New RI Dive Boat

[Dave Sutton]

Greetings fellow divers,

I'm very pleased to announce that EXPLORER, a 42 foot Grand Banks trawler, is now resting at her homeport in Wakefield RI, at Stone Cove Marina at the head of the Salt Pond, just behind Java Madness (home of the best oatmeal cookies in RI). Some of you might remember an earlier post I wrote a few months about this boat, and now she's a reality.

EXPLORER is fully outfitted as an expedition trawler, and is suitable for anything from one day charters to week-long expeditions. Two private cabins, two private heads, hot water showers, good food, plenty of space, and superb service are only a few of the things that we will be offering. Tech diver and rebreather friendly, and also run by a dedicated freediving spearfisherman so she'll be available for multi-day spearfishing trips as well as SCUBA trips ranging from student to deep water tec diving. We have a great shark cage and will be running shark trips as soon as the water warms up.

I'll be running the boat myself, using experience gained working aboard various diving boats (including SEEKER, when she was based in NJ) since 1974. In addition, I have two other Captains who will be sharing duties with me, bringing over 60 man-years of maritime and diving experience to the boat.

I'll be aboard this weekend, and invite anyone interested in a tour to visit aboard this Sunday. Just call me and arrange a time so I'm not off someplace getting "one more widget from West Marine" when you arrive. Next Sunday, June 18th, I'll be running a crew training day. I am interviewing prospective crew now, and encourage anyone interested in working aboard to talk to me about crewing. You don't need to be super-diver or super-bosun' to be crew, you do need to have the right ego-free and safety-first attitude and I'll teach you the rest.

That's it for now, please call or email and I'll be very pleased indeed to answer any questions.

Respectfully,


Dave Sutton, Master
Trawler EXPLORER
Cell (908) 752-1853

 

[RIOceanographer]

Good luck to you Captain!

Seems to have been a rough few days for the charter operators around here so this news is a welcome change of pace!

 

[Dave Sutton]

Yes, I've read with interest about the other two boats being withdrawn from service. A charter dive boat in this area is a hard thing to keep afloat from a purely financial standpoint due to short season, expensive docking, and trips being cancelled due to the typical RI weather. On the good side, EXPLORER is my home, in addition to being available for charter, so until I become homeless we ought to not be boat-less... ;-)

Hope to see a few (or many) of ya'll aboard Sunday for tours, open house for all hands. Come and visit!

Dave Sutton, Master
Trawler EXPLORER
(908) 752-1853 (cell)

 

[Rick2]

Congratulations Dave,

I know you've been putting a lot of time & resources into this venture, I wish you all the best. Now that we have you back from N.M. and over half way here from N.J., we'll have to work on getting you up to Ma. and visit with our club. By now I'm sure there are more than a few members thinking I have lost my mind and am talking about a ficticous captain and new live aboard.
I look forward to visiting you and the boat soon but know this week end is out for me.
I'll send you a e-mail and we can kick around some ideas on getting you up here.
Clear Sailing, Rick

 

[Dave Sutton]

Thanks. I'll be aboard all of the following weekend as well as that following Mon and Tues as well (4 days starting June 17-20), so come on down.

Right now it looks like we'll be running an open boat on Monday July 3rd and Tuesday July 4th so if anyone wants to sign up let me know. Probably hit something like the U-Boat/Black Point combination for starters, WX allowing. Remember we only carry 6 divers so don't be shy about signing up early!


Dave Sutton