“Dive Against Debris” Drive and Dive with Scuba Shack

After a pretty tough summer for local diving conditions, September has been nothing but spectacular – and this past weekend was no exception. In recognition of PADI’s annual AWARE week, our crew from Scuba Shack traveled down to Jamestown, RI, for a fun day of diving and debris cleanup while taking in the natural beauty available right here along New England’s shores.

As usual, our crew and fellow divers were onsite early to get set up and ready to go. We did two dives over the course of the morning, with groups taking turns navigating both the East and West coves. Fortune favored us with the wind once again, and a breezy north/northeast wind tamped down any wave action. Water temperatures had indeed begun to drop (hitting at about the mid-60s) but certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable. Finally, and most importantly, our visibility was pretty good with 8-10 ft. visibility in a number of places – though that did drop a bit as the depth increased and the day wore on.

For most of our crew, the dive one was also their first time diving at Fort Wetherell, and many took the opportunity to get acquainted with the area and the bountiful sea life that turned up for us once again. For my part, Isaac (a fellow Dive Master and my buddy for the day) and I focused on collecting a lot of discarded fishing line in the East cove. For dive two, our larger group was ready to get into the clean-up work in earnest – and the hunt was on! In some relief, there wasn’t a sizable amount of debris to collect – a sign, perhaps, of the consistent efforts taken by divers at the site to keep places like Fort Wetherell clean. That’s not to say there wasn’t trash to remove, however, and Deb and her group surprised us all when they emerged from the water with a flat-screen TV! Needless to say, Deb – along with her dive buddies, David and Rob – took home the day’s prize for debris recovered.

Once again, I want to thank our divers who came out to spend the day with us. Many thanks to Rodrigo, Cliff, Dave, and Rob for making the journey so early on Sunday to enjoy some really great diving. Finally, many thanks to the team – Monty and Nancy, both owners of Scuba Shack; Deb, our underwater naturalist extraordinaire; and Steve and Isaac, my fellow Dive Masters, for helping to make this 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