c/commercial-divers

Had a coffee with a retired salvage diver who said something that stuck with me

We were talking about a tricky job I did last month, pulling cable under a bridge in the Ohio River. I was complaining about the current and how I just powered through it. He looked at me and said, 'Kid, you're not a tugboat. Sometimes the best move is to let the water do the work for you.' He explained how he'd use the current to swing him into position on big jobs, saving air and energy. It hit different coming from a guy with 30 years in. Made me rethink my whole 'fight everything' approach. Anyone else have a trick for working with the current instead of against it?

Just passed my 500th hour on the bottom in Lake Michigan

Last month I was on a job near Milwaukee, fixing a water intake line. The current was rough, maybe 2 knots. My supervisor, Dave, told me to just take my time and work with it, not against it. Ended up getting the flange seated right on the first try. Anyone else find that some days you just click with the conditions?

A big change in the water clarity at the old shipyard site

I was working on a hull cleaning job at the Portland shipyard last month, and the visibility was maybe 3 feet. I went back to the same spot yesterday, and I could see 15 feet clear. The difference happened in about four weeks. They finally fixed a broken storm drain pipe that was dumping silt right into the work area. Has anyone else seen a site improve that fast after they fixed a runoff problem?

Found a perfectly good dive knife in a Port of Seattle crab trap

Pulling a routine hull inspection last week and my light caught something shiny in a derelict crab pot. It was a Spyderco dive knife, still sharp, just sitting there in the muck. The funniest part was the little rubber band still wrapped around the handle, like someone lost it mid-task. Anyone ever recovered decent gear from the weirdest spots?

Appreciation post: That one salvage job where the water was so clear we could see the wreck from the surface

We pulled a 12-ton crane section off the bottom of Lake Michigan last Thursday, and working in that visibility with zero current felt like cheating after years of fighting murk and surge.

Had to pick between a new helmet light or fixing my drysuit leak before a job in Seattle

Last week I had a job inspecting a pier up in Seattle and my gear was giving me grief. My main helmet light was flickering, and my drysuit had a slow leak at the wrist seal. I could only afford to fix one before the dive. I went with the new light, figuring I could just tape the seal. Big mistake. The water was so murky the light didn't help much, and my arm got soaked and freezing after about 20 minutes. Anyone else ever make a bad gear choice that seemed right at the time?

Question about a sudden silt-out in a harbor inspection

I was doing a hull inspection on a tugboat in the Port of Mobile last month, visibility was about 10 feet. My umbilical got snagged on a submerged piling and when I pulled it free, it kicked up a huge silt cloud. I couldn't see my gauges or my hand in front of my face. I immediately stopped moving, grabbed my umbilical to feel the direction of the pull from the tender, and signaled for a slow, steady lift. They brought me up about 15 feet and we waited a full five minutes for the cloud to clear before I went back down. What's your go-to move when you lose all visibility like that?

Overheard a dockhand in Norfolk talking about skipping a pre-dive comms check

He said his team was rushing a job and figured their gear had been fine the day before, so they just went down. That's a hard no from me, because a failed mic or a dead battery 100 feet down isn't a minor issue. How do you guys enforce a proper check when the client or your own crew is pushing for speed?

Can we talk about those cheap dive knives from the online marketplaces?

Bought a $40 'tactical' knife for a simple harbor job in Tampa. The blade snapped clean off trying to cut a piece of old rope, and I had to surface early. What do you guys actually trust for a work knife?

My new dive light flooded on the first job and almost left me in the dark

I dropped about $400 on a fancy 2000 lumen canister light for a night inspection job in Seattle last month. On the second dive, the main head seal gave out at 60 feet, and the beam cut to a dim flicker. I had to finish the survey using my backup, which was not bright enough for the murky water. Has anyone else had a major gear failure with a light they just bought?

Took me a year to figure out my comms cord routing was a total hazard

Honestly, I was working a job on the Columbia River last month, and my tender kept having to give my umbilical a hard tug to get me slack. Another diver on the crew, Mike, finally pulled me aside after the shift and showed me how I'd been running my comms cord over my shoulder instead of under my arm. He said it was pinching the line every time I turned my head. Has anyone else had a simple rigging mistake that took way too long to spot?

Remember when a good dive knife was just a sharp hunk of steel?

Honestly, I dropped about $350 on one of those new titanium knives with the fancy quick-release sheath a few years back. Ngl, the thing snapped clean off at the tang when I was just prying some old growth off a piling in Galveston. Anyone else find the old simple tools just held up better?

Bought a $3000 heated vest for winter diving and it was a total waste

Everyone on my crew swore by them, but mine failed after two dives in Lake Michigan. The battery pack flooded and the whole thing just became dead weight. What's a better way to stay warm on long cold water jobs?

PSA: I used to think a standard lift bag was fine for everything until a job on the Columbia River last month.

We were moving a big piece of steel and the current caught it, showing me why a proper deployment bag with a long line is key. Anyone else run into that on a fast-moving river job?

Just logged my 500th hour on the bottom rig in Lake Michigan and it hit me different

Update: Got my first solo inspection job done in the Gulf last week

I keep seeing guys rush through their pre-dive checks on the boat, especially the comms test. They just do a quick 'can you hear me' and call it good. On my job off Pensacola, I spent a full 5 minutes testing every channel and running through the full emergency call list with topside. Sure enough, my main channel had a weird crackle that cleared up after we switched. That extra time saved me from a potential blackout situation 90 feet down when I needed to call for a tool adjustment. It's such a simple thing, but skipping it can turn a small problem into a big one real fast. How do you guys run your comms checks to make sure they're actually solid?

Had a primary light housing crack at 90 feet during a bridge inspection

It was a sudden pressure failure on a cold morning dive in Portland. Anyone have a go-to brand for a tough, reliable backup light?

Vent: Bought a cheap dive light for a murky river job in Memphis

Found a "heavy duty" light online for $75, figured it was a good deal for a two day job. The thing flooded at 30 feet on the first dive, total junk. Had to rent a proper light from the local shop for $50 a day, so I lost $125 total. Should have just used my old reliable one or rented from the start. Anyone have a go-to brand for low vis work that won't break the bank?

Overheard a deckhand in Galveston tell a new guy that the best way to find a dropped wrench is to 'just follow the bubbles'...

I had to explain that a wrench doesn't actually bubble as it sinks, and now I'm wondering what other hilariously bad advice greenhorns get handed down on the docks.

Had a client in Tampa argue that a 30-minute bottom time on a 150-foot inspection was 'plenty'.

We were on the Pensacola wreck last month and my dive partner insisted on a full hour for the same depth. Which approach actually gets the job done right without pushing limits?

A deckhand in Galveston once told me 'the water doesn't care about your schedule' after I rushed a gear check.

He was right, I missed a frayed spot on my umbilical and had to surface. Anyone else have a simple moment that changed how you prep?

Pro tip: The 30-foot rule for silt is a myth that gets people hurt

I keep hearing guys say you can just 'power through' a silt cloud if you're above 30 feet. That's how a buddy in the Gulf lost his tender line last year and had to make an emergency ascent. The real problem is zero visibility messes with your buoyancy and spatial sense, not just the depth. Has anyone else had a close call because they trusted that old saying?

My backup light flooded at 90 feet on a bridge inspection job in Tampa last Tuesday.

Saw something wild on a bridge inspection dive in Tampa Bay

We were doing a routine check on the Gandy Bridge last Tuesday, about 30 feet down. I'm cleaning off a support piling and my light catches this huge, perfect circle of mussels, like someone drew it with a compass. It was about three feet across, right at the mud line. Never seen growth pattern that neat before. You guys ever run into something underwater that made you stop and just stare?

Lost a whole day's pay on a 'fast set' underwater epoxy that wasn't

Had a job last month patching a small hull plate on a workboat in Seattle. The supplier talked up this new 'rapid cure' epoxy, said it would set in 30 minutes even in 50-degree water. I was on a tight schedule, so I paid the extra $85 for the kit. Got down there, mixed it, applied it, and waited. An hour later, the stuff was still like soup. The tide started to shift and I had to abort the whole dive. Not only did I waste the material cost, but I lost the full day's pay for that job, about $1200. The client wasn't happy about the delay either. Turns out the 'fast' claim was for lab conditions, not real cold saltwater. Has anyone else been burned by a product that just didn't perform like the specs said it would underwater?