 |
| Nautilus |
OK so we didn't have any Mistletoe (not a lot of this to be found in the Sinai desert), but we did have plenty of wine. In fact... the wine flowed like water!
Last night Tornado Fleet hosted a spectacular Christmas Party aboard their latest vessel Nautilus. A rather splendid catamaran, Nautilus has been designed especially to host snorkel trips, parties, weddings and on top of all that, her twin hulls have been fitted with large glass windows, converting her into a huge glass-bottomed boat, enabling people to sit and admire the reefs during their trip.
Organisers Carrol and Moira, had invited a whole selection of guests to the Tornado party, and early evening, everyone began to filter into the international port at Travco Marina. Our first Christmas party of the year, it was good to dress up for a change, with the usual "shoes off!" boat rules overlooked on this ship, we could even wear our stilettos!
Moira gave us a quick tour, taking in the sundeck, captain's cabin coffee bar, and the fabulous restaurant already set for dinner, on the lower deck. Our biggest boat Seagull's saloon could have fitted in there four times over. The whole ship is furnished with varnished wood in traditional boat style, and even the outside decks of smooth, hardwood were built beautifully. Of course it wasn't long before I found myself right down below decks, in the viewing gallery, admiring the aquatic life found even whilst we sat at the jetty. Bizarrely, as we were dry, and because of the crystal clear visibility, the fish appeared to be floating in mid air. I am not sure if this is just a diver sensation, as I am so used to being immersed with the fish or what, but it was a very strange feeling. Lights shone out into the water, enabling us to see, and at the same time attracting all sorts of sea life. We spotted a couple of hunting cornet fish (I swear they were working as a team), a young porcupine fish looking most worried indeed (no need to fret, as it was the biggest thing in the water at that time), a peppered moray eel snaked past on the edge of the light, and millions of teeny tiny silver sides, plankton and strange long squiggly things hung around in the shallows like snow in the beam of the underwater lamps. It was really quite fantastic. However we were really hoping that the infamous resident tiger shark would give us a little swim by to really make our evening. Never mind eh.
I found my fellow T2 team with hubbie and Monty, settled in by the bar on the top deck, shortly before the captain (dressed in full captain's whites) took to the wheel and led us out of the jetty. Being such a large boat, her movement was so minimal, we barely felt ourselves travelling. The destination was not exactly far, we were heading for Ras Peter, just around the corner. There we would have a spectacular view of the stars above, with the shadows of Ras Mohammed on one side, and the lights of Hadaba and Old Sharm shimmering on the other. The other bonus was that this area is particularly sheltered from any breezes should the wind decide to rain on our parade.
Disco Dave was fully togged up as Santa, and throwing his tunes on the deck. He has a real knack of being able to judge what keeps everyone dancing, and tonight he was on top form, keeping the dance floor lively with a mixture of Christmas, Cheese, Latino and Dance tunes.
It wasn't long before dinner was served, and we were invited to go downstairs to eat. A huge turkey sat in the middle of the buffet, where three courses of food had been laid out like a banquet. It was delicious. With pumpkin soup to start, I then moved on to turkey, vegetables, beef, and chicken, although I did forgo the cakes, as by this time I was well and truly stuffed like a turkey myself.
Meanwhile the dancing had really fired up, and Maria Moto was upstairs strutting her stuff, introducing everyone to a spot of Salsa. I am no salsa dancer by any stretch of the imagination, but I love latin music and it wasn't long before hubbie and I were tripping the light fantastic, with my poor feet getting a good battering in my high shoes as I threw myself into my own version of salsa. It felt great! I haven't danced properly for some time, so to really dance for a change, was great fun. Although I did manage to refrain from any leg kicking or throwing myself into backbends... just in case I snapped! Haha!
It was lovely to catch up with people too, there were many who I hadn't seen for some time, so to say "Hi" and have a quick chat with them once again was great. Many familiar faces were to be seen throughout the evening, some more high profile than others... apparently the guest list was a "who's who" of Sharm el Sheikh, so we really felt quite privileged to be invited.
At just about the right time (before Bob got the chance to jump in and swim home!), the skipper re-appeared at the helm, and we began a leisurely ferry round to Travco, with the captain dancing as he drove.
Once on the jetty, whilst the hardcore continued their party for a little while, those of us who had to work, or had just about worn ourselves out, tottered off the boat, due to our high shoes, excessive dancing, a little too much wine... or just a mixture of all three.
What a splendid night, and fantastic start to our Christmas. A huge thank you to Moira and Carrol for the organising such a great affair, and for the invitation. Happy Days indeed.
And of course, for the first time this year... Happy Christmas to one and all.
Become a DiveBunnie and sign up for our free newsletter here!
Tweet
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment