{"id":17096,"date":"2023-03-20T16:32:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T15:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/divinginelba.youelba.com\/2023\/03\/20\/20-anni-di-storia\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T11:36:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:36:49","slug":"20-years-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/20-years-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"20 years of history"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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It was 2004 when my business partner at the time, Roberto, said to me: \u201cGo down to the harbor, a guy is arriving for a trial weekend. We need to talk to him to sort out this season.\u201d
I grabbed our van \u2014 a bottle-green Ford Tourneo with plenty of mechanical issues \u2014 but we were just getting started, expenses were high, so we had to make do.<\/p>

I called this guy to explain where we would meet, and he replied on the phone: \u201cDon\u2019t worry, you\u2019ll recognize me right away. I\u2019m a big, big guy wearing a leather jacket.\u201d
That was my very first contact with Fabione.<\/p>

We met and I noticed he was limping. He explained that he had fallen off his motorbike and had just had his cast removed\u2026 Now, after all these years, I\u2019m pretty sure he took it off himself at home with a hammer and chisel! \ud83d\ude02<\/p>

The very next day Fabione was already on the boat, fully operational, and on our way back he asked if he could take the helm. I didn\u2019t see any problem and let him do it. I knew he owned a boat for clam fishing, but ours \u2014 called Giulia Andrea<\/em> \u2014 was a small gozzo with an underpowered engine and rudder, which made it very tricky to handle during maneuvers. As we approached the dock, I stepped forward to take back control, but Fabione said, \u201cWhy? Can\u2019t I do it?!\u201d \ud83d\ude31<\/p>

I hesitated\u2026 but then agreed, with a bit of anxiety.
Result: perfect maneuver!
Obviously hired immediately \u2014 and that\u2019s where the story of Diving in Elba with Riccardo and Fabio truly began. \ud83d\ude01<\/p>

We were young and carefree, enthusiastic about our work but also eager to have fun \u2014 both on and off the job. We were a great group: Alessandro \u201cil Corcella\u201d and Claudia, Lisa (who would later become Fabione\u2019s wife), Sandro before he emigrated to Switzerland, Manuel who showed up on weekends and whenever there was a party, Mariolone who left his stuff scattered everywhere, Ale \u201cTigna,\u201d my inseparable friend who spent his holidays on Elba just to help us at the diving center, and then there was Giacomo Baldi \u2014 Fabio\u2019s \u201ccompare\u201d \u2014 with whom he shared a relationship made of affection mixed with \u201cI could strangle him,\u201d earning them the nicknames Shrek and Donkey (from the Disney movie Shrek<\/em>). Even today, almost twenty years later, Giacomo \u2014 now owner of Enfola Diving \u2014 is still known by everyone as \u201cDonkey.\u201d<\/p>

Fede \u201cMakako\u201d wasn\u2019t with us yet, but I was already pestering him to come work with us \u2014 and shortly after, he arrived\u2026 never to leave again! The other partner was Valeria, who had just arrived fresh from Milan with very little sea experience. So everything was new, and above all, we were sharing an incredible adventure with the goal of bringing Diving in Elba back to being a successful dive center, after having purchased it in poor condition from the previous owner.<\/p>

In the years that followed, many things changed \u2014 we could say everything changed. The partners from back then went on to different lives, the staff changed, the old boats are no longer there, replaced by the ultra-modern RIBs King, Bruto, and Rocco. A new center was opened in Biodola, and instead of the old Ford, we now have two super vans and the \u201clittle Porter,\u201d which no one can quite explain how Fabione ever managed to fit into!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s why today I have a lump in my throat as I say goodbye to Fabio, who, together with me, has sweated and fought to bring Diving in Elba to where it is today.\n\nThank you, Fabio \u2014 it has been a wonderful journey together. You have been like a brother to me, and you always will be. Now you can enjoy diving in a more relaxed way\u2026 let\u2019s say, as a client! I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll often see you at Diving in Elba for a great staff dive or simply to stop by and say hello.\n\nNow it\u2019s time to look to the future, to invest in young energy to further strengthen and develop our business. For this reason, I am proud to welcome Juri and Sergio. They have been part of the diving center\u2019s life for years, and now they officially join the company with great enthusiasm and the desire to make diving their profession in every sense.\n\nWe are coming from difficult years \u2014 COVID, war, and more \u2014 which have changed the world and increased the operating costs of running a business. I can only praise my two new partners for the leap of faith they have taken, and I am certain it will be a winning one!\n\nIn just a few weeks, we will begin a new and wonderful season, full of exciting new developments and, above all, renewed enthusiasm.\n\nI thank all our clients who, over the years, have remained loyal to us and continue to choose us as their reference dive center. I thank our staff \u2014 it would be impossible to name everyone who has helped make Diving in Elba great over these 20 years!\n\nOnce again, a heartfelt farewell and best wishes to Fabione for his new life. As for me, I\u2019ll be right here, waiting for you.\n\nYour devoted Ricky<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 anni di storia del nostro diving center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,158],"tags":[228],"class_list":["post-17096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diving","category-elba-island","tag-diving-in-elba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17096"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17534,"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17096\/revisions\/17534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.divinginelba.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}