A dramatic week in Sharm!
Well it has been all fun and games in and around Shaab Ali this week… well, you could argue that it has been far from fun and games, but thankfully no one has been hurt.
The first nightmare was on Shag rock, just up from the Thistlegorm wreck and prone to the same kind of hairy currents! Two divers (both very experienced locals) went missing during a dive. For two days we all held our breath whilst the search team looked for them, however eventually it was sadly called off. A day later though, sighs of relief were felt throughout the town when we heard that the divers had actually only drifted for 4 hours, before finding a small wreck on another patch of reef. There they sheltered for the next couple of days until they were picked up by some local fishermen on a felluca and returned home very sunburned and dehydrated, a bit scratched and scuffed, but otherwise OK.
The other event was yesterday just south of this on the Thistlegorm itself. The swell was up all over Sharm and the wreck is one place where if there is a bit of lumpiness in the water, it is going to be at its biggest here. So two boats from our dive centre were there, and unfortunately both almost came a cropper! The bow line snapped on one causing it to spin on its stern line, snapping the anchor line of its fellow boat… pretty soon neither boat was on a mooring, guides were trying to heave guests out of the water, and one boat even ended up ramming its bow into the window of the other! As I said no one was hurt, the conditions under the water were actually perfect, and the videographer sold loads of dvd’s that day, so I think the adrenaline got everyone going.