19 Dives - 5 days

---

---

Live aboard, Sharm el Sheik 10 to 16 May 2009

Now welcome aboard the Snapdragon, my home for the next week. It is a 30 metre long vessel with 4 decks, 6 crew and can hold 20 guests. My week it had 5 including me. So lots of space.

At the end I had done another 19 dives, 4 dives a day, bringing my total for the 17 days up to 32 dives. Doubling my amount of dives I had done in the previous 8 years. Man was I stuffed.

The dives included; drift dives, cave dives, night dives, boat dives and wreck dives. The highlight of the diving was the SS Thistlegorm.

The SS Thistlegorm was a supply ship of the British Navy, heading to Tobruk, to assist the 8th Army and the Australian army that was station there in 1941. The ship was awaiting her callsign to proceed up the Suez Canal, when some bloody lucky Nazi bombers returning from a bombing run had a few extra bombs and was flying up the canal and spotted her on October 6.

Two bombs hit the Thistlegorm and unfortunately it was a direct hit on the hold containing the ammunition, from artillery shells to bombs for planes. Witnesses said it was like fireworks, the night sky was ablaze. Due to the warm nights a lot of the crew had been sleeping on the deck when it was bombed, 9 Sailors lost their lives.

The ship was also carrying motorbikes, Wellington boots, rifles, trucks and trains. One poor bloke on a nearby ship was frozen by the sight of two locomotives being shot into the air by the force of the explosion. They now sit upright on the sea bed floor.

It is an impressive sight to see and thoroughly recommend it for any one who dives.

The day we finished up we were transfered to a hotel and where enjoying lots of beers by the pool before I had to catch my flight. It was a great week.

---