This one was a blast. It has been a long time since we had an exceptional trip. In fact I had no other headline to represent this post. It was the usual planing & preparation for a new taste of spear fishing. On that one it was Master & Commander, Usual scooter & myself. A perfect capacity for a successful bash. As we got closer to the zero hour, we managed to simplify our planning burdens. Checking the gear, planning the course, logistics etc.
We hit the road one night before & spent a marvelous evening exchanging our thoughts & remembering the previous trips over a good dinner & a couple of coffees. Spending the night peacefully by the sea was an experience of its own. Master & Commander displayed his new super gun design & it was just magnificent. The new mechanism & accuracy in calculating all parameters made this new gun a true powerful & silent masterpiece.
I was impressed by the finishing although it was just a prototype. The slick curves that made the power bands neatly aligned with the barrel where just amazing. Master & Commander has put allot of effort, time & money to reach this stage. You will be able to see the new Niletech in this post pictures. All of us where so excited to test it in the original conditions. Trying to explore this new canon in its environment.
The weather on the next morning "the trip day" was absolutely fantastic. The winds blowing west at a steady speed of 6knts, sky is clear & temperature was just perfect. We packed & jumped into the car for an easy drive between the mountains in search for "Gate 68".
After a short drive we reached our destination & started to unload our gear into the boat with the usual morning chat with the captain & his crew. Once we were done with the paper work, we set course to the lovely south rocking smoothly through the azure. We intended to explore the area & left it all to the captain & his long experience in the field. He decided to test us on the first dive since it was the first time we use his services. Usually Captains who do that are quite intelligent. They must know how experienced we are & how far can we go against the sea conditions.
Our first test dive was a 10m to 15m depth rocky area. A bit of current was noticed but it was just fine since we are all used to it. The water temperature was between 16 & 17 C & amazingly the visibility was about 8m. We chased some decent sized fish around the area & started the testing to Masters new canon. It was truly an experience. This one was completely different than the others. The durability, balance & maneuverability of the new Niletech was hard to miss. The alignment of the power bands gave an extreme margin of accuracy with a hard to notice recoil effect. Loading, reloading & handling at ease was managed with the new accessories placed on the barrel from butt to muzzle. A great one made by Master & 100% mastered in Egypt.
As we sailed through the day, we managed to score some decent sized fish. In this time of the year with the water still cold, it's quite difficult to have such catch. All the fishes usually go to warmer places during this time of the year. The usual scooter & in other words Master of the Caves, managed to land some good emperors & a decent grouper on our second dive which ranged from 9 to 12m. That was not bad at all.
Our captain showed great enthusiasm & he was insisting that this trip would be a lucrative one. He said to us: guys; I’ll take you to a spot & you must make it up for this trip. I'll shut down my GPS & will sail to it by instinct. And why is that ? asked Master. That's because no one in Gate 68 have its coordinates; not even myself; the Captain said.
It was a good 2 hours sailing course until we reached this unbelievable spot. What to say; words can merely explain the scenery down there. Massive formations on 3 different shelves starting at 10m & down to 20m. We have entered the colorful spectrum of the aquatic world. When we dived, we didn't just hunt fish, we were transcending within this dimension. Blue streams, colorful scenes & a world of graphically designed corals. The place was so untapped, we can see that from the life breathing down there.
We spent the most of our trip time diving & surfacing in this spot. We couldn't get enough from the energy all around us. We managed to land a good catch of groupers from this spot & we have longed to see any passing by visitors of the pelagic blue however; it is still cold. Cave hunting was the ideal scenario. When our time was almost up & we have to sail back, we boarded the boat & started heading back to our unloading spot. The sun was perfect & we had a wonderful time on the upper deck. Enjoying our conversations, tanning, resting & nibbling on some treats. After 2 hours we were back & unloaded our gear, catch & farewell the Captain & his wonderful crew.
Heading back home with such visions in our heads made us capitalize on this experience. Neither Master, Usual scooter nor myself will be able to wipe such view from our heads for some time. Team Mazameer has a new charged battery now & will be always hungry to explore similar places like Gate 68. It's just a matter of time & we will be back on our next trip. See, the thing is, our country has unconditional breathtaking places to be at. This was only one of them, & the action is still yet to come.
