Just Another Day at the Beach

Well here is another dive day. This Saturday we figured we would head down to a little place called King’s Beach in Newport RI. We figured we would head here for some Spearfishing action since this is the spot where the U.S. Championship Freediving Spearfishing Tournament is going to be held. I mean how could you lose at a spot where the Championships are held right?

Well here is how. First what you need to do is wait until the perfect hurricane forms off the Florida coast, then wait till it kicks up a notch or 2, then head down to your favorite spot and watch visibility drop from 0 feet to a negative number. I know it seems impossible, but trust me, been in New England all my life, good visibility here is a myth. Yea yea, we sometimes get 10 – 15 feet and once in 2 years now I seen visibility hit 20 – 30 feet. Was the best dive I ever had too, but on average, you’re lucky if visibility hits 5 – 10 feet on good days. Some dive spots are notorious around here for poor visibility in the summer months, like Fort Wetherill, King’s beach, our coastline in general.

You see, a lot of people don’t realize a few things about Rhode Island (not an Island, it’s just its Name) for instance that here, we get the Gulf Stream just about touching our shore line. This means that yes we have warmer water then the two states next door on average, but it also means we have less visibility. You see, when a hurricane or tropical storm forms on the Atlantic Ocean, the gulfstream is always in its wake. This kicks up debris in the water and that fast moving, warm current, Gulf Stream pushes all the debris right into our shoreline. So if we even hear of a storm of any type “forming” in the ocean, we know we’re in for a tough time.

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