Paul's Page

So I had decided to take the last Sunday of our stay here in Dubai off to combine it with my usual day off on Monday so I could have two days off in a row before leaving. I decided that for these two days I would take the Al Boom Dive Shop shuttle on Sunday morning to go to do two to four dives in Fujairah then spend the night in the hotel overnight, do two more dives on Monday and come back with the Dive Shop shuttle on Monday afternoon.

So this morning at 5:30am I awoke and got ready to head to the dive shop. I arrived about 6:45 and by 7:15 we were on the road. We arrived shortly after 9:00am and because we left a little late I was a little rushed to get my gear ready. I was slapping stuff together when the dive shop coordinator came up to me and asked me if I wanted to go to a different site, a wreck called Inchcape 1, to which I asked if there was anything to see and after being assured I said of course. So the first boat left and I continued to get my gear ready to go on a smaller boat to the wreck which was just a short distance away. After the short boat ride, literally 1-2 minutes long, we were moored off to a buoy in about 100 feet of water. As we were gearing up we were looking over the side and noticing the numerous jelly fish that were floating by and I was informed the ones that look like a line of pearls are the ones to worry about because they are the ones that sting. So after checking the see if the water I was about to roll into was mostly clear of the bad jelly fish I rolled in and surfaced to pick up my underwater camera and we were on the way down.

After descending for a while, we’re in 100 feet of water and it takes a while to get that deep, the wreck starts to appear. This wreck wasn’t anything that special, and was actually kind of smallish. It was sunk to become an artificial reef a while back and it was doing its job very well. There were just schools of fish all around it and life encrusted to the boat all over the place. So we started a slow clockwise tour around the boat and I was snapping pictures left and right, some of which came out okay. After a short 19-20 minutes it was time to start heading back up  So we started ascending from 100 feet very slowly and then at about 15 feet we just hung out for about 3-5 minutes while our bodies adjusted from being so deep. At 15 feet is where things started to get a little more exciting. Remember those string of pearl jelly fish I was mentioning? Well they were just flowing on by like we were going the wrong way down a one way street in a busy city center. Thankfully for me the only portion of exposed skin for me was just around my face. I had a full hood on as well as a full length wetsuit, gloves and full booties so I faired very well. The other two people who I was diving with weren’t as covered as I was were suffering a little more. I was just floating there taking pictures while hanging out and of course I finally got stung on my right cheek and below my lips as one floated by unnoticed by me. This actually happened to be my fist jelly sting and I have to admit I didn’t care for it that much. Now mom don’t worry it was not life threatening in any sort of way it just stung and I quickly used my glove to clear it from my face.

After our time at our safety stop we slowly ascended the rest of the way and got out of the water. Annabell who was covered the least was suffering from the most jelly stings so she got the use of the Vinegar first. Vinegar is what kills the stinging cells and helps with the poison that is there. So after she complained a lot about how the vinegar stung just as much as the jelly sting I took the vinegar and put it into my hand and wiped it onto my face. It stung a little of course but less than if the jelly was still there. We settled into taking off our gear as we headed back to shore.

We had beaten the first boat back to the hotel because we didn’t have to go as far and couldn’t stay down as long, because of depth, so I was relaxing changing lenses on my underwater housing when the other boat arrived. After they had rinsed off all of their gear they started to relax and we started chatting. I starting talking to one guy and he, as per usual, asked where I was from. I recognized his accent as being from the US so instead of my usual answer of South Canada I said Chicago. This guy said “no way, where at?” I said “Lisle” he said even louder “NO WAY, where at?” to which I replied Mom and Dad’s address to which he said “I live two blocks from your parents house”. Needless to say we were quite shocked and chatted for a while about what the two of us were doing in such a random remote place. Turns out he works for the military and was over here on holiday and he came for the morning dive with a friend of his. So we chatted for a while and then it was time for me to go on the second dive and he asked for my card and phone number and maybe later he would call and we would get together for dinner or something.

So about 5:30pm or so he called and said he would meet me in the Hotel Lobby about 7:00pm for dinner. We had a nice little meal at one of the restaurants here at the hotel and talked about just anything and everything from home to work or what was the likelihood of us both being here. It was a very nice dinner and talk because we both spoke the same way, fast and muddled for myself at least, and I was able to understand everything he said without any difficulty either. I wish I had met him earlier in the city. In any case after dinner we went and walked around for a bit after getting my camera and we stood in front of the dive shack together for an obligatory picture.

It just goes to show you that no matter how large this world really it, it is still REALLY REALLY small.

Hope you all had a nice weekend, I know I did. New pictures going up soon.