Beauty From the Boat

Underwater wasn't the only place of beauty. The harsh, desert mountains surrounded the brilliant blue waters of the Red Sea. I could have sat for hours just looking at the sea and land that surrounded us. At one point, we could look out and see the tip of the Sinai peninsula, and at another time, we could look over to Saudi Arabia. The desert mountains looked so remote, it was hard to imagine what type of people lived there, what their culture was like, and how they lived out their days.

The boat had a lower deck with rooms and bathrooms, but other than using those rooms to change and to store our stuff, we were rarely there. The main deck with the dining/lounging room and the upper deck to stretch out and relax were the most popular hang out areas. At night, we dragged our mats and blankets and slept on the upper deck under the stars. The rocking ship and the water slapping the decks below lulled us quickly to sleep which was a blessing because the sun rose between 5-5:30a. The lightening sky teased our eyelids open, and we sat up to see the water surrounding the boat and the sun beginning to peak out from behind the mountains. It was breathtaking.

There were ten of us on the trip: Matt and Ann Maria Yocum, Alex and Navah, Victoria Rubio (Gunny wasn't able to make it because of an inspection at the Marine house that weekend), and four others from the American Embassy. Since Alex was there on vacation, Romel was our scuba instructor who planned and led the dives. This was the first trip that Alex and Navah enjoyed together since they started their family five years earlier. They had met as diving instructor and student and were looking forward to spending the weekend diving together again.