Wooden Boat Festival ~2014~

Saturday was the wooden boat festival in Toms River and as in the past the dive team was requested to come and set up our display and our touch tank. This is always a good time, we get to talk and show hundreds of kids and their parents just what is out there under the water.

   The day starts out at 0530 in the morning!  We have to do a dive to get the things we have in the touch tank. Sometimes we catch the tide and have an easy time getting everything, but this time it was low tide brown water and the tide still running out with a three to four knot current running. With OJ, big Joe, Ali and I in the water and Sue on the beach getting water and taking the specimens and keeping the ones that were the right size. We need to get fifty gallons of water to take with us so we can change the water a few times a throughout the day.

  Then we have to get back to the building clean up and load the dive truck with all the stuff we’ll need.  Like tables, chairs all the displays and the water and the specimens. Then get to Toms River Huddy Park and get all set up all by 0900.

  We almost made it! We got the tents up and the touch tank filled and most of the displays set up, but people started coming in before 0900 and it didn’t stop all day. We never got a break. There were people at the displays or the touch tank all day!

   The festival was supposed to be over at 5:00 P.M. but we still had people at the touch tank at 5:30. We have never turned kids away so we stayed until the last ones said thank you and walked away. It was a fast break down and load out! We did stop for coffee on the way home and that coffee never tasted so good!

   It is hard work and a long day, but it’s something we love to do!

.