Page 56 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

Exercise MALTESE GHADIS
OCdt Rae
At 0400hrs on a cold wintry morning, mem- bers of Ex MALTESE GHADIS arose from their slumber to set off to Gatwick and fly to Malta for their scuba diving trip. It is at this point that I feel I should introduce the members of our group. First, our exped leader Charles Ander- son (Ando) who organised the AT and was very much the father figure of the group. His 2IC and, when he can stay awake, the mother to Ando’s father role, was Patrick Larkin (Paddy). The rest of the group consisted of Darrel Stephen (Ste- phen) our photographer, Hannah Bishop (Bish), Henry Winstanley (Winners) the risk assessor and the man with all the connections, William Melvin (Melv) the token ginger and myself, Alas- dair Rae, writer of silly articles.
The diving centre we went to was called the Dive Shack and it would be where we would go every day for lessons, kit and briefings. Over the course of the AT, Ando and Paddy, who had pre- vious diving qualifications, worked towards their BSAC Sports Diver qualification while the rest of us worked towards BSAC Ocean Diver and PADI Open Water qualifications.
Over the course of the week, the beginners learnt the basics and were tested on scuba div- ing theory. On top of this, we went out diving every day to learn and practice basic skills and drills such as removing masks, regulator recov- ery and buoyance control. Over time we went from being hesitant and nervous with some of these drills, myself drinking a fair amount of sea water and Melvin attempting to swim into a moving boat, to becoming relatively comfortable carrying out these skills at depths of up to 20 metres. Meanwhile on the Sports Diver Course, Ando and Paddy went into further depth on the
theory of diving and learnt about some of the more managerial aspects of diving such as being a dive manager, first aid skills, and how to create and balance different air mixes for different dives whilst also diving down to deeper depths to explore various wrecks such as the HMS Maori and PX90.
During our time in Malta we got to dive in some amazing places with beautiful blue water and spectacular views, such as diving off Manoel Island and Zurrieq harbour. We also got to see a variety of aquatic life including fire worms, scor- pion fish, sea urchins, an octopus, a stingray, a variety of fish, and a swarm of jellyfish which managed to sting the majority of us.
On the last day we went to the North of the island where we got to dive together as a collective for the first time and took it as an opportunity to have some fun in the water and pose for plenty of photos. Massive thanks to the Dive Shack and our instructors Marcus, Joolz and Jack for organising a fantastic and unforgettable week.
54 SANDHURST