Otherphil and I made it to Dahab on Saturday night and a driver from our hotel met us at Sharm El Sheik. A friendly chap by the name of Ossama with a wife and a son many miles away in the Suez! Ossama's unorthodox brake, accelerator, brake, accelerator, brake technique of driving got us, by some miracle of swerving, to our hotel in one piece.
How can I sum up Dahab for you? Well, if you don't like windsurfing and you don't like diving, I'd caution strongly against coming. It's a dessicated, sand-blasted, sun-wizzened strip of building sites, plastic rubbish and feral goats caught between the desert and the sea.
For windsurfing though, it has so far hit the spot! First day was good, second day was OK in the morning, but dropped off completely in the afternoon (allowing my weedy, office-arms a much needed rest). The forecast for today was lousy, so Otherphil and I had been contemplating a spot of snorkelling. As with many forecasts, it proved to be worthless! We awoke to a blasting hurricane!
We've been out on 5.7 and 6.2 sails and both been a tad overpowered. Notwithstanding, I've had a great morning and improved my carving technique significantly just this morning. Gotta rest now though. The tips of my fingers are worn through to blood and Otherphil has two sizeable holes in the palms of his hands.
More later...
