my bags … Nothing
Ashraf happened to be in the Marriott sorting out another guest (Puffin) issue and if it was not for him l would probably still be in Hurghada
At 11pm we went to the Tourist Police to report this incident
There was a blackout!
l could make out the machine guns that the officers were carrying
After sitting in the dark for 45 minutes we decided to come back the next day
Friday
We were moved from room to room in the Police Station
There was much chatter in Arabic - which l could not understand
At one point the chatter became animated and quite loud
Someone then asked me where my father was from
Ashraf later told me that they looked at the colour of my skin and did not believe that l was Britsh
They thought that l was from Pakistan and that l was here to cause trouble
Where in fact my father is from lndia
This took quite some persuading
Ashraf explained to them that he had known me for seven years and that l am a frequent traveler to Egypt
After quite some time sitting around and Ashraf making numerous phone calls the Head guy started to complete a form in Arabic then we were on our way
Ashraf’s father is a General for the Government so he pulled a few strings and got the process pushed thru quicker than it could have taken
Ashraf then booked me into the Hilton for the next night - the Marriott was full
After checking into the Hilton - which is still under reconstruction - l booked a room at the lnterContinental in Cairo and went to the Egypt Air office to book a flight
The very helpful lnternet engineer at the Hilton advised me on the lnterContinental as it is the closest hotel to the Embassy
l then raced back to the Marriott where the rest of my group were to be collected at 4.20
l had really neglected them since my passport discovery
They were all such nice people to be with on a liveaboard (well, some of them anyway)
Jill, Mike, Dave, Gareth, Gary, lan
xxx thank you
But it seems that they left early and l missed them by minutes
l called my sister and asked her to sort out my diary for the next week and to call my travel insurance company
lt turned out that if l pay a $30 excess l am then covered for up to $750
So, l thought that would more than cover my hotels, flight from Hurghada to Cairo and Cairo to Heathrow – l was wrong, it became much more !
Saturday
l’m waiting now for my flight to Cairo
I didn’t think that anything would go wrong from now on
l have a permit from the Police to be in the country
l just need to go to the British Embassy in Cairo and get a travel permit to take a BA flight from Cairo to Heathrow
And my hotel is minutes away from the Embassy so l will be there extra early
Ashraf had already arranged for my free return flight from Hurghada the following Friday
But, l figured if l can fly BA from Cairo any earlier than that and Heathrow is closer to where l live than Gatwick - and that saves me from flying back to Hughada
Ashraf met me at the airport and explained to the staff that l was not traveling with a passport and why only then would they let me thru
l don’t recommend Egyptian Air for internal flights
They threw a muffin and a fruit juice carton at us as we were still banking and collected the empties less than ten minutes later
l do however recommend the lnterContinental SemiRamis in downtown Cairo and in walking distance to the Consulate - just in case your reason for being in the city is the same as mine
I checked in at 11.30pm
Sunday
On Sunday morning l met another representative from SCUBA UK
A stunningly handsome man named Mardy
Unfortunately, he went to the wrong lnterContinental
But, we still made it to the Embassy before 9.30am
Mardy was not allowed past the first reception – so, l was on my own
There were quite a few people waiting to see the Consulate mostly about passports
After completing a new passport form l was asked for LE680
l had about $100 made up of four different currencies to get me thru the next few days
Armed with my credit card l tried to get some cash from two bank - who didn’t want to know
I then went to Thomas Cook
The only ld l had was my PADI card
So, l gave him that and he typed my reference number into the system
Somehow he accepted this and back l went with my LE680 for my passport
l was told ‘no problem, your passport will be ready on Tuesday’
On the way back to the hotel Mardy held my hand and we walked along the Nile
He said to me ‘this is the perfect place for two lovers to walk’!
l had earlier decided that he was holding my hand as protection for myself from other people
So that l would not get hassled by them and so l don’t get run over – there are no zebra crossings in Cairo and possibly no driving tests either
Monday
The next day l decided to do the tourist thing
l went to visit the pyramids and the Egyptian Museum
As this was my fifth trip to Egypt l thought l had better do something cultural ? And get a better appreciation of the country
Tuesday
Back to the Embassy with Mardy holding my hand
More waiting around
Azza the lady at the Consulate assured me that l will have my new passport for Wednesday not Tuesday and l can fly on Thursday ‘no problem’
l looked at her paperwork and noticed that the passport details on the fax from the UK were for my old passport which had been cancelled
After pointing this out she said ‘no problem you will have your passport for Thursday - this would be too late for my early morning BA flight
So she said she will check and l must call her later
Later that afternoon l spend a few hours walking around Old Cairo and the famous Bazzar
After speaking to Azza she said ‘no problem’ l will be able to fly on Thursday - so, l booked my flight
Wednesday
l called Azza at 8.30am to check what time l could collect my passport
After being told that it would be ready for 1pm - l told her that that was no good as l still needed my stamps from the Government office
She said that the Government office will remain open for such emergencies
After waiting an hour l had a new passport in my hands by 1.40pm
Mardy found out that we must be at the Government office before 2pm to get the stamps
We then ran to the Government office - along those endless corridors and looking in all the offices - l’m suprised no-one stopped us
After completing another form l handed it to the official
We had the same discussion about how can l be British, she thought l was actually Egyptian
‘Tomorrow’ she said in Arabic
We were too late and she was not going to change her mind!
l’m glad l booked a flexible BA ticket
l changed the date to Friday
Thursday
Once a gain Mardy met me in the hotel lobby and we went to see the Government Official
She saw me coming and shout ‘sit’ waving at a chair
After a few minutes I heard someone shout ‘British’ – looking around l decided that must be me
I walked over to the voice
A large man took my passport from my hands and handed it to someone else who marched off shouting ‘sit’ at me and waving to the chair
With stamps in my new passport, e-ticket in hand, and a packed dive bag l was ready to go
I spend the afternoon in a coffee shop reading in the sunshine as l knew that tomorrow it would be 5 degress celcius
In the past few days l had had a few calls from friends who had expected me back the week before or responding to my emails/ texts
Word had now got round the office too
Their reactions were anything from ‘fantastic you get to stay on in Egypt’ and ‘you lost your passport on purpose to extend your stay’ to ‘be careful, don’t go out alone’
I will be made fun of big time when l get back
Roger had already told me that he will ask the band at my local club to dedicate ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ by the Bangles to me – this track is on their play list every gig
Friday
I checked out of the hotel at 5.15am
Way too early for - but that was the only BA flight to Heathrow
HOME
ls all this going to deter me?
No, l will be back on Excel for the deep south in August
l have already warned Ashraf and he told me that he will be there waiting for me !
The two tour reps representing Travel Line and Tony Backhurst showed the highest degree of professionalism, dedication and responsibility
And I feel confident that l am traveling with a first class tour company that truly values and looks after it’s guests
October 31st, 2007
Posted by
scubagirl |
Red Sea Brothers Lost Passport |
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This was my fourth trip to the Red Sea as a solo female traveler, and I had a fabulous time
In summary I booked this very last minute (because my office messed me about) and this was the only boat that had space for me - Tony Backhurst was completely full so I ended up going on an Emperor Diver boat ….. never again!!!
The boat was clean (apart from the bathrooms which were shared), comfortable, not nearly enough space for twenty people to sit/ sunbathe
The cabins were bunks and as basic as it gets
Food was good and lots of it
Only beer and soft drinks – no spirits – which didn’t bother me
Tanks were not always filled ready for the next dive
I would much rather have traveled on Excel – there was absolutely no comparison
Next time will always go for a boat with en-suit bathrooms – the shower only trickled and the loos were broken and held together with tape
l’m diving on Hurricane in three weeks and can’t wait
My buddy was fantastic – we were so perfectly matched
She turned out to be a grandmother who was also a BSAC Instructor – must have been close to twice my age
She was great I was really very very lucky to dive with her
The diving was perfect
Enough walls to keep our hearts racing, our minds interested and our eyes peels on the look out for sharks
Enough coral gardens to relax among and wonder at the beauty of the underwater world
My favourite sites were St John’s Caves and Shaab Maksour - Fury Shoal
Although Shaab Maksour is not as good as Elphinstone or Daedelous
The tour guilds on the liveaboard were completely different to Grant and Sonia on Excel and not my kind of people at all
I was treated like I was on an 18-30 holiday and was made fun of by one of them for the first four whole days
I just ignored him and he eventually stopped – no idea why he chose to pick on me
He had none or very little input on the trip, he got lost three times and had total disregard for the inexperienced diver that he was accompanying as he went off and did his thing
For those of you who have traveled with Grant and Sonia will know exactly what I mean
The other guide gave the best dive briefings possible
October 24th
o Departed Gatwick only one hour late
o Found tour rep eventually
He decided to stand outside the building when all the others were inside
- l later found that this was because Regal representatives were not allowed in the terminal building and that it had clearly stated this in the orientation documentation
- which it was
o We were taken to a hotel in the town for one night – don’t understand why this was
- Southern Red Sea trips with Hurghada fights, as far as I know leave the same night without a hotel stay
o Left the hotel later than when we were supposed to
o Stopped at the Hilton to pick up kit for those who did not have full set of gear
Why wasn’t this done last night
- it just delayed our journey even more
o Checked on board the liveaboard (Hamada) at 3.30pm, even though the itinerary specified 12pm
- we had an 8 hour journey in a tiny mini bus !
- this bus was not large enough for 20 adults plus all their gear
- some of the bags were on the roof and some inside the bus
- no chance to stretch your legs and only one bathroom break the whole way
o 1st dive was a check out dive\ night dive! at Sataya – Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 15 meters for 79 minutes
o Drop in from the boat and returned to the boat
o Weight check in the dark
- and gave me the chance to find out more about the others on the boat
- there were people with less than 50 dives and were unexperienced on reefs and night diving
- one lady only had 18 dives, others had never used DSMBs, others were allowed to dive without computers
o Spotted wray, sea snake, pipe fish - no Spanish Dancers this time
o There was supposed to be a sunken fishing boat nearby, but no-one found it
o on our way back to the boat I noticed that Excel was moored along side up
- I dumped my stuff jumped straight back into the water and swam over
- I traveled on Excel two months ago – excellent boat, I really missed Grant with his video camera and Sonia’s happy smiling face and the sweetest accent to wake up to
October 26th
o First dive at Habili Ali – St Johns
o Steep wall and a plateau on the east wall at 30 meters
o 30 degrees, max depth 34 meters for 68 minutes
o Drop in from rib, return to boat
o 3 grey reef sharks, 2 white tip sharks, giant moray, barracuda, lion fish, trigger fish, napoleon
o Hard coral, gorgonion fans, little soft coral
o Second dive at Habili Ali – St Johns
o 30 degrees, max depth 30 meters for 71 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o 1 white tip, turtle (seen by buddy), barracuda, trigger fish, napoleon
o Third dive at Abu Basal – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 19 meters for 81 minutes
o 1 grey reef shark, porcupine fish, napoleon, spotted wrays, lion fish, trumpet fish
o Caves and swim thru on the reef, lots of hard coral formations
o Pinnacles - not much there, hard coral, very little soft coral, therefore little fish life
o Barron sandy bottom between the reef and the pinnacles
o Fourth dive - night dive Abu Basal – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 16 meters for 41 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o Free swimming giant moray, burrfish, banded boxer shrimp, spotted wray, pearl sea star
October 27th
o First dive at Habili Gafa – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 35 meters for 60 minutes
o Drop in from rib, return to boat - went round one and a half times - clockwise
o Strong current at first turn then dropped to nothing
o 50 meters in diameter - small erg
o Plateau at 30 meters
o 3 reef sharks, moray, free swimming moray, manta (seen by some divers), trumpet, schools of barracuda, lion fish
o Hard coral, colourful soft coral, teaming with marine life - really nice
o Second dive at Umm Aruk – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 24 meters for 81 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o Bighorn nembrotha-sea slug, arabian box fish, lion fish, baraccuda
o Small reef, pinnacles, sandy sea bed at 25 meters
o Hard coral, some soft coral, not as much soft coal as Habili Gafa - only minutes away but not as nice - should have gone back to Habili Gafa
o Third dive at Umm Aruk (Umeroog) – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 30 meters for 66 minutes
o Nothing significant, giant moray, bumphead parrot fish
o Fourth dive (night dive) at Umm Aruk – St Johns
o 29 degrees max depth 25 meters for 33 minutes
o Spanish dancer, spotted wrays
October 28th
o First dive at Gota Soraya – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 44 meters for 70 minutes
o Conditions were very rough - took ages to moor, Suzanna 1 cut our mooring lines - start over - waited for ages to get in, so many other boats at this site - did not bother us once we got in
o White tip sharks, lion fish, spotted wray
o Second dive at St John’s Caves – St Johns
o 29 degrees, max depth 19 meters for 105 minutes
o The most amazing swim throughs and tunnels openning out into caverns
o South side has a lagoon with a perimeter of pinnacles
o Tunnel entrances are via the logoon and from the west side
o North has no tunnel entrances and is covered in hard coral
o Network pipe fish, pyjama brownish coral crab, napoleon
o Third dive at St John’s Caves – St Johns
o 29 degrees max depth 19 meters for 76 minutes
o Drop in from boat, return to boat
o Network of tunnels, caves, caverns
o Came face to face (literally) with a white tip shark in one of the tunnels, network pipe fish, pyjama brownish coral crab, napoleon, arabian box fish, ruppells wart slug
October 29th
o First dive at Abu Diab - Fury Shoal
o 28 degrees, max depth 41 meters for 61 minutes
o Five white tip sharks, one grey reef shark
o Not much soft coral, marine life only toward the end of the dive on the west side, south side has pinnacles and shingle of dead coral
o Second dive at Malahi (Heaven) (Maze/ Laberinth) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees max depth 22 meters for 84 minutes
o Not at all like St John’s Caves, few swim throughs and overhangs
o Four main pinnacles joined in places to make the areas between the pinnacles 6-8 meters deep
o Smaller pinnacles around the outside
o Slug, lndian tube worm
o There is a family of white tips living in one of the caves (we were told) but did not see any on this dive
o Third dive at Malahi (Heaven) (Maze/ Laberinth) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 22 meters for 79 minutes
o Fourth dive at Abu Galawa (Father of Pools) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 15 meters for 28 minutes
o Tug boat on the west side contains schools of glass fish and shows the early years of soft coral growth
o This tug boat allowed us to do some wreck penetration - if it can be called that ?!
October 30th
o First dive at Shaab Maksour - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 33 meters for 62 minutes
o Two turtles, grey reef shark
o Strong up current on drop so quickly decended to 33 meters
o Two of the group from the rib were swept up over the top of the reef and we later found that their dive ended before it had begun
o The sea was so rough that we wondered if we would actually make it to the correct drop off point - it was quite some distance from the liveaboard
o Dropped in at the north, negative entry from rib and travelled down the east side
o Long thin reef, similar to Elphinestone
o Current too strong on west side so travelled along east
o South side plateau with pinnacles, dead coral shingles, therefore very little marine life
o North side soft coral, marine life
o Second dive at Abu Galawa Soraya (Small Father of Pools) - Fury Shoal
o 27 degrees, max depth 17 meters for 80 minutes
o Zodiac drop at the entrance to the gully, swam past it at first then backtracked to find it - not so easy to spot
o Sandy bottom within the gully, amazing architecture of hard coral - rather like Heaven, only better - stunning
o On the west side is the wreck of a small boat, another opportunity for some wreck penetration much to the amazement of the onlooking German divers
o This wreck also contained a school of glass fish and had very little coral growth
o The area under which the liveaboard was mored was littered with dicarded rubbish - bottles, batteries, an ashtray
October 31st, 2007
Posted by
scubagirl |
Red Sea Deep South October |
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