STONINGTON, Connecticut (2 July 2005) -- It was supposed to be a tune-up dive, a quick dip in the frigid waters near Gates Island to test new gear and make sure old equipment was functioning properly, but one moment of chaos has created a daily ritual of grieving. On June 20, Sandra Palmer Dagata, 43, disappeared while scuba diving with her partner near Ram Island in Fishers Island Sound. Ski season had ended. Tom Schattauer and Dagata, his "soul mate," were beginning to indulge in their other passion, scuba diving. Dagata started scuba diving shortly after she met Schattauer seven years ago while they were both working at Millstone Nuclear Power Station. The two made an instant connection, Schattauer said. Schattauer, who was the only witness to Dagata's disappearance, told his story about what happened June 20 in a recent interview in front of the log cabin they shared in Preston, with Dagata's one-eyed boxer, Rocky, sitting at his feet. "It's my passion, and it turned into her passion," he said of diving. He has been diving in Long Island Sound for 22 years. Together, they explored waters around the world, often with her family and sometimes diving to depths of more than 100 feet to search wrecks. Dagata, 43, became obsessed with the hobby after Schattauer took her spear fishing and she was able to cook the blackfish she spent the day hunting. She became certified as an advanced open-water diver. Even misfortunes turned into opportunities for them to get into the water. They were both laid off in May. Dagata lost her job monitoring radiation. Schattauer lost his job as a pipe fitter. They took it as a way to get their lives in order before the summer. They cleaned the house, and Dagata covered with flowers the small piece of property buried in the woods just off Route 164. She hung wind chimes around the two large porches. They prepared Shamus, their 26-foot Pilot Cove pleasure boat, for summer trips, taking it on a couple of short jaunts up the Thames River to ensure there were no problems. Their first dive of the year was June 20. They contemplated three nearby locations before settling on Gates Island, a shallow, rocky outcrop known for its abundant marine life and strong currents. It was a place they frequented, Schattauer said. The sky was clear and the air warm enough for bathing suits when they left the dock in New London at 10:30 a.m. for the 30-minute trip to the island, about 100 yards off the tip of Enders Island in Mystic. It took them 15 minutes to put on their equipment. Dagata was testing a new 7.5mm wetsuit. Schattauer was wearing a dry suit he had used only four times before. The suit had new seals and a new hood attached to it. A wetsuit is made of neoprene and uses heat generated by the body to warm a layer of water sealed between the suit and the skin. A dry suit is completely sealed, preventing water from touching the skin. Both are buoyant, requiring users to wear weight belts to stay submerged. The water was 13 feet deep when they dove. The visibility was limited to less than 10 feet. Schattauer was tethered to the boat by a cord to prevent him from getting lost. Dagata was at his side, not tethered. | | "My soul mate was out there for nine days. I sat out there and felt her cold." Tom Schattauer Problems arose almost immediately, he said. Schattauer's mask was filling with water. He was not carrying enough weight, causing buoyancy problems. His fin was slipping off. "Without a fin, you're useless in the water," he said. He tapped Dagata's shoulder for help. She helped with his fin and went back to playing with the clams and hermit crabs on the rocks. After 10 minutes, Schattauer said, he decided to surface rather than risk more problems. He signaled to Dagata, and they both grabbed the anchor line attached to the rear of the boat, holding on tight to combat the currents. As he approached the surface, Schattauer's fin came off. The ladder was directly in front of him. He had the rope in his right hand and his fin in his left. "I know those waters. They're not forgiving," he said. "My hands were full. I dropped the fin. They cost, what, $100. It was replaceable." He climbed the ladder. Dagata went after the fin, he said. He screamed, "No," to discourage her, he said, but it was too late. She was thrashing as the wind and current dragged her away from the boat. Her regulator, the mouthpiece that provides air to a diver, was out of her mouth, spitting air into the water. She started to sink. Schattauer radioed the Coast Guard and shot off a flair. He said the zipper on his dry suit was jammed. Without the fin on, he could not swim below the surface. He did not think about jumping in after her. "That never crossed my mind," he said. "They would have been looking for both of us." He screamed at her one last time, "Dump your weight," but she was fighting the current in apparent panic and could not hear him, he said. She sank below the surface, a trail of bubbles trickling to the top as she plunged. He tried to follow her in the boat, but "By the time I got the anchor up, there were no more bubbles," Schattauer said. He sat on the boat for five hours while more than 40 divers searched for Dagata. He has returned to Enders Island, a religious retreat center connected by a causeway to Masons Island, every day since. It's a ritual he plans to continue even though his partner's body was found Wednesday several miles from where she disappeared. "My soul mate was out there for nine days," he said. "I sat out there and felt her cold." SOURCE - The Day |
