Here we are guys, the trip report to Malta. I flew out from Glasgow with Air Malta on Thursday, 20th March. The flight was almost 2 hours late in taking off, which gave me another hour in the VIP lounge with a couple of bottles of red... The drawback was I didn’t have any way of contacting my dive buddy, Eric to let him know about the delay. However, we eventually took off and 3½ hours later we touched down in Malta to a thunderstorm. After greeting Eric, we made our way to the hire car and then to the hotel. After checking in, we had a couple of beers in the foyer to unwind and Eric updated me on weather and diving before we retired to our rooms.
Good Friday was cloudy and cool, and we went to Strand to collect tanks and weights. I take my full gear including drysuit, as I know my own equipment and feel happier with it. We went to dive Għar Lapsi, as there was a bit of a swell elsewhere on the island. We got to 21.9m for 52 minutes, and it felt good to be back in the water. My drysuit leaked – we later worked out the inflation valve had been knocked by the weight belt over the years, causing the valve to become loose in the seating (it’s on my hip as I still dive with an ABLJ) so I made a mental note to have it dealt with once back in the UK. The water temperature was 17˚C which was rather nice. After dekitting, we returned to Strand, rinsed the kit, then returned to the hotel for a shower followed by a pint before dinner then we headed to the Good Friday parade at Mosta. Another obligatory pint before we went to our rooms.
Saturday 22nd there was a swell. It was a little rough, and we collected tanks, weights and gear from Strand before heading to Církewwa to dive the Rozi and P29. Církewwa is one of my favourite dive sites, and the water was 17˚C again, but the weather was a bit colder and it was cloudy. We got to 31.4m for 49 minutes, did the Rozi first, and came across cuttlefish. We finished off with the P29 before using the last of the air on the reef. The fish follow the divers about, hoping for a sea urchin to be broken open. A bit of a bugger getting out at the entry/exit point, but nothing drastic. After dropping off tanks, weights and gear at Strand we had a shower, dinner and then ensconced ourselves in the pub for a couple of pints.
Easter Sunday we got to Strand sharpish as they are only open for 1 hour on Sundays. We headed to Zurrieq (another of my favourite sites) to do the Faroud in the swell. We kitted up and Eric said he would get in first, and if he sank then to follow him as his weights would obviously be OK. He put on the top piece of his wetsuit, hence the weight situation. He got in, and I pulled on one fin, and as I was pulling on the second one, the strap snapped. The air turned blue with my swearing – I let rip for a good 3 minutes. When I stopped I noticed a woman standing nearby with her hands across her child’s ears - my language was powerful. Meanwhile Eric surfaced to see what the problem was and I waved the fin and broken strap at him. “Oh dear” was his comment. My reply to that is unprintable. I suggested he did a solo rather than both of us miss out as the weather wasn’t improving, so he asked for another weight. After miserably and enviously watching him sink, I took the kit back to the car and then sat by the water sulking while waiting for Eric to return. The dive was OK from his accounts, and once he dropped down he said there wasn’t any swell. We had to take ALL the gear to the hotel room, which was rinsed and stuck on our respective balconies to dry before showering and heading out to have pastizzi and a pint before dinner.
Monday 24th was stormy – no diving. We headed to the market and I got some pressies bought, as well as a case of beer and a box of wine for my hotel room before being forced to retreat to the pub before dinner.
Tuesday 25th was much the same, so I got the last of the presents and souvenirs bought, had a couple of pastizzi followed by a couple of hours in the pub. I was sincerely hoping to get back into the water the next day, as I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms.
Wednesday 26th we returned to Zurrieq and I got in the water! I was so thrilled, I kitted up like a mad frog, rushed down the hill and leapt in. This was to be a mistake. The original weight belt I had hired from Strand had a plastic buckle and a pin sheared off, making it unusable, so I had swapped it for one with a metal buckle. One of the weights was a bit close to the buckle, which meant it didn’t quite close 100%. We finned across to the Faroud, and the wreck had moved considerably the last time I dived it. The plaque was still visible which I was pleased about, dedicated to those who lost their lives on that day. Does anyone know which year? I forget – I know it was February 3rd. I am always wary of wreck penetration, as I am not overly keen on enclosed spaces. However in this part of the Faroud there was huge entry and exits and was very light, thus nowhere I could get caught/trapped so I warily followed Eric in. Just as I was thinking of leaving the wreck, I heard a loud ‘CLUNK’. My weight belt dropped off – at 28.5m inside the wreck and any diver who has been in that situation will know exactly how that feels.
“Whoops a daisy” I thought – or something like it. I could see Eric’s torch about 3m away so I managed to steady myself against the ceiling of the room. I only rose about 0.5m, took a deep breath, removed the demand valve and screamed Eric’s name as loud as I could before pressing the purge button and replacing the valve. He turned and came back – I don’t know if he heard me, or if it was simply coincidence and found me pointing frantically at the floor. I didn’t want to loose sight of him, so turned to follow him. He put both hands up to get me to stay still and calm down. ‘Calm down – calm down!! It’s OK for you, you’re wearing a fecking weight belt!’ I thought. I felt him putting it back on, and I tried to stay as still as I could. He later said the most difficult part was to get it under my tank. He held both ends with one hand at my tummy, then tapped me on the hip. I could feel myself going to the floor of the room, so I grabbed both ends saying a quick prayer of thanks to whoever was watching over me that day. I threaded it through and snapped the buckle back, then Eric indicated he wanted me to go upright again. I later learnt he’d almost tied it onto me – on dekitting at the car I couldn’t take it off myself.
We left the Faroud and headed to the reef, where we continued the dive, with me a very wary and not too happy frog. I spent the rest of the dive with a very firm grip on said weight belt. In the bay near the slip (I prefer to exit at the slip) Eric put both hands up to indicate me to stop in roughly 5m depth. He wears a weight belt retainer and he undid the belt and allowed it to drop. As it is therefore fastened to him, it didn’t affect his buoyancy, and he didn’t loose it. He floated mid-water before calmly putting it back on. We got out, headed to the car, dekitted and Eric immediately made me a weight belt retainer. Martin from Paradise Divers was there with divers, and when he asked how the dive went, I immediately shed a few tears on his shoulder. I wasn’t hurt, just got a fright, and after rinsing and leaving the kit at Strand, I found a few pints and pastizzi made me feel a bit better.
Thursday 27th was stormy and the diving that was possible was a bit harum scarum for me, especially after the day before, so we did some sightseeing instead before unfortunately being forced to retreat to the pub. I was dragged into the pub kicking and screaming...
Friday 28th we dived Zonquor Point. A bit of a hike over the rocks, and got to 21m with my new weight belt retainer on and clipped to my ABLJ. There was absolutely sod all to see courtesy of the storms yesterday, so I sacked it after 28minutes. Eric however carried on, while I took the kit to the car then waited for him to surface. We left the kit at Strand as usual, before heading for pastizzi and the pub.
Saturday 29th we went back to Zurrieq to do the Faroud again getting to 28.6m for 51 minutes. I particularly wanted to go back, and I was again wearing my new retainer that Eric had made for me. We happened to go through the area where I lost the weight belt, and also saw the engine. Eric went down and sat on the rockers, although I declined to go as I previously explained, I am not keen on enclosed spaces even though it was perfectly light and quite clear down there. I stayed up and watched before we headed off the wreck to the reef. Once back in the bay, we found an octopus. About a foot long, and it didn’t seem to be scared of us. It didn’t squirt ink and at one point seemed to be quite happy to be gently held and looked at us. It was probably thinking ‘they’ll get fed up in a minute and leave me alone’, before it got free. We let it go and it squirted itself into a small hole and we left it alone. It was a burnt orange colour – anyone know what type of octopus? We surfaced to blue sky and warm sun – a pleasure to get changed in and we were a bit disappointed that it hadn’t been like that for the whole holiday. However, I can do many things but controlling the weather isn’t one of them.
Sunday 30th I was a bit miserable as I was going home the next day, so I got the final presents and items I wanted to buy out there before going for a final pint or three and pastizzi before dinner. I packed that night ready for the morning – up at 04:00hrs local time as the flight was at 07:00hrs local time. I was not happy at all at having to go home, and shed a few tears at the airport as I said goodbye to Eric, and shed a few more at take off. I am going back in November for 2½ weeks, and that trip has been fully booked and paid for since end of January.
