Dave's DOG Blog

Saturday

Talk about getting started with a bang! We had an amazing number of volunteers and test divers first thing in the morning. Plenty of experienced dive leaders hit the water faster than we could get divers fitted. Lauren took charge of the beach, suited for action in a 30/30 Tropical drysuit. Under a noon day sun, with the occasional trip into the water to ballast and trim new Test Divers, there were many surprised comments like, “Wow, you CAN stay cool in that, and be comfortably warm in the water!”

The day was absolutely perfect for diving, and the parking lot was full of classes and experienced divers. Diver’s Alert Network and Subsalve stayed busy answering questions all day long. Yup, divers love to check out the new “toys” like O2 kits, and huge liftbags when they’re not dreading the 2nd or 3rd dive
in a cold wetsuit.

The catered dinner showed up just in time to feed our hungry crew. The presentation was a lot of fun. Even without Joe (Optiquatics) there to heckle Faith, the crowd got into the spirit quickly and made for a great time. Clearly we have to come up with some tougher Diversitea Trivia questions. Airborne tea samples and sport bottles were flying overhead as DOGs and Test Divers shouted out answers. Just for the record, a new drink was officially named at the Haigh DOG Rally…half lemonade and half iced tea is called an “Arnold Palmer”…however, mixing half a glass of Diversitea and half lemonade is now officially called an “Alan Rogers” in honor of our Executive Chef, and DOG Truck Driver.

Erik and Faith threw down the gauntlet at the hotel with a dart game challenge. Just for the record, those first 12 wins were a total fluke; Christine and I were playing injured; the sun was in my eyes; the winds were against us; and the referee was blind! Martha and Alan totally sharked us, scoring strangely very high for people who’ve never played darts before. Hmmmm.