divebunnie

Well, as I have already mentioned elsewhere in the site… Leigh and Mark not only discovered and dived the long-lost Yolande wreck Yesterday (9th December 2005) but they ended up breaking a world record whilst they were at it!!! Leigh had found the wreck earlier this year half buried in sand over 130M below the Yolande reef saddle where it had originally sat since its sinking in 1980, until a hefty storm in 1987 had finally pushed it over the edge. The plan had been to return in August to dive it further, discovering the stern and hopefully taking some pictures. Sadly fate intervened and the project had to be postponed until this week. After several days of final training, the deepest wreck dive ever went ahead successfully (though not without incident!) yesterday. The dive actually went below 200M, as they swam under the stern, however computers give up at 200M and Mark’s depth guage imploded, so it is difficult to tell how much deeper they went! Both members of the deep team were checked out fully at the hyperbaric chamber afterwards… just to make sure, and to celebrate, half of Sharm together with the whole Yolande project team were out in the Tavern last night. Of course certain members of the team were necking back the water to ensure that no delayed DCS ensued!!

Oooo it could have got so messy! Yes another successful IDC has been done and dusted out here in Sharm. Bizarrely Ocean College only had a few candidates this time and yes… all three of them found themselves totally trolleyed in the Camel bar that night… all of them celebrating their success!
Of course it would have been rude not to have joined in, and to be honest, I kind of whimped out a bit at my own IDC party , had a sinus infection at the next so felt that it was about time, I let rip and celebrated the success of all Instructor candidates around the world. The Camel bar was heaving, with just enough people in fancy dress (tarts, pimps, vicars and a few nuns thrown in) to keep it fun and just enough in normal clothes to ensure no one felt left out. Some serious flirting was going around… all a little alcohol fuelled I’m sure, but all great fun for those of us in the front row seats!!
Needless to say, I woke the next morning with a serious hangover from hell… only cured by several hours spent with my neighbours playing Nintendo followed by a Kentucky bucket delivered to our door! Oh the joys of the simple life.

Grief, I am really not the best at keeping this blog completely up to date. I’m selling you guys short! Other sites get a daily flow of chit chat and gossip, whereas I get my act together once a month or thereabouts!
Well I can only apologise for my slackness, and fill you in on the latest. I can’t believe I didn’t tell you about my last day’s diving before going home in November. A cracking day out in Tiran! This is fast going up in my rankings as the area to dive, though not quite overtaking my love of Shark and Yolande reefs just yet, I really have had some great diving there.
This day in particular, I was with Del who had been my instructor for my Divemaster course last year, and video Mark (as he is known here in Sharm). We attempted the Woodhouse to Jackson crossing however sadly found the current building against us, preventing us from making it even to within site of the satellite reef. However, after fighting the current for so long, we had a spectacular drift back along the reef, seeing a couple of MASSIVE turtles along the way.
Since fetching my drysuit and warm clothes, ironically, Sharm has been basking in a bit of an Indian summer, with smooth calm waters, and temperatures unseasonably back up in the low thirties on some days! However having made the dash back and finally gotten used to the whole buoyancy and baggy sensations of diving dry, I have not bothered to return to the wetsuit just yet, in spite of the lovely weather.
I have been teaching pretty much most of the time since my return, so have been enjoying the wonders of Temple, Ras Katy and the Gardens over the last couple of weeks. However did get a random day in Tiran again with a very experienced group last week… great stuff! Seeing as the sea was spookily calm it would have been a crime not to have done the back of the reefs, especially as the skipper even suggested that it was fine to pick us up at the back, so off we went:
The first dive we did a semi drift along Jackson, flying past the porites lumps that usually signify the absolute end of the dive. And… joy of joys, we were joined by a lovely big turtle for the last ten minutes of our dive! Yay!
The second dive, with the weather flattening the sea even further, we simply HAD to do the back of something. It would have been rude not to… so the back of Woodhouse it was. And yet another spectacular dive ensued! We saw a baby white tip reef shark!! COOOOL. He (or she) was having a kip in one of the over hangs, however chose that moment to move off and swim alongside me for the next few minutes as we passed… really very cool. It was only just over a metre long and very shiny and new looking. Another great day’s diving!