The patrol boat Le Surveillant
 
The patrol boat Le Surveillant

This morning, as usual, Ibrahim and Laïd, our faithful drivers drive us down to the port of Algiers in the 4x4. The main aim of today is to load the material onto the patrol boat belonging to the coastguard.
This large high-speed motorboat will enable us to reach sites detected in the course of our survey.
A car passes by the citadel to pick up the equipment needed for work underwater: Motor-driven pump, dredges, etc. These are loaded on to the vehicle and taken down to the port.


We meet up at the quay of the commercial port where the vessel is moored.
We meet up with the commander and the crew. The ship is called Le Surveillant.
 
Bargainings are on the way
 
Bargainings are on the way
All the equipment is quickly loaded onto the roof behind the footbridge.
A group embarks on the zodiac to call at the Espadon Dive Club to pick up cylinders and other diving equipment. The diving cylinders are stored at the back. The commander of the coast-guard, who came to check the loading of the equipment, tells us that our work is restricted to the Bay of Algiers. We had hoped to include dives in the areas off Cape Matifou and Tipaza!

We are once again faced with a decision/situation that we do not envisage and expect (neither do we understand it). At once, action is taken to obtain a greater scope of work.

After a quick meal eaten on the quay, we go back to Bouzarea.
On the way, we stop at Notre Dame d’Afrique from where one can enjoy a splendid view of Algiers and the sea beyond.

Upon our return to Bouzarea, Martine Sciallano gives a presentation on the ceramics which were traded in the Mediterranean between the 8thcentury BC and the 8th century AD. She also explained the background to the various areas that produced them.