A yacht filled with Brits and us, 2 unbelievably fit “Americans” that seemed to baffle everyone. It was quite the phenomenon for the first few days they told us until they caught word of us being in the stunt industry. There seemed to be a communal sigh of relief. “OH! Now it makes sense!” was said. The crew got quite a kick out of us as well and started referring to us as Zena and Rambo! Even more entertaining when they can barely speak a word of English. I guess fitness doesn’t seem to have much of a place in the British or Egyptian lifestyle, but they have quite the sense of humor. We lucked out with a great group of people to be spending 24/7 with for the next 7 days. We hopped on board the Blue Voyager around 4:30 PM on Friday afternoon, were immediately fitted into our dive gear, served a welcome drink, escorted to our sweet little cabin, and told to settle in and make ourselves comfortable! How could we not! Simon’s face was priceless- Bam! -what a way to start our journey! Beckie, our firecracker of a dive instructor, set just the right tone and we knew we were in the perfect hands. Hammerheads being the mission on this dive trip, depth was an issue. Simon only had his Open Water so she recommended he go for his Advanced. Something else he had been wanting to do, so perfect. I, on the other hand, was still struggling with my cold and nervous about how it was going to affect my diving for the week. Having to sit out dives and wait for others to come back and hear all the amazing stuff they saw is not something I do well! Lol. Wiped out from our travels we decided to take a quick nap before dinner and spent the next 2 days taking naps all day long and literally out seconds after every dive. We were ‘neckered’ as the Brits like to call it. Totally wiped. Deep dives, jet leg, dehydration, trouble equalizing, damn cold, sinuses jacked up, trying to absorb Adv. PADI info, we could barely enjoy the luxury life of this amazing yacht! Then we came upon dehydrations sachets and a night of 8 solid hours. Monday came around and we were one with the world again! The itinerary for this trip was, ‘Simply The Best’ consisting of 3 pristine reefs: The Brothers Reef, Daedelus Reef, and Elphinstone Reef. Absolutely phenomenal! Not as much life as we had expected, or everyone else for that matter, but the crew and the service and the spectacular coral all made up for it. Not hundreds of hammerheads like I thought the woman I corresponded with mentioned, but 2 or 3 on each dive at Daedalus. I missed seeing a few up close because my ears got the best of me and I couldn’t descend past 12 feet. Three minutes into the dive, I’m battling getting past 10 feet, ears screaming in pain, and I look down to my beloved hammerhead just feet away from my dive buddies and Simon. Thank goodness there was 100 ft visibility but I was gutted! I had a mild reverse block on the last dive the night before, but figured a night of rest would have done its charm. There was an outpouring of Sudafed and antibiotic ear medicine and ibuprofen and olive oil remedies and head wraps to keep the ears warm, that just when I thought I might be joining Chris for the rest of the week, I was now on a mission to make sure not one more dive got aborted. Chris burst his eardrum on Day 2, and did as well 2 years ago on the exact same trip. I gave him a lot of credit for cheering everyone on after each dive and putting on a happy face when having to hear everyone’s excited sightings stories. It was hard enough for me to do on one dive, let alone the rest of the trip. So, my ears perked up and a smile made its way back on my face. So much so, that on one of my last dives, Beckie and I practically danced our way through our drift dive. We did the YMCA, sprinkler, the makarena, moonwalk, running sidekicks, and pulled out tons of disco moves. We ascended, barely able to hold our regulators in our mouths from laughing! Beckie and Al, the dive guides, married for 10 years, gave up a secure office life in the UK and have never looked back. Their passion, love for diving and brilliant wit definitely highlighted our stay on board. Wake up, have coffee, dive, eat breakfast, relax, dive, eat lunch, relax, dive, eat dinner, have some beer, sleep and do it all over again is what just happened for 6 days and now it’s on to Luxor, Cairo, desert and 100 degree heat. Simon got his Advanced PADI Certification, we threw down a week on the elegant waters of the Red Sea and thank the Blue Voyager for an unbelievable time! Stay tuned for more!…
Picture credits: Simon and Alice
