Malcolm Nobbs - October 2009

In October 2009 I returned to Port Ghalib and Marina Lodge. This time with Hilary “Maud” Hickmott. It was great to be back with Luke and the Emperor Divers crew.

Day One with Maud: Our first dive was at Marsa Shuni with Eva Kirsch, who had modelled for me on my two previous Port Ghalib trips. Eva is such a great underwater model, I was looking forward to seeing how Maud’s shots of her would turn out. First Eva removed her fins and posed for us, walking upside down along the hull of Empress Amy. Then she put her fins back on and removed her BCD and tank for what Eva and I had nicknamed her “rodeo shot”. That is, she appeared to ride her tank in mid-water while swirling her octopus around her head. Then Eva lowered her BCD and tank onto the sea bed and free dived around them. All of this made for great photo opportunities for Maud and I. Now it’s difficult to feel sorry for Maud, very difficult but I came close to it when she realised she had loaded her flashgun with dead batteries. So Eva agreed to model for us again. With brand new batteries installed in Maud’s flashgun, her flashgun now worked flawlessly but unfortunate her wet fisheye lens had now somehow become cross-threaded. Initially it seemed Maud might not be able to use her camera again until it was professionally repaired. But with some considerable patience we somehow managed to get it working again. Phew! The thought of a whole week of a grumpy Maud was appalling.

Day Two with Maud: With her camera dramas over, Maud and I photographed Green turtles in wonderful conditions at Abu Dabbab. And I engaged in a physiological “air” battle with Maud. She knew I was talking nonsense when I told her that men have much better air consumption. So in order to prove it was not nonsense I just had to be very careful with my air on my next dive then not let her see my gauge for the rest of the week. A couple of turtle encounters apart I spent the whole dive concentrating on minimising my air useage. Nearing the end of the dive and much to my satisfaction, I saw that Maud had less air than me. My game plan was about to come to fruition. We were now in just two metres of water, not far from the shore but I deliberately hung back a bit to drag the dive out. Soon Maud would be forced to ask me for air. I couldn’t wait - I’d live off this moment for the rest of the week. Then I heard a loud sound of escaping bubbles. I’d read of first stage free-flows but never seen it happen. I looked around to see who was in trouble. Then I found it hard to breath. It was my first stage. My air and my chance to humiliate Maud had gone. Maud pointed out that I seemed to have run out of air. I consoled myself later with a great meal at a local Japanese restaurant Fusion, with Luke, Tracy, Chris and Vanessa (also from Emperor Divers) and a now triumphant Maud.

Day Three with Maud: a macro photography day at Ras El Torfa. After two dives and lunch, there was an opportunity for a third dive. Maud sunbathed. Luke and I silently kitted up. Annoyingly Maud stirred and realised she was about to be left behind. Lumbered with her, we did not tell her that this was a drift dive - with a bit of luck she’d panic when she realised she would not have enough air to fin back to the boat. Disappointingly she didn’t panic.

Day Four with Maud: We hired a speed boat and together with Luke and a skipper, dived Marsa Mubarak searching for Dugongs. We didn’t see any but had three fabulous dives with Green turtles.

Day Five with Maud: After diving El Habili, Luke, Maud and I enjoyed two dives at Marsa Mubarak. And my fantasy came true - on the third dive we lost Maud. Luke and I made a token gesture of going to the surface as if we cared. She was not there. I tried hard to remember what kit she had. She had not brought a laptop to Egypt and really she was wearing the only possessions worth having. Still a dive computer would be worth salvaging. So Luke and I split up to increase our chances of finding what was left of Maud. After a brief search, my heart sank. I had found her. She was fine.

Day Six with Maud: Strong winds ruined our last days diving. Initially the Emperor Diver boats were told by the Port Authorities that they were not permitted to leave their berths. When eventually we were allowed to embark, diving was limited to Marsa Mubarak where the underwater visibility was really poor. Luke and I did our best to lose Maud once more but were out of luck.

Once again Luke Atkinson, Eva Kirsch, Tracy Leverett and all of the Emperor Divers staff had made my time in Port Ghalib really special. I was about to depart the northern hemisphere for a life downunder but I would take with me some great memories of my time in Port Ghalib.