In 1971 Bahrain was the major Sea Port for the Gulf
Its Mina Sulman was a six berth Port able to handle ocean going ships
Cargoes came into Mina Sulman then shipped by dhow to other Gulf Ports
Dubai was its rival but lacked a deep water Port
Mine Sulman Bahrain
Port Rashid's opening meant end of Mina Sulman as Gulf's major Port.
Two things happened in 2001 in Dubai.
1. A close Colleague decided to retire and return to his home country.
2. I bought my first digital camera - a Nikon Coolpix
Ed was a native of Colombus, Ohio, USA. He served as Commercial Director for Port Authority of Jebel Ali and subsequently Dubai Ports Authority for 16 years.
In 2001, Ed decided to retire and return to his home in Sedona, Arizona.
Dubai was THE place to buy gold, HiFi equipment, electronics of all kinds, fake handbags and cameras!
More importantly you could buy the latest and greatest at reasonable prices.
When digital cameras first appeared on Dubai's shelves in 1999, I had to have one.
I bought a Nikon Coolpix from the Grandstores. The camera could do wonderful things if you knew how. For the less skilled, Nikon Coolpix had a "point and Shoot" capability that was ahead of its time.
Our Invitation arrived and simply stated my wife and I were to be at Mina Seyahi next Thursday to arrive promptly at 5pm.
Everyone's Invitation said the same, including the Invitation sent to the Guest of Honour!
On the following Thursday we drove to Mina Seyahi to arrive promptly at 5pm
I decided to take my new digital camera "just in case"!
We drove to Mina Seyahi, parked the car then walked to join a line of guests being "loaded" onto a fleet of small launches.
While it was obvious we were going to be taken somewhere, where that "somewhere" was nobody knew.
When it came to our turn, my wife and I were guided on to a small motor launch along with half a dozen other guests. Once seated on board, the launch moved away from the jetty and sailed out of Mina Seyahi.
We were now in the open sea and sailing away from the shore. Light was starting to fail. Soon the light disappeared and we wqere making our way out to sea in darkness.
We seemed to have been in the launch for hours before we saw lights in the distance.
As we drew closer to the lights, we glimpsed the outline of a rocky outcrop. Soon we were close to this rocky outcrop then the launch was alongside a makeshift landing jetty.
Once safely alongside, guests were helped off the launch and then guided up a well lit gravel path. That path led Guests to a large flat area.
The area had been transformed into what could best be described as a hotel function room without a roof!
There was a functioning Bar, another area laid out as a restaurant complete with tables, table clothes, cutlery etc. Area was lit by decorative lights suspended from a network of cables hung from poles.
Guests first gathered in the open space and served drinks and canapes before moving to the tables where they were served dinner.
It was explained this rocky outcrop was the first part of Palm Island to rise above sea level.
After dinner, guests could retire to a seating area that was set out "Arab Style" with carpets and cushions.
It was soon time to make our way down the path to the waiting launches and our way back to shore.
Back at sea, we could see the Dubai skyline lit up. I pointed my camera and pressed the shutter button as I had done all evening.
Back home, we talked about the incredible effort that had gone into this unique evening, in particular the logistics of getting food to the venue as well as the furniture and equipment let alone the staff to run the function.
There was no publicity - no Press Photographers attending and no Notices from the Marketing Department. The event was private intended only to give Ed Butler a memorable send off.
I downloaded images from the Nikon onto my PC - not an easy task back then. I wasn't sure what I'd do with the images. No Facebook back then or easy means to put them onto the WWW. Printing was difficult as Photo Studios did not have facilities to print digital images.
Problem was unfortunately resolved a few days later - my PC crashed.
Technician was called but the news was not good. Data could not be recovered. My photos of that remarkable evening were lost.