Gulf rig diving is way oversold, I saw the real deal in Morgan City

Everyone talks up the big money on the Gulf rigs, but I spent 3 weeks out of Morgan City last fall and the payout felt like a scam once you add up the downtime and the gear abuse. The water was so murky you couldn't see your own gloves, yet they still wanted us to inspect anode beds on a 40-year-old jacket. I made $1,200 a day but lost two days to a broken compressor and a third to a choppy sea that should have cancelled the dive. Has anyone else worked the shallower inland jobs and come out better off than the deepwater crowd?

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theawest5d ago

So after all that, did the per day rate actually work out to what your original contract said, or did you end up eating the downtime costs yourself? I'm asking because the outfit that runs the inland stuff around here always brags about the total payout at the end, but I've noticed they never mention what happens when the weather turns. Also, that anode work on an old jacket, was that even in the original scope or did they tack that on after you got there? Because that sounds like a classic bait and switch to me.