BOAT BRIEFINGS

One of the first things that usually happens when you start your diving holiday is your guide gives you a boat briefing. Yeah, yeah, we know, you’ve heard it all before the last time you were here but for those who haven’t had the pleasure yet and for those who have had so many many boat briefings that they literally sleep through the latest version, we thought we’d go through a standard boat briefing.   i) Your boat’s name. Thankfully people are rarely left in the water at the end of their dives or snorkeling experience but it can, and sometimes does, happen. When another friendly boat comes over and plucks you from the water, you need to be able to tell them the name of your boat so they can then radio her and arrange for you to be transferred back to her. Telling them “it was a white boat with divers on” just won’t work. Your boat has a name, and you should know what it is.   ii) Wet & Dry Areas. Usually the saloon and sun-deck are off limits to wet objects, including people. You should always remove your suit and towel yourself off before going in either areas. You should also refrain from standing on the stairs to the sun-deck when wet (even if you’re asking someone to throw you your towel); water makes the steps slippery and slippery steps are a risk to everyones well being. While mentioning the stairs to the sun-deck, it is advisable that you face the stairs going up AND down. If your facing away from the stairs and slip you will land on your back   iii) WCs. All the boats around Sharm have one or two WCs, or “marine toilets”. By this we mean they empty directly in to the ocean. Any paperwork you produce should be placed in the bins placed next to the toilets, and not the toilets themselves. Nobody wants to be swimming in used toilet paper or old sanitary towels, and the reefs certainly look better without such things littering them. Another reason, boat plumbing is small and easily blocked (and it could be the ship’s chef who is tasked with unblocking the toilet). Only organic matter that has passed through your body should go in the porcelain bowel. If you feel the need to spew, please do this over the side of the boat as chunky carrot blocks pipes as easily as paper.   iv) The dive deck. Space is at a premium on a dive boat. You should keep your dive crate under the deck benches as often as possible. Don’t litter the deck with all your equipment, it can easily cause someone to trip over, and is a great way to have your equipment broken. Between dives, you should keep your weights and mask in your box.   v) Below decks. The boat crews live on the boats, and the cabins are usually where they sleep at night. They are not for guests, or guides, to grab 40 winks during surface intervals. You probably wouldn’t be happy finding strangers in your bedrooms (Mmm ...) and neither are the crews.   vi) The Galley. The galley is nautical parlance for “kitchen” and, unless you are told otherwise, is off-limits.   vii) First Aid & Oxygen. All boats are required to carry a First Aid kit and oxygen however, for some reason, this seems to be the responsibility of the dive centers. Your guide should tell you where the First Aid kit is stowed as well as the oxygen unit. In the first aid kit you’ll find an emergency assistance plan that you should follow in the event of an emergency. Most dive guides do not demonstrate how to use an oxygen unit but if you ask, they will be more than happy to show you after the briefing.   viii) Dive Log and Enriched Air Log sheets. All guests are required to log their dives with the center on a day-by-day basis. Each center has their own variation on what details are required, but the basics usually include max depth, dive time, air in and air out. Your guide will show you where these log sheets are, and hope that they don’t have to chase everybody at the end of the day to get their details.   ix) Cylinders. Cylinders usually have either tape or plastic plugs over or in their valves. This tells everyone that the cylinder is full. Once you finish your dive, even if you have 100 bar left in your cylinder, you should not replace the tape or stopper else the staff who fill the cylinders at night will believe they are full and you’ll have half empty cylinders on the boat the next day.   x) Finally, Rubbish. The only thing you should throw in the water is yourselves (or the guide, or crew members, or your friends). Please do not throw any waste in the water, nor cigarette butts, or your lunch (unless you’re hurling). The boats have waste bins for waste, ash trays for cigarette butts, and the fish have their own food sources.