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A
group of five BSoUP members (Brian and Linda Pitkin, David
and Jenny George and Peter Funnell) with five other divers,
left Gatwick airport on 25th April for the Sinai desert, Aquamarine
and the Red Sea. There had been rumours and articles written
about the hazards of the border crossing, deterioration of
the facilities in the Sinai etc. and we were prepared for
all eventualities. We had been told emphatically that Monarch
Airliner were very strict on weight (2OKg total hand and hold
baggage) -impossible for underwater photographers. However
by throwing out clothes (who needs them?), surplus diving
gear and taking no camera spares, David and I managed to get
our baggage down to 45Kg - by filling our large anoraks with
four Nikonos camera bodies, flash guns, close-up kit and batteries
galore. Happily our hand baggage was not weighed as the plane
was not full, and once through check-in all 'anorak gear'
was quickly transferred to the half empty bags.
From
Ovda airport, near Eilat, we were taken in a coach with the
party of 16 for the Lady Jenny V to the border at Taba. At
the Israeli side there was a long wait and an even longer
one on the Egyptian side. People staying for longer than one
week had to change 150 dollars into Egyptian pounds, which
took time, but the delay was really due to the large number
of divers. We arrived at Aquamarine in the early hours of
the morning and were told that we could only stay one night
as they had 10 divers arriving in the morning - which fortunately
turned out to be us. Eventually things were sorted out and
we 'fell' into the straw rondelles (David and I did not the
first night, but that is another story).
The
diving at Aquamarine is being run very efficiently by two
Belgians, Alan Sobol and Claude Antoine, ably helped by Bob
Johnson (the silver-suited star of Mike Portelly's film 'Ocean's
Daughter'). Vic Verlinden from Belgium was spending two months
there also -he recently gained the 'Underwater Photographer
of the Year' Award at the Antwerp festival in December 1983,
winning gold medals in the Audio-Visual and Portfolio sections.
It
was the end of the main season at Aquamarine and we were the
only group of divers and consequently could dictate the diving
sites. There was the occasional French or Belgian diver, but
they seemed happy to come along with us. Apart from the 2~12
days we spent on the boat 'Tom', diving was from the shore
and we had two long dives per day - morning and mid-afternoon.
We visited the familiar sites of Ras Um Sid and the Tower,
but also went to several new sites in the Sharm area. We visited
Ras Muhammed on two occasions by boat, and also spent two
days as Ras Nasrani (Whale Bay and the old buki camp) where
we had a night dive.
The
diving was as good as ever with very little plankton (the
u/w photographer's nightmare) present in the water. Large
fish seemed more plentiful than I remember and the hard and
soft corals were in excellent condition. Highlights of the
diving for me were seeing the rare small Ghost Pipe Fish at
the Near Garden, the Manta Ray at Fisherman's Wall, the large
fish (Puffer, Queen Angel, Barracuda, Crocodile Fish ... )
at Ras Muhammed (sharks were not abundant!) and meeting Lawson
Wood underwater on the wreck 'Yolande at Ras Muhammad (he
was down with the Lady Jenny V group who swam quickly past,
bubbles ascending). The Ras Muhammed area is now also a marine
reserve. We spent one evening talking to the new Egyptian
warden. The Egyptians are planning to set up a museum and
other facilities outside the reserve; the diving centres do
their best to stop people collecting and spoiling the reefs,
but Bob told us horrific tales of Italians smashing up the
corals with hatchets and Israelis spear fishing and we saw
a group of French divers cleaning shells collected at Tiran
Island at Aquamarine.
The
facilities at Aquamarine could be better - the Egyptians do
not bother to sweep out the rondelles (and they get very dusty)
and we had to 'nag' to get the sheets changed after one week'
The toilets and showers were rarely cleaned and the water
usually went off from midday to ten at night. We used to leap
into the large freshwater tank at Aquamarine ' (which was
filled in the morning) after the cameras and diving gear had
been washed. The food proved better than Peter had experienced
on his previous visit in Novmber when he lost lbs in weight'.
Also two 'Brits', Adrian and Caroline Akroyd have opened the'Wreckers
Bar' next door and we ate there quite often. They had struck
a deal with the Egyptians so that guests at Aquamarine could
have the Plat du Jour at no extra cost.
Photographically
the trip was reasonably successful with no dire casualties
to equipment. It was certainly eventful
....
the BSoUP newsletter editor dropped both cameras when jumping
from the 'Tom' one day.. also went in three times without
his weightbelt ... and then super glued two fingers together
when repairing a camera'. 'Surgeon George' plunged both fingers
into hot water, which made him jump a bit, and then cut them
apart with a scalpel - it seemed funny to the rest of us but
was quite nasty for the victim....
....
the BSoUP president lost his 15 mm lens cap aboard the 'Tom'
and after everyone spent ages looking for it, taking up floorboards
etc, he found it in his dive bag!
....
the 'elder statesman' of the group cut his forehead with his
flash gun and then went around with a 'caste mark' of mercurichrome
for days afterwards, always ready to dab the 'cut parts' of
female anatomy with the red stuff also....
....
the BSoUP Beginner's Trophy winner 1983 lost a close-up rod....
....
the President's wife took the first six shots of a film (extension
tube set up) with the lens cap on
....
the newsletter editor (yes, him again) wore a pink leotard....
....
and Moja (Bob's monkey) was always picking up camera gear
and bikini tops....
Altogether
it was a very enjoyable trip made more so by the superb diving
and the good company. One can forget the poor facilities at
the 'hotel', and the long waits at the border (yes we had
trouble on the way back as we had not gone to the police station
at Sharm to get more stamps on our passports after one week)
I
cannot wait to go backl
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