PG Dive Closing

[spectrum]

It seems that to survive one of 3 models or a combination are in play.

1. The shop was capitalized in the Sea-Hunt / Cousteau era or during a boom period such as the big urchin harvesting period.

2. The shop is diversified to other sports or lines of business.

3. The shop has a solid commercial clientele.

Pete

 

[LobstaMan]

the big urchin harvesting period.

I must have missed it. I've never heard of this. Could you elaborate? Thanks.

LobstaMan

 

[spectrum]

I must have missed it. I've never heard of this. Could you elaborate? Thanks.

LobstaMan

Here in Maine at least we had a huge boom in urchin harvesting that drove them to the edge of extinction (maybe a slight exaggeration but depletion has been dramatic). It was prior to my time as a diver but my recollections of news stories and discussions puts this in a period through the 1990s. The harvest continues with a limited season.

Anyhow it was essentially a gold rush with the harvested urchin roe being in high demand in Japan and many people bet the farm diving for the urchins. My OW instructor actually authored state safety standards for this industry. The urchin depletion is attributed to some of the kelp proliferation we see at certain dive sites.

During this period dive shops were filling tanks as 24/7 operations. Harvesters would pay people to stand in line with their tanks to ensure that they got filled for the next day. A number of divers lost their lives in the industry. Most were under trained and under equipped diving long wet and hard when they should have been in drysuits and adhering to better practices. During this period there was lots of activity and many (of the few) dive shops in this area have compressor installations way in excess of current need and are in facilities outfitted during the boom allowing them to operate today with low overhead compared to a start-up operation. Some shop owners have attributed their current existence to this chain of events.

Here are a few links I found:
Despised Sea Urchin Enriches Maine Coast - New York Times

sea urchins

Maine Department of Marine Resources Sea Urchin Info

Pete

 

[Bretagus]

I recently moved away, but man, I can't believe PG is closing! Diving was only half the fun... going and hanging out with Paul, Marc, Mike and Bobby while they filled my tanks (for free, no less) was just as enjoyable. Plus, when I had just moved to the area in '06, I met all of my solid dive buddies through their free DM-guided weekend shore dives. PG was a community more than it was a business, in my mind. In my short time in the dive world, I've never seen anything like their shop.

I don't know... most dive shops I've dealt with I always feel like they're just interested in my money. PG made me feel like they were there to make sure I got the most of my diving. I felt like I gave them my business, as opposed to them robbing me, if that makes sense. I just can't believe they're gone... truly, an unfortunate consequence of the current economy.
-Brett

 

[LobstaMan]

Here in Maine at least we had a huge boom in urchin harvesting that drove them to the edge of extinction (maybe a slight exaggeration but depletion has been dramatic). It was prior to my time as a diver but my recollections of news stories and discussions puts this in a period through the 1990s. The harvest continues with a limited season.

Anyhow it was essentially a gold rush with the harvested urchin roe being in high demand in Japan and many people bet the farm diving for the urchins. My OW instructor actually authored state safety standards for this industry. The urchin depletion is attributed to some of the kelp proliferation we see at certain dive sites.

During this period dive shops were filling tanks as 24/7 operations. Harvesters would pay people to stand in line with their tanks to ensure that they got filled for the next day. A number of divers lost their lives in the industry. Most were under trained and under equipped diving long wet and hard when they should have been in drysuits and adhering to better practices. During this period there was lots of activity and many (of the few) dive shops in this area have compressor installations way in excess of current need and are in facilities outfitted during the boom allowing them to operate today with low overhead compared to a start-up operation. Some shop owners have attributed their current existence to this chain of events.

Here are a few links I found:
Despised Sea Urchin Enriches Maine Coast - New York Times

sea urchins

Maine Department of Marine Resources Sea Urchin Info

Pete

I've lived in MA most of my life and been diving here since '84 and don't recall such a urchin gold rush. Of course, I was in college in RI during the late 80s and early 90s and those years are a bit hazy , so something similar might have happened down here. Thanks for the very informative explanation.

LobstaMan

 

[MSilvia]

It was a Maine thing. When I lived downeast in the early 90's, it was one of the only ways to make a decent buck.

 

[divermatt]

They were really a great dive shop. I liked talking to all of them, and Marc was an excellent teacher. I guess I wasn't the only person who couldn't dive this summer due to bad economic circumstances. Paul and Genevieve were really top notch people, and they did turn their business into a diving community. I wish them the best.

 

[SkiDiver]

What a huge bummer! I'll really miss the shop (and not just b/c I had a gift certificate and store credits still there ). Good prices, fantastic service (with the occasional glitch, like Rainer mentioned, but they backed up their products like no other place I've seen).

I live close by, and it was always so nice to stop by the shop and shoot the breeze, pick up some gear, etc. They certified my son and were going to certify my daughter.

They'll be sorely missed.

 

[large_diver]

That is really sad news....and my condolences to Paul and the rest of the PG team.

I've been living in Europe for the past few years due to a job re-lo and will likely be moving back to greater Boston in the next year or so - coming back to PG Dive was one of the things I was really looking forward to - great people, great atmosphere, a commitment to promoting diving in NE, and reasonable prices. I went on a trip to the Keys with Marc/PG just before moving over here...it was a fantastic time.

Thanks to all at PG for a fantastic 5 years - you made a very positive contribution to the greater Boston diving community and set a great example of what a local dive shop should be.

-Chris