Page 40 of Pomegranates and Olive

It’s a pretty chaotic scene with Deniz helping Sami reel in his catch and the rest of the boat frantically yelling at Betty in the hope that he will reappear. Eventually, Betty pops his head out of the water with a fish in his mouth. "Oh my God! He's caught a fish!"

"Told you he'd be fine."

Betty swims over to the back of the boat and Deniz drags the big lump back on board as the group on the top deck claps and roars their approval. Betty spits out his catch onto the deck, and it gasps for breath before Deniz tosses it in a bucket. "That's one for Sami and one for Betty. You better get your line in if you want to eat."

Following Sami and Betty's success, Maeve and her friend Louise also toss in lines and soon there's four of us hanging off the back of the boat as we cruise along the coastline.

Louise soon catches a fish, and Deniz cuts the engine again to reel it in. Betty immediately throws himself back overboard and reappears yet again with another fish in his mouth. "He's amazing!"

"Two for Betty, one for Sami, one for Louise. What are you doing, Russo?"

I shrug unapologetically. "Told you I couldn't fish."

In the end, Sami caught two fish, Louise and Maeve both caught one, and Betty four. The fact that the dog had caught so many and I hadn't even gotten a nibble wasn't lost on Deniz. "Looks like the kitchen wench will be eating rations today."

We reach our first stop and the boat immediately becomes lively as everyone makes a beeline for the water. A few climb gingerly down the ladder, some jump from the side, but a few brave members of the group climb onto the top deck before diving in.

Louise squeals as her boyfriend jumps and disappears into the water. "Olive? Are you snorkelling with us?"

I shoot a questioning look to Deniz who grins. "You should, because we're going to be too busy to enjoy the water soon enough. I can keep an eye on things in the kitchen."

"Let's jump from the top level!"

Maeve, Louise and I climb up to the deck and stand together, staring out at the horizon. "It's higher than I thought."

"Come on, chook." Maeve grips my hand tightly. "We'll all jump at once."

I catch Deniz watching me out of the corner of my eye. No way I am going to let him think I’m not up to the challenge. Taking a couple of deep breaths, we throw ourselves off the side of the boat. "Geronimo!"

I come up coughing and look back up at Deniz who is leaning against the bulkhead laughing. I poke my tongue out at him before slipping my snorkel into my mouth, blowing hard and diving back underwater.

Then, in an instant, all my worries are forgotten as I immerse myself in the underwater world around me. The water is crystal clear, agreeably warm, and it's as if all the sea creatures I'd ever wanted to see have come out to play.

Almost immediately, I spot a shoal of tiny, black fish and kick my feet, wishing I had grabbed fins. I race to catch up to them. They are way too fast for me and scatter into the long sea grass, swaying in the current. I soon find myself swimming straight alongside another shoal of fish, this time a larger, silver variety. They are also not as happy to see me as I am to see them and they flee, jerking in unison, first one way, then the other, in their frenzy to escape. I decide I might actually be a repeller of fish, as well as men, as yet another group of silver fish scatter when I glide by them.

Giving up on looking for fish I swim closer to the rocky outcrop and make a discovery that thrills me. Nestled between the seagrass and the white sand is a broken amphora. I dive down to take a closer look. Was it tossed overboard after its fruity ale was consumed during the Byzantine era? Or maybe it fell overboard from a Roman longship during an enormous swell as they were on their way to plunder Egypt. Am I the first person to have discovered it? I feel like a treasure hunter who has just made the discovery of a lifetime.

I come up for air and spot Maeve and Louise not far from me. We wave at each other before I take another breath and duck back underwater.

I have a little more success with fish this time, diving deep into a huge shoal of yellow fish. They don’t scatter in terror and instead I find myself swimming alongside them as they go about their daily business. Resurfacing, I take another deep breath and dive back down. This time I catch a glimpse of a hermit crab digging in the seabed and wave at it, startling it back into its shell, then an octopus who seems more interested in dragging a piece of coral along the sea bottom than he is in me.

Finally, I hit pay load!

Out of the corner of my eye I spot a turtle. I'm quite certain he winks at me, so I join him as he glides lazily along the sea floor. We swim together past sea anemones with their can-can skirts, small corals and rocks, a pastel carpet with splashes of bright colour, until finally he winks again and disappears into the blue.

I'm about ready to return to Tora when a grey torpedo shoots past me. And then another.

Dio mio!

I might not know much about fish but I know a bloody barracuda when I see one!

I scream and swallow a mouthful of salt water while trying to backpedal, which would have looked hilarious to anyone watching me, as I turn and swim frantically towards the light.

Breaking through the surface I wheeze and gasp for air in an effort to get the salt water out of my lungs. I wave my arms and kick my legs frantically in an effort to keep myself afloat.

Am I drowning?

No, just panicking.

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