Tragedy & Serenity in the Red Sea

"Don't the large predators, like sharks, come out to feed at dusk and darkness?"
Good question, and one I was asked when planning on going on a boat night dive in the Red Sea.
In addition the skipper has a fear of jumping into black water at night, imaging all sorts of stuff that may be lurking and waiting. This trip in some ways was like a reality program where I consciously went out to face my fears. Maybe I was loosing my marbles, nothing new to my wife the Admiral, who decided to turn down this trip? Yes there are dangerous sharks in the Red Sea, a reputation it earned from mariners over the years.
Jumping into black water at night miles from shore? Yes I had to do a night dive before, 12 years ago as one of the requirements to obtain my PADI Advanced Open Water diving licence, but it was a dive from the shore, not into "black water" off a boat miles out to sea!

We were to leave the marina about four pm to head off into the Red Sea for about ten miles. This is usually the time that we are returning from our usual day dive trips. And of course it was hot, and humid, being just over 40 degrees C.

Waiting for the other divers to arrive (we arrived early) - very hot with the sunshine & humidity - wanting to get going to enjoy a sea breeze generated by the boat's motion.
My dive buddy (Des Williams, an Irishman) and I had already set up our dive gear............ now waiting.

However when we did get underway we experienced a rough passage heading into the waves generated by the afternoon sea breeze, and of course the building rolling waves - lots of spray, which in my mind was welcoming, particularly as the water was warm, but refreshing.

 The windows, as viewed from the inside of the cabin, also took a beating.

Our first dive, while still light, was to a shipwreck - from a mariner's point of view a tragedy, a steel ship hitting a coral reef. Unfortunately this part of the Red Sea has many maritme disasters due to the many coral reefs, many of them not properly charted. Fortunately our skipper knew the waters well, and did have a GPS for the reefs that were charted.
From a diver's point of view wrecks are always interesting sites to explore.

    And of course yours truly, as taken by my dive buddy.

After this wreck dive we are to head off to another reef to have dinner on board, while waiting out our "surface interval" (decompression time), and for the sun to set.

This poor soul preparing our dinner cannot eat or drink, despite the heat, until the sun goes down - it is now Ramadan, the Islamic Holy Month, where a muslim cannot eat or drink between sunrise and sunset, for a month.

After we eat we "chill" and wait, for the sun to go down, so we could jump into the "black water". Fortunately the breeze had abated and the waves settled.

Unfortunately my underwater camera did not have a flash attachment, so it was not possible to do justice to the night dive. This image (below) is deceptive, as although it was dark when we submerged, being a full moon there was actually enough light to see some detail, but no colors.

So what did I feel when eventually it was my turn to jump into the "black water"? What are our preconceived images that haunt our conscious and unconscious minds, and how does the actual event transpire when it does take place?
No, there were no sinister creatures from the depths, at least not this time.
The experience was in fact very serene, and surreal.
The moonlight could be seen to some degree penetrating to the depths (we went down to about 50 feet). When our lights were turned off, and our buoyancy adjusted to just "hang" over the vista, the forms and bubbles could be seen, and we just drifted in a surreal world. Very peaceful.
But would I ever skydive ........ No, there are limits!

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