Monday, June 27, 2005

Sharm el Sheikh/Ras Mohammed, Egypt:

My second trip out to the Thistlegorm was far better than my first. True, it wouldn't take much for that to be the case, but the last dive of the day, at Shark and Yolanda Reefs in Ras Mohammed National Park, was one of the best dives I've had yet, comparable with some of my better experiences in the Galapagos. (Ahh, the Galapagos.)

I was glad to hear that the boat used on the disastrous trip we took four days earlier was out of use indefinitely pending investigation. I would be shocked if "indefinitely" translated to more than another week, but it was good to see that some level of action was being taken. Our boat on this trip was even larger than the last and featured rooms with bunks to keep us from the mosquitos --- which weren't all that numerous when we settled in at 2 AM. Perhaps it was because there was more wind on the water that night, although it was still incredibly hot and humid.

In the morning, fairly well rested, we approached the site of the Thistlegorm. "I wonder where it is," I said to Adam as we looked out on the water. I was kidding, of course. There were about 12 - 15 boats already tied up in position, forming rows on top of where the wreck lay. Our dive master was an Italian guy named David. Some of the female divers on the boat mockingly referred to him as "Fabio," due to his long blonde hair and the fact that he seemed to miraculously lose his shirt about four seconds after the boat left Sharm. Nevertheless, he seemed to have his act together and went over a number of safety-related points with our group, which included a Kiwi and two Germans, all in their late 20s or early 30s. We all had to sign liability waivers before we would be allowed to dive; a standard practice, but something that wasn't required the last time we went out. When the talk was finished we put on our gear and got ready.

With some dry smiles (following numerous checks on whether the motor was on) Adam and I took giant strides off the back of the boat and into the water. The visibility was a green and murky six meters. As the group descended along the line toward the wreck, it got even darker and dimmer. Some large shapes passed by in the near distance. At about twenty meters below we found ourselves above the aft of the immense husk of the Thistlegorm, near the area where German bombs effectively blew the ship into two.

Circling the ship slowly we came across several schools of baraccuda and a trio of fat, meter-long bigeye jackfish, which were aggressively making open-mouthed passes through schools of thousands of tiny silver fish. On our way back up from the dive we had to take care not to pass through constant groups of large jellyfish which were all over the surface of the water.

On our second dive we took flashlights and entered one of the wreck's massive cargo holds. We saw old rusted jeeps, trucks, motorcycles and rifles, although I somehow managed to completely miss seeing part of an airplane that other divers mentioned after the dive. Some of the items were very easy to identify and others were barely recognizable. We were fortunate in that the hold was not crowded with other dive groups. However, I had some misgivings about the experience because two of the divers in our group were inexperienced and had poor buoyancy control. As a consequence, they kept bumping and bouncing into things. This degrades the site. As I mentioned in the previous post about the accident, I think the Thistlegorm is destined to go downhill very quickly and that it will eventually be ruined. Responsible dive operations often refuse to take divers to certain sites unless they have completed a minimum number of dives. I don't think this happens much in Sharm; more divers means more money.

We faced some moderate current as we ascended and temporarily lost track of the rope to take us back up to the boat. When we finally found it in the jellyfish-thick water one of the divers in our group (with poor buoyancy) panicked a little and began to climb over other divers in his effort to head up to the top. Having my hand kicked and my head stepped on, I wasn't thrilled.

We had lunch and spent several hours heading back in the direction of Sharm and the main dive spots in Ras Mohammed. In the afternoon we dove Shark and Yolanda Reefs, which are adjacent coral-covered mountain tops jutting up from otherwise very deep (1,000s of feet of) water.

Jumping into the water near Shark Reef was like entering an immense acquarium. There were hundreds of fish all around us, many of them the size of or larger than the bigeye jackfish we had seen earlier at the Thistlegorm. The visibility was incredible. On descending to fifteen meters, we could see schools of large pelagics beside us, above us and far below us. In the distance were groups of large silver tuna, perhaps seven or eight feet in length. Sleek and graceful, they nearly resembled sharks. After the dive a few divers would admit they thought they actually were.

Eventually we made our way to Yolanda Reef. There we encountered three giant black moray eels, each from five to six feet in length. Not only were these eels larger than any others I'd seen before but they were the first to swim out of their caves and snake their way through the water. They looked like immense black ribbons billowing in the wind.

We came to a steep drop-off that leads hundreds of feet down to where the Italian cargo ship Yolanda now rests. As she sank, the Yolanda spilled part of her stores in the shallows; Toilets. Scores of them. They are lying in a heap not far from the coral. Most of them are intact, although many of look a bit on the "used" side. Not far from the toilets were groups of gigantic butterfly fish, unicorn fish and triggerfish. A napoleon fish nearly charged one of the divers who got too close. It must have been nearly four feet in length.

Because most of the dive was spent in water not more than twenty feet deep we stayed down for close to an hour before we had to come up. At that point we made our way back to Sharm. Although Adam and I planned to come back to dive off the Straits of Tiran on the following day (on an excursion billed as a separate trip), we had previously been told that we could go back to Dahab that night, sleep in the comfort of our rooms (which we were paying for) and get a lift back to the boat early the next morning. One back in Sharm, however, we were told in typical fashion that this would not be possible and that we had to stay and sleep on the boat for another night. The reasons for this switch were simple: (1) The company didn't feel like driving us back to Dahab and then back again to Sharm if they didn't have to, and (2) They already had our money (these reasons are not necessarily given in order of importance).

Nevertheless, the trip was not at all bad.