Labor Day Weekend Drive and Dive
It is said that fortune favors the bold – but also the prepared – and boy, were we favored this weekend. Despite lingering concerns about the weather, a large group of divers from Scuba Shack CT traveled down to Fort Wetherell State Park this past Sunday for what was an excellent dive-and-dine experience with two dives, good food and great company!
First, let’s talk about the weather. While the forecasts painted a questionable picture for the day, the conditions could not have ended up being much better! Visibility was excellent (by New England standards) with 10-12 feet or so of visibility, minimal wave action, and a dive site rich with life. Though the water temperature was still cool at about 70 degrees or so, I personally couldn’t have asked for better conditions (even the cloud cover and occasional rain shower were welcome in limiting sun exposure and giving our gear a little free fresh-water rinse after).
For the diving itself, our team at Scuba Shack was thrilled to welcome (or welcome back) David, Wesley, Melissa, Marta, Nicki, Caileigh and Connor, many of whom have traveled with us in recent years and all of whom were awesome in the water. Everyone had a chance to see some great stuff, including some sizable starfish neatly tucked into the rocks and fish aplenty swimming about. Unfortunately, we also found not but a few things that did not belong in the water – and hats off to everyone who took the time to remove some of those objects. My thanks go especially to Melissa and Nicki, my dive buddies for the day, who were awesome in helping remove two decently sized sheets of fiberglass found at about 20 feet down and out a way on the right wall. That was an adventure for sure!
The day would not have been successful, however, if our team did not have the support of one of our most talented Assistant Instructors, Deb Dauphinais. Deb and her husband Steve, owners of Bicycles East in Glastonbury, are avid divers and regular visitors to Rhode Island. No one knows Fort Wetherell’s coves and aquatic life like Deb, and she graciously shared her knowledge with students and staff alike during Sunday’s dives. For anyone who wants to learn all about the vast diversity of life to be found diving along New England shores, I strongly encourage you to connect with Deb through our shop.
Finally, many thanks to the team – Monty and Nancy, both owners of Scuba Shack; George, one of the Instructors at Scuba Shack; and Deb and Steve Dauphinais, Assistant Instructor and Dive Master, respectively – for helping to make the Dive and Dine possible!
If you’d like to join our team on future dive opportunities, be they local or further afield, please reach out to us! We’re planning at least a few more dive opportunities this year locally and we’re already looking at filling the calendar next year. You’ll find information on our website at https://scubashackct.com/ - but always feel free to stop in or give the shop a call.
Until the next dive…!
Regards,
Tom Allen
PADI Dive Master
