Aquaventure Scuba Club, Bristol. "sinking to new levels of professionalism"

Gozo 2005

Well it had nine long months since our last Team event in Gozo, and the annual week of Diving & debauchery was upon us once more as we assembled in the main departures area of Bristol International. Myself and Dawesy made our way into the airport and were instantly greeted by an already growing crowd from Aquaventures. After about five minutes, Mr & Mrs Ballagher wander into view, the grins break out all round and after a very brief check-in, the assembled riff raff made their way to the natural habitat of the Bar.

Everyone was in fine form and many were recounting the fun had by all last year, conversation and the beer started to flow, well it was just past half five ( AM!) and nothing ,it seemed could dampen our moods. Half an hour later the departure screen information suddenly changed and we were all staring down the barrels of a FIVE HOUR DELAY, well that would be about time for a drink then. The new plane arrived, no idea what happened to the original, it was 'technical' apparently, good enough for me. We got on, the new plane took off, flew in the right direction for nearly 3 hours then landed in Malta, bargain! So onto our mini-bus, across on the ferry, no problems with the ships door this time. We looked around for our Jeeps and were greeted by the happy smiling face of Gail (G.A.S), we had arrived.

After a quick drive to Gozo Aqua Sports we collected our Jeeps and made our way across the island to our new accommodation 'Ta Pinu Village'. Credit where its due, Mr Ballagher excelled himself this year, we walked into the courtyard to find a crescent type formation of sandstone villas, all with their own courtyard facing onto the communal swimming pool ( Or giant kit washer as I liked to call it). Stone floors, ceiling fans, clean bathroom, basic kitchen..luxury for the British Diver.

First dive as always was the bay, a weight check later and off we went. The next morning we set off for the usual sites, and by the third day we were getting up to do the awesome 'middle finger', the previous evening myself and Mr Dawes had taken a late evening excursion to Gozo's higher ground so as to enjoy the panoramic views of the island, in doing so I used quite a lot of fuel. Anyway, the week was Gozo's usual offering of great diving, superb company, good food and fabulous weather

Anyway, we left the flat early so as to collect Bruce before attempting the drive down to the site, I had been looking forward to this one as it's a superb drive and you get to rant the life out of the jeeps ,as the route out of the site is near vertical in places, I digress, so, I was driving into Zebugg to collect bruce the following morning, he had just climbed into the jeep and we'd set off to dive, we managed to get ooh..at least half a mile, before my faithful Maruti Gypsy (budget Maltese suzuki), coughed, spluttered (all the while I could hear the lima's clinking into the fine pot as it mounted), and then finally died, leaving Bruce, Dawesy and myself stranded on route to the dive site, in the scorching heat, 4 miles from anywhere of any use.

SO., yes I had used a lot of fuel the previous evening. Yes, I should have checked my petrol situation. Yes it was a Sunday, yes nearly every bloody thing on the island was closed, yes I had nothing to put the fuel in, should I even find anywhere selling it, and finally YES, I fully accept the accolade I received at the end of week award ceremony because of it.

A humble thank you goes out to a Mr Allen for being our rescuers. After a walk up the hill to the nearest gas station, a very pleasant local lady informed me with a smile that the station was shut today, bargain, it's getting better by the minute. Back to the smegging jeep then. As luck would have it, at that precise moment another Jeep came flying up the road (driven by some grinning maniac in an oversized cowboy hat), and I had just enough time to signal to it as the faces of Mr Allen, Mr Pressey and Mr Mosley flew past flicking the v's out of the back as they disappeared into the distance.

Thank you so much boys, bastards.. Nope,take that back, they were only joking they're coming back.'give us a lift to the gas station then andy'. We finally found a petrol station that was open, went to fill my bottles up (didn't have a billy can, so Evian bottles instead..Mmmmm nice and safe then?) For f!!ks sake! the bastard nozzle won't fit the bottles. Ace. Never mind andy, just drop us at the dive shop and I'll sort it that way. You lot go on and do your dive, I'll catch you all later. So, I return to G.A.S, now where is my wallet? A good look around.nah must be in the jeep, bollocks that's at least 2 miles away. Gail is an absolute sweetheart and lends me her truck, so I shoot back over to jeep.no wallet anywhere.can my day get any better? Back to flat.get more sterling..back to shop.change it..back to jeep..get billy can...get petrol...find and fill jeep.give Gail back her truck, it's now 12.00pm and I've not even been narked yet today, time to get to water quickly.

Justifiably so, I was awarded the 'TOUR KNOB HEAD' diploma for that particular excursion. The weather was flawless, the water was a very agreeable 25 degrees with it reaching 18 degrees at around sphincter twitching depth (NB: The absolute maximum for recreational diving is 40M!). In short, and as I've said about last years trip, I cannot fault Gozo (besides petrol station opening hours) give Bruce a bell and get yourselves on the next one.you'll love it.

See you next year. Ben (Tour Knob Head) Reynolds

Addendum...............unfortunately Ben has lived up to his award, again. Despite having the dates for the 2006 dates some 6-7 months in advance he has somehow muddled up the diary and hence is not able to attend this event. Methinks the fear of yet another year going 'bottleless' has led to a fear of joining the gang. Fortunately 24 other souls still have what it takes! Watch this space for the June 2006 trip.
(Authors prerogative!)