c/commercial-divers

Appreciation post: The old salvage yard in Mobile Bay taught me more about rope than any class

I was working a job pulling up old pilings in Mobile Bay last month. We had a 3 inch braided nylon line snap on us during a lift, and the whole thing just went slack... it was a real eye-opener. The old guy running the yard swore by manila for that kind of work, said it gives you more warning before it goes. But our company policy says we have to use the newer synthetic stuff. It got me thinking about old school methods versus new safety rules. What's your take on traditional gear versus the modern spec?

Got called out for a salvage job on the Columbia River last Tuesday and it went sideways fast.

We were pulling up an old logging cable near Kalama, and my comms cut out just as the current picked up. Had to go by hand signals from my tender, Mike, for like 20 minutes while we secured the load. Anyone ever have their umbilical get pinched in a winch? What's your backup plan when the comms go dead mid-job?

My old boss told me to always double-check the lift bag rigging, and a job in the Gulf last month proved him right.

We were pulling a piece of steel off a rig in about 90 feet of water, and I had the lift bags set up the way I always did. Right before we started, I remembered what he said and went over every shackle and strap again. Found a pin on a main shackle that was only finger-tight, not moused at all. If we'd lifted with that, it would have popped under load for sure. Has anyone else caught a simple rigging mistake that could have turned real bad?

A salvage job in Lake Michigan where the old-timer told me 'the water never forgets'

We were pulling up a sunken crane part off Chicago last fall, visibility was maybe two feet. This guy, must have been sixty, was running the comms from topside. After I surfaced, he pointed at a fresh scratch on my helmet and said, 'That's from the wreck's teeth. The water never forgets what goes down, and it'll try to keep a piece of you too.' He meant every mark tells a story about what you brushed against down there. Has anyone else had a mentor hit you with a line that just stuck?

Got a weird echo on the comms during a bridge inspection in Tampa last Tuesday

We were checking pilings under the Howard Frankland, about 40 feet down, when my buddy's voice started coming through with this hollow, delayed sound. Turned out his mask mic had a tiny crack letting in water, and the sound was bouncing around inside his helmet before hitting the transmitter. Has anyone else run into a comms issue that sounded like a bad sci-fi movie effect?

Just had my primary comms go dead at 80 feet on a bridge inspection job

It was a brand new OTS Guardian unit that just stopped sending audio about an hour into the dive yesterday. I had to switch to my backup comms and finish the job, but it threw off my whole rhythm. Has anyone else had issues with new gear failing right out of the box like that?

Bought a cheap secondhand drysuit off a guy in Seattle, leaked like a sieve on the first harbor job. Cost me $800 and a day's pay.

Just read that the average offshore saturation diver works a 28-day shift

Found it in a 2022 industry report from the Association of Diving Contractors. Does anyone actually LIKE being down there that long, or is it just for the money?

A salvage diver in Mobile Bay showed me how to rig a lift with just two straps

We were pulling a small crane off a barge that sank in about 30 feet of water. I was about to hook up four points, but this old guy, Pete, stopped me. He said, 'Kid, you're overthinking it. Run one strap under the front axle and one under the back, choke them to the main hook, and it'll balance itself.' We tried it his way and the lift was perfectly level coming up. Anyone else have a simple rigging trick that saved a job?

Shoutout to the old timer who told me to use a zip tie on my umbilical

I mean, everyone says you need those fancy stainless steel hose clamps for the hot water line, right? I was on a job in the Gulf last month and my last clamp snapped at 90 feet. This retired diver on the boat just handed me a heavy duty zip tie and said 'trust me'. I thought he was nuts, but it held for the whole three hour dive. Maybe it's just me, but I keep a few in my kit now. Has anyone else tried this or am I just getting lucky?

Can we talk about the way some guys treat their drysuit zippers? I saw a diver on a Lake Michigan job last week just yank his shut with no lube.

We were on the barge gearing up for a hull inspection, and this new guy from the other crew just slammed his zipper closed. I could hear it grind from ten feet away. He said he 'never has time' for the silicone spray. But a stuck zipper 90 feet down in 40 degree water isn't a small problem, it's a dive-ender or worse. I keep a small bottle of McNett Zip Tech in my save-a-dive kit, and it takes two seconds. What's your go-to zipper care routine? I'm always looking for a better product.

TIL a zip tie trick for my comms cable that actually works

I kept getting my comms cable snagged on sharp edges inside a wreck off Key West, and my old boss said to zip tie a small pool noodle chunk around the cable at the helmet connection. Tried it last week and it saved me from two potential snags. What's your go-to trick for keeping umbilical lines clear?

Vent: My primary light gave out at 90 feet on a bridge piling job

I was working on a bridge piling inspection in Mobile last Tuesday, about 90 feet down. I had just started my second sweep when my primary light, a Light Monkey 21W LED, just went black. No flicker, no dimming, just gone. I always thought carrying a backup light was extra weight for simple jobs, but being down there in the murk with just my helmet light changed my mind fast. I had to feel my way back to the down line, moving real slow to avoid snags. It added a good 20 minutes to my dive time and messed up the whole schedule. What's a good, tough backup light you all trust that won't break the bank?

Got called out for my umbilical management on a job in Galveston last month. Totally changed my routine.

Had a main lift bag fail on me at 90 feet near the Tacoma Narrows last week

It was a 500 pound capacity bag from a brand I've trusted for years, and the seam just gave out during a salvage prep. Had to switch to the backup plan with the smaller bags, which added a solid three hours to the job in the cold. Anyone else run into this with the newer synthetic materials versus the old rubber ones?

The week a harbor seal stole my sandwich... and my backup sandwich

So last Tuesday in Seattle, I was on a simple hull cleaning job on a 120-foot yacht. I surfaced for my surface interval and had my lunch bag sitting on the dive platform. I turn around for maybe 30 seconds to check my gauges, and I hear this weird slapping noise. This big, fat harbor seal had hauled himself up, unzipped my bag with his nose, and was chowing down on my turkey sub. I yelled, he slid off, no big deal. I had a backup PB&J. Next day, same spot, same seal. This time he waited until I was fully geared up and about to splash. He just pops his head up, looks me right in the mask, and snatches the whole bag off the platform. My tender was laughing so hard he almost fell in. Anyone else had a persistent underwater thief ruin their lunch plans?

Rant: A cold water job in Alaska taught me to double check my heat trace

We were on a salvage job near Ketchikan last October, pulling up some old pilings. My suit heater died about twenty minutes into the first dive, and I had to surface early. Turns out, the heat trace wire on my umbilical had a tiny nick from getting pinched in the dive door a week before. I never noticed it during checks. Now I run my hand down the whole length of the umbilical before every splash, feeling for any bumps or cuts. That extra thirty seconds has saved me twice since. Anyone else have a simple pre-dive check that caught a big problem?

Just hit 500 hours on my new Kirby Morgan Superlite 17 and the difference is wild

I logged my 500th hour on this helmet last week during a hull cleaning job in Tampa Bay. I remember the first 10 hours were a real fight, getting used to the weight and the new field of view. But now, it feels like a part of me down there. The comms are crystal clear, and I can work for a full 8-hour shift without that nagging neck strain I used to get with my old rig. It’s not just about comfort, either. My bottom time is more productive because I’m not constantly adjusting. Has anyone else had a piece of gear that just clicked after a specific break-in period? How many hours did it take for your main kit to feel truly second nature?

Heard a kid on a dive boat call a Kirby Morgan a 'space helmet' and it got me thinking

I was on a job in the Gulf last week, and this new tender, maybe 20 years old, pointed at my hat and said that. Back in the 90s, when I started, you learned the real name of every piece of gear before you even touched it. We had these thick paper manuals and you'd study them on the boat ride out. Now it seems like a lot of the new guys just watch a few YouTube videos and they're ready to go. I'm not saying they're bad divers, but the respect for the old school knowledge feels different. Has anyone else noticed the training shift that much in the last ten years?

I always thought those heated vest battery packs were a gimmick for cold water diving.

Ngl, I finally used one on a 4-hour job in Puget Sound last month and my core temp stayed up the whole time. Anyone have a brand they trust that can handle the pressure cycles?

A really bad Tuesday on the Cooper River back in '08

We were doing a simple bridge inspection near Charleston, and the current just went nuts, way over the 2.5 knots they said it would be. I got pinned against a piling for what felt like forever, my comms went to static, and my tender, Mike, was yelling so loud on the surface I could almost hear him through the water. That was the day I stopped trusting the printed tide charts and started double-checking everything with the local boat captains. Anyone else have a job where the water just totally turned on you?

I swore by my old drysuit gloves for years, but a cold snap in Duluth changed my mind

Last month on a harbor inspection job, the water temp hit 34 degrees and my usual gloves just weren't cutting it. My dive partner lent me a pair of his heated mitts, which I always thought were overkill. My hands stayed warm for the full 90 minute dive, and I could actually feel the bolts I was checking. Has anyone else made a switch like that for cold water work?

Showerthought: I read a report that said most diving accidents happen under 30 feet, not deep dives

I was looking at some old safety data from a report by the Divers Alert Network, and it said something that really threw me. They found that a huge chunk of serious accidents, like over 60%, happen in water less than 30 feet deep. I always figured the big risks were on the deep jobs, you know, with deco and gas mixes. But it's the shallow stuff where people get complacent. I mean, I've caught myself rushing a simple hull clean in 20 feet of water in Seattle harbor, not double-checking my gear because 'it's just a quick one.' The report said it's often a combo of task loading and thinking the risk is low. It made me stop and think about every dive, not just the deep ones. Has anyone else had a close call on what seemed like a simple, shallow job?

Vent: A new diver on the barge said he'd never use a bailout bottle on a shallow job

We were working a 40 foot bridge inspection in Mobile, and this kid fresh out of school said his instructor told him bailout was only for deep dives. I argued that silt can blind you or a hose can snag at any depth. He said the extra gear was a hassle and slowed him down. It got me thinking about where we draw the line on safety versus speed. What's the shallowest depth you'd still insist on carrying a bailout?

After 3 months on a harbor cleanup job, I switched from a standard jetting nozzle to a venturi dredge head and cut my time in half.