dahab

november 98 -

stayed at the helnan hotel - its a little way from all the other main hotels like the novotel or the new hilton - the benefit is that the wind is cleaner and less gusty - you don't have to beat back upwind to get home

a disappointing week as far as wind was concerned - one really good day (smaller than 5.0m and short boards) and 2 days planing with 5.7 - 6.5s on the flow 284 (its a nice board for me tho') slight chop close to the shore - more so further out - then into some rolling swells as you venture quite a long way out - i would imagine these could get quite exciting if the wind blows

the redeeming fact was that the snorkelling along the beach is stunning.... i used to think that it was good at safaga but here you've got a reef right in front of the hotel that extends along the beach to the right - its like swimming in an aquarium - the corals are colourful and the variety of fish is amazing - big unicorn fish - friendly angels - the dramatic lion fish and big schools that you can swim through

the club mistral centre has a reasonable selection of boards including the flow 266, 276 and 284 and the new score as well which you can try ( + the screamer concept range, a couple of malibus and some learner boards) - jurgen and lionel are helpful and do their best to make the wind blow! - - the complete range of naish sails is there as well

hotel is fairly typical of the egyptian middle to up-market, foods good and the rooms are clean and tidy, all the staff are friendly and helpful - don't go there if you want a hectic nightlife tho!

january 2000 -

took advantage of ClubSportif's special offer and stayed at the Hilton

Nice hotel - Club Mistral on the beach and Yann, thomas and kirstine looked after us really well - first time i've used north sails - the style and volcano seemed good to me

planing 5 days out of 7 - can't complain!! - good range of boards including the latest visions for those days with a little less wind (that mast track does seem a long way back to me - i'm just not good enough!)

great to see steve again (see karpathos diary) he's now running the centre at the helnan!

winds offshore / side offshore here - makes for really flat water inside and just outside the lagoon - if the wind drops a little it can be a struggle to get back to club mistral without a walk! but the flat water makes for morale-boosting gybing!