A week in the life of a divemaster

Friday 22 August
As quite common these days, I am in the water with a group of divers... We are swimming with the current and it turns out to be a bit stronger than I expected so 10 minutes after starting the dive, I decide to turn and go back to the boat, because I know I’ve got a difficult diver in the group, in this case a large German. Unfortunately, the current becomes even stronger, so it is quite a tough swim back against it... Looking back at my group every 15 seconds, I notice the fat guy is finning but not moving forward an inch. He is completely not in control of his buoyancy and keeps floating upwards. I sigh, take a deep breath, swim back towards him signaling the other divers to wait for me and I grab him by the arm. So there is me pulling down and forward 120 kg of meat (plus a 15 liter steel tank and 14 kg of weight) against the current... Some people should really not be diving...

Last night, we had the 11th anniversary of the Clubhouse, with a collection of musicians doing some nice jam sessions. It was a big party and for me, the evening ended after having drunk a couple of G&T’s and having been thrown into the pool about 15 times (and throwing another ten people in myself). Dripping like a drowned cat, I came home at 2 am. Today, the result of this pool party is a major back ache, so I am suffering quite a bit pulling the German guy under water. But I manage and get all my divers back to the boat... And he gratefully tipped me for my efforts.

In the evening, I work on my Italian with the help of Stefano. I spend an hour writing down Italian conjugations and other useful words. Io voglio imparare Italiano... I don’t seem to remember my verbs though, my memory in general is not very far stretched these days. I live and therefore think by the day. Tomorrow will bring what tomorrow will bring...

Sunday 24 August
After a nice diving day with a Singaporean, Dutch, Germans, British and French on the boat, I go straight from the diving boat to a party boat. It is someone’s birthday and in El Gouna, that’s a good reason for either a beach or a boat party. We sail out at sunset and the party gets started. Have you ever jumped into the sea at night time, looked up, seen the stars up in the sky while floating on your back, had Egyptian white wine, a wonderful dinner cooked on board and then lied with your friends arm in arm on the sun deck looking at the shooting stars? Yes? No? Poverino, you don’t know what you’re missing. Come to El Gouna... now! The ambiance within the El Gouna community is very special. Gounies share a lot of things: we share food, drink from each other’s bottles of water, share cigarettes, call each other babe, bello & darling all the time, we lie all over each other on couches, boats and benches and when there is alcohol involved, we hug a lot too... And we all speak several different languages in one sentence: Jallah, are you ready, andiamo! It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you did before coming to El Gouna. In our midst, we have anthropologists, nurses, welders, mechanics, bankers (I wonder who), journalists, marketeers... But in El Gouna, career, rank, money and race is irrelevant. It’s liberating... As soon as I’m home after the party, I sprawl myself onto my bed and have 10 seconds to reminisce yet another great day and evening before I fall into a deep coma.

Monday 25 August
The Rosalie Moller (http://www.aquatours.com/wrecks/rosaliemoller.htm): a British cargo ship bombed by the Germans in 1941, sinking nicely on the bottom at 55 meters deep, making for a perfect dive site for advanced divers. We go with five guests and three guides (new colleagues), I am the only one who has been to the wreck before therefore I guide the entire group. The conditions are perfect for this wreck located in the open sea. There is no wind, no current and we are the only boat on the Rosalie. So it’s just us, eight experienced divers. As we descend along the line to 25 meters deep in total blueness, the shape of the ship slowly dooms up in front of us. A 100 meters long steel phantom wreck. As we get to 35 meters deep, just on top of the deck, I can’t believe what I am seeing. Or rather, what I am not seeing. I can’t see the wreck! I can’t see it because it is covered in thousands of glass fish and other schooling beauties. Everywhere I look, there is fish. Hundreds of thousands of them, small fish in big schools... As I swim through the school of glass fish, slightly intoxicated by the nitrogen narcosis, I feel like I’m on another planet. And then, I see a group of eight Jack fish hunting, biting away into a swimming ball of Silversides... Nature at it’s best... We explore the stern of the ship, see the bomb blast, swim along the fallen stern mast covered in corals. It’s fantastic! During the lunch break, we relax and lie in the sun, anxious to start our second dive. Back in the water, we swim around the bow at 40 meters deep. A huge Lion fish is hovering against the ship. On the deck, I spot another three big ones. As we swim up along the foremast, five huge Bat fish follow us as we circle around the crow’s nest, covered in corals and harbouring many small creatures... My dive day could not have been better.

Tuesday 26 August
I have day off, but I decide to go on the boat to do some fun diving and finally take some (underwater) pictures. Besides, Darja is on the boat to film the guests, Stefano who is free lancing for TGI is taking a group of divers for their first open water dive and Gijs is in charge on the boat, so it’s like a day out with friends. Unfortunately, the underwater camera malfunctions after the first dive so I can’t take as many shots as I would have liked. The dives are nonetheless very, very nice. No guests to look after, just me swimming wherever I feel like going, hooking up every now and then with Darja or Gijs underwater, as they always spot interesting little creatures... After a 75 minute and a 90 minute dive, I’m exhausted. Back on land, I go home with Darja and crash on her couch, only to wake up two hours later. I go home, take a nice refreshing shower and go to Stefano’s where I crash on the couch again. I must explain that both the couch at Darja’s house (my second home) and the couch at Stefano’s (my third home) are possibly the most comfortable couches in the world. These couches are made to lie on, as soon as your bum hits the couch, you want to curl up your legs and put your head on one of the many big pillows... Especially after a long day of diving, I have an uncontrollable urge to lounge on one of these heavenly couches. And although the night is still young, this couch potatoe is not going to see it grow old tonight...

Wednesday 27 August
I can’t believe I’ve been in El Gouna for seven weeks already. It’s another nice diving day, a bit windy, but we spot a turtle and a very large moray eel. After bringing my divers up from the first dive, I go down again, to search for the seamoths that Darja pointed out to me the last time we were in this dive site together. They are rare in the Red Sea, and oh so cute. And yes! I find one! Mind you, this one was 6 cm long at most... You all probably have no clue what I’m talking about, so here’s a link: http://www.talaythai.com/Fish/0025_en.php

At 6.30 pm, after work, I go to a private yoga class (yes, I’m hanging in there!), go to the Clubhouse to get a take away pizza and here I am, at home, putting down my memories and thoughts on paper. Coming to El Gouna is exactly what I needed. It has brought me balance, peace and an incredible amount of happiness, fun and pleasure. The high heels & business trips are miles away, I am now living in the world of flip flops and diving trips.

Pictures to substantiate my stories:

On the boat:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54759&l=0883b&id=523210814

Under water:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=54767&l=897f4&id=523210814

Buona notte tutti!

xYx