c/commercial-divers

Had my first 100 foot dive yesterday and it messed with my head more than I expected

Been doing commercial diving for about 4 years now, mostly harbor work here in Galveston. Never been past 70 feet before. Got a call to go down and inspect a sewer outfall pipe at 100 feet. Took about 15 minutes to get down there but the whole time I kept thinking about the pressure. My ears handled it fine. But when I got to the bottom and looked up, the surface was just this dim green ceiling. Felt totally alone for a second. Nobody warned me about that feeling at that depth. Anyone else get that weird isolated sensation on deeper dives?

2 comments

quinn_king16•5d ago

Found a cheap way to fix leaking neck seal without replacing the whole suit

My old Viking suit started leaking around the neck seal last month during a 30 foot dive. I tried patching it with rubber cement but it just peeled off after two dives. Then a guy I work with told me to try using a bicycle inner tube patch kit with the vulcanizing compound. So I sanded the area, applied the patch, and let it sit for 12 hours. That fix has held for 6 dives now with zero leaks. Has anyone else tried something besides a full seal replacement?

2 comments

carr.brian•7d ago

Shoutout to the 30 foot vis day off Catalina last spring

I was dead set against diving in low vis again after a bad week in the Gulf. Then we hit a 30 foot vis day off Catalina and I saw a whole wolf eel den. Has anyone else had one of those moments that completely turned them around on a certain spot?

2 comments

tarac16•7d ago

Finally got to dive on an old pier in Morehead City last month

I've been working inland lakes for the last 2 years, so the ocean felt like a whole new world. The viz was maybe 15 feet, but I spotted a big school of spadefish hanging around one of the pilings. It reminded me why I got into this trade in the first place. Has anyone else had a favorite dive spot that just makes you smile?

2 comments

black.mark•9d ago

Got chewed out by an inspector for skipping the pre-dive check on a KMB band mask 2 years ago

I was working a bridge repair job near Portland and got lazy one morning. The inspector watched me strap in without testing the communications or checking the one-way valve. He pulled me aside and said "if you dont have time to do it right you dont have time to do it at all." That stuck with me hard. Now I run through the full checklist every single time even if Im running late. Has anyone else had a close call from rushing through gear prep?

2 comments

cole_hall•10d ago

Had to choose between Kirby Morgan and Ocean Reef for my first helmet setup

Been diving about 3 years now and finally saved enough to buy my own helmet instead of renting. I was stuck between a used Kirby Morgan 37 and a new Ocean Reef Aria G-Diver. The KM37s are tanks, everyone knows them, but finding a used one in good shape for under $2500 was tough. I went with the Ocean Reef after talking to a guy on a pipeline job in Port Fourchon last month. So far I like the lighter weight on my neck, but I'm wondering if the KM is better for cold water work. Has anyone else made this switch and regretted it down the line?

2 comments

carr.brian•25d ago

Learned the hard way that cheap lifting bags are a bad deal

I was working a job in Port of Long Beach last month, and I figured I'd save some cash on lifting bags by going with a no-name brand off eBay. First real lift at about 30 feet, one of the seams just let go and the whole thing came apart. Lost the bag and had to abort the job, cost me about $400 in lost time and gear. Has anyone else gotten burned by cheap gear that seemed fine at first?

2 comments

kai657•28d ago

That cheap drysuit valve cost me $400 in lost time

I bought a set of replacement inflator valves off eBay for $30 to save money. They worked fine for about a week then one froze open on a 60 foot dive in Puget Sound. I had to abort the whole job and come up slow which ate up 3 hours of billable time. My buddy told me to always stick with Kirby Morgan parts. Has anyone else had a cheap part ruin a day underwater?

2 comments

alicec86•28d ago

Hit 1,000 hours underwater on my logbook this weekend

I finally broke 1,000 logged dive hours this Saturday during a repair job on a pier in Seattle. That number surprised me because I started commercial diving just over three years ago and thought I was still a rookie. Seeing that total on paper made me realize how many bottom jobs, inspections, and emergency fixes I have been through. My first few months I was lucky to get 20 hours a week, but now I am averaging closer to 35. The milestone hit different because it means I have earned some real trust from the crew and supervisors. It also showed me that the small daily grind adds up way faster than big projects. Has anyone else kept a close count on their hours and noticed how quick they pile up once you get past the first year?

2 comments

fiona330•1mo ago

Hit the bottom at 110 feet and realized my weight belt was way off

I was doing a repair on a pier piling in Puget Sound two months ago. Kept having to fight to stay down, thought it was current. Then I hit the deck and my belt slid up to my armpits. Been using the same belt setup for three years. My tender told me I looked like a bobber on the way down. Anyone else suddenly figure out their gear setup was trash the hard way?

2 comments

ray324•1mo ago

Back when we used Kirby Morgan 17s for everything

Pulled out my old logbook from 2004 yesterday and saw a job in the Gulf where we did 6 hours bottom time on a single 17. No hot water suits, just dry gloves and a prayer lol. Anyone else miss how simple the gear was back then or am I just getting old?

2 comments

jennyh55•1mo ago

Old Kirby Morgan vs the new Gralmarine... night and day difference

After 8 years diving an old KM 17, I picked up a Gralmarine GM-600 off eBay for $400 and tried it on a harbor inspection job in San Diego last month. The KM felt like I was wearing a bowling ball on my shoulders compared to the Gralmarine's lighter shell and better neck seal. Has anyone else made the switch and felt the same relief on long bottom times?

2 comments

angelas78•1mo ago

Warning: I hit 200 dives last week and realized something scary about my gauges

So I passed 200 commercial dives on a construction job near the Savannah river last Thursday. Nothing wild happened during the dive itself, but when I got back on deck I started checking my gear like I always do. My pressure gauge was reading about 15 PSI higher than the shop's test bench showed when I got it serviced 6 months ago. That little difference could have thrown off my bottom time calculations on deeper dives, you know? I compared it against three other guys' gauges on site and they were all over the place. One guy's was off by almost 30 PSI from his last calibration. Makes me wonder how many times I've been running on bad numbers without even knowing. Have any of you noticed your gauges drifting like that between services?

2 comments

ray_mitchell•1mo ago

PSA: Stop wet-sanding your own hatches if you bill by the hour

Overheard a newer diver bragging about spending 3 hours wet-sanding a single hatch on a job in Galveston. Dude, that's a $600 charge for the client and you made $75 of it. Has anyone else seen greenhorns burn time on stuff that should take 45 minutes tops?

3 comments

kevin218•1mo ago

Always thought dry suits were overkill in the Gulf until I got hypothermia last March

I was working a platform inspection off Grand Isle and figured my wetsuit would be fine in 68 degree water. After 90 minutes down there I was shaking so bad I couldn't sign my name on the log. What brand dry suit do you guys trust for warm water work?

2 comments

viola_butler•1mo ago

That time I spent 5 years fighting a silt anchor in the Gulf

Back when I was working out of Morgan City around 2010, I had this one job where we kept losing our shot line to an old silt anchor that nobody remembered laying. Every time we'd run a new line near that spot, it'd get tangled up in this mess of buried cable and chain that had been there since the 80s. I figured it'd take maybe a day to cut it free and get back to work, but it turned into a whole week of diving in zero vis with a cutting torch, feeling around blind. The silt was so thick you couldn't see your own hand, and I had to work by touch alone, literally wrestling with this crusty anchor chain in 60 feet of water. In the end we had to bring in a barge with a winch to pull the whole thing up, and it took almost five years for the company to finally admit that anchor was a hazard and remove it properly. Has anyone else dealt with old junk on the bottom that just never seems to get taken care of?

2 comments

patp79•1mo ago

That visor leak on a 60 foot bell dive in the Gulf

I got a slow trickle down my cheek on a saturation dive back in March near Port Fourchon. Figured it was just a bad seal and swapped the neck dam but it kept coming. Three days of chasing it before I noticed a hairline crack along the helmet shell. Took a full day to get a replacement shell choppered out. Any of you guys run into tiny cracks that are a pain to spot?

2 comments

parkermorgan•1mo ago

Ran into an old mentor on a job off Galveston last spring

He told me about the first time he dove the old rigs back in the 80s with just a hardhat and a lead line. No comms, no hot water suits, just him and a tender pulling rope. Has anyone else had a senior diver drop a story on you that really stuck?

3 comments

rosep87•1mo ago

Shoutout to that crazy Monday in the Gulf where everything went sideways

I was doing a pipeline inspection off the coast of Louisiana, 90 feet down, and visibility was maybe 2 inches after a storm rolled through. My air hose got snagged on some old wreckage and I spent 20 minutes cutting it free with my knife, barely able to see my own hands. Then my comms unit started crackling and I lost topside for almost 10 minutes. I finished the dive and got my bonus, but I swear that week kept me up for days after. Has anyone else had a dive where the conditions just kept piling on like that and you had to decide whether to abort or push through?

2 comments

the_john•1mo ago

Tried helium in my drysuit for a dry run at 120 feet, ended up losing half my buoyancy control

I thought the lighter gas would help with mobility and squeeze, but the suit felt completely different and I had to dump more air than usual. Anyone else experiment with weird gas mixes in the suit and get mixed results?

2 comments

sethmartinez•1mo ago

PSA: Check your dry suit neck seal before every dive

Had my neck seal split on me last Thursday during a bridge inspection in Norfolk. Water came rushing in at about 15 feet and I had to abort the whole job. Cost me $280 to get it replaced at a local shop and lost half a day's pay. Anyone else had a seal go bad at the worst possible time?

2 comments

lee627•1mo ago

My comms unit took a swim off the rig last Thursday

Was doing a routine hull inspection on a platform off Galveston. 20 feet down, checking a weld when my hardwire comms box slipped off my belt. Just watched it sink into the murk. $800 unit gone in 3 seconds. Had to finish the dive using hand signals with my tender. Took 2 hours to get a replacement shipped from Houston. Any of you guys got a good way to secure gear so it doesn't pull free?

2 comments

white.seth•1mo ago

The difference in visibility after switching to a full face mask was insane.

I was using a half mask for 2 years in the harbor near Baltimore, figured it was fine. Switched to a full face last month and I can actually see what I'm doing in murky water. Any of you guys make the switch and notice a big difference?

3 comments

gonzalez.vera•1mo ago

Vent: Hit 500 logged dives this week and it feels weird

Honestly, I remember when hitting 100 felt like a huge deal back in the Gulf. This one made me realize how much time I've spent just... down there. Anyone else get that weird feeling when you pass a big personal number?

3 comments

margaretj40•1mo ago

A chat with a new diver made me look at my old gear differently

I was cleaning my gear in the yard yesterday when my neighbor's kid, who just got his ADCI cert, came over to ask about my old Kirby Morgan hat. He said, 'That thing looks like a museum piece, how do you even see out of it?' I told him about the old voice cans and how we used to hand signal everything, no coms. It hit me that he's never worked a job without a full video feed topside. Makes you wonder what basics we're losing. Anyone else feel like the new tech changes how you train the green guys?

3 comments