Diving for money

[mike_s]

I'll bet the poo wasn't this bad

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/s...php/photo/22008

I was on overtime for this one.

Gary D.

Gary, The link doesn't work.... FYI

Gary....if that was a pic of the Warhammer maneuver.....aint gonna play. It gets blocked all the time now.

Man I wish I had a copy of the thing....it is a classic.

Rich, I got a copy of that pics somewhere if you want it.
It's pretty gross, but I laughed all day after seeing it.
Laughing now just thinking about it. heh.

-mike

 

[gwndwn]

Most of the divers I know do odd jobs over the course of the season. I often dive to fix propellers, clean boat bottoms, find lost stuff, install mooring chains etc. I've also installed fresh water intakes in lakes and, more than once, gone under stranded boats to cut anchor lines off props. I usually charge a minimum of $100 cash to get suited up. On average, I probably take in around $2,000 over the summer. Basically this covers air, wear and tear on my gear and beer.

Who else does odd jobs?

That's not bad money, should cover the cost of your DM course. However I am sure you are also paying the tax on that income and since it's commerical work, you would be doing it to standards that should be and are expected to be adherd to - for your own safety.

Do you realize how many recreactional divers have died doing work around props - heck for that matter do you know how many pros have died doing this type of - seemingless easy work. Stop now unless you want to do it right.

 

[Gary D.]

Gary, The link doesn't work.... FYI





Rich, I got a copy of that pics somewhere if you want it.
It's pretty gross, but I laughed all day after seeing it.
Laughing now just thinking about it. heh.

-mike

Try this one

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/22008/cat/500/page/1

Gary D.

 

[mike_s]

Try this one

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/22008/cat/500/page/1

Gary D.

yuck.... hope that was a full helment dive.


I did see an episode on Disocovery or something where Mexico City had a full time "sewer diver" to unclog the sewers..... fun huh?

 

[Scuba]

Try this one

http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/22008/cat/500/page/1

Gary D.

I can't quite tell, but is that actually a smile on your face? I would be breathing off my reg the whole time, and then probably have to be resuscitated from passing out after OOA. LOL

DeepSeaDan,

That story is a great classic tale for SB's archives.

 

[Gary D.]

I can't quite tell, but is that actually a smile on your face?

DeepSeaDan,

Yes it is. They had just told me about the horse exploding and at that point I knew I had the better of the two assignments.

Gary D.

 

[MikeFerrara]

While I never had the chance to dive for alliens I have had the oportunity to dive several bottomless ponds. Needless to say we have always found the bottom and, in fact, none were even very deep. Our local quarry (diving and swimming hole) is known throughout the area as being bottomless.

I was at my inlaws one night and my wifes cousin made the statement that the lake was bottomless. I asked him what holds the water in a bottomless pond. I mean, if a cup has a hole in the bottom (bottomless) the fluid leaks out. LOL

I had another guy tell me that he dived off the cliff and free dived to at least 60 ft and never did see a bottom. I had to tell him that I had been over every inch of the place and the deepest was about 28 ft when the water is high but that it's only about 20 ft under the cliffs. LOL

 

[Don Burke]

Most of the divers I know do odd jobs over the course of the season. I often dive to fix propellers, clean boat bottoms, find lost stuff, install mooring chains etc. I've also installed fresh water intakes in lakes and, more than once, gone under stranded boats to cut anchor lines off props. I usually charge a minimum of $100 cash to get suited up. On average, I probably take in around $2,000 over the summer. Basically this covers air, wear and tear on my gear and beer.

Who else does odd jobs?

I have cleared some props, changed some zincs, and scrubbed quite a few boat hulls. I also tore a wreck apart to clear the waterway and did a bit of lost object recovery.

This was through a shop and I was covered by their insurance.

The sewage issue depends on the marina.

The electrical issue is something I did not worry about. Boats I worked on were not on shore power and I stayed away from metal parts of the docks. It would take a heck of an electrical fault to get a diver under those conditions.

I do not do it for money any more, but I would help out a friend.

 

[boulderjohn]

Not me. I haven't yet had the urge to turn something fun into work.

Every time the thought crosses my mind, the water's too cold and iced over anyway.

You might feel different if you lived somewhere else!

Let's face it, there is not a big call for divers to fix props in Colorado, and it takes a hard core diver to go into the water anywhere here even for the fun of it.

 

[boulderjohn]

When I had a shop I used to do a few things for a pond management company in town and I charged for that. I've been approached about some nasty jobs but just passed on them....

I heard a horrible pond maintenance story which should give everyone something to think about.

I woman in our area was doing some pond maintenance on her own pond, and somehow (I don't know how) got her leg in the outlet and could not move it. I also don't know how her neighbor, also a diver found out (he may have been helping her), but when he found out there was no way he could get her out, he got air tanks from a local shop and kept her in air while he searched for a solution. Eventually, they got some heavy equipment to pile dirt over the outlet pipe, thus damning it up and eliminating the suction.

Even an apparently simple job can be really dangerous.