Make money retrieving lost items?

[MNScuba]

OK... here's another attempt to try and make money to support the hobby and have another reason to dive. What would be required to be able to put an add in a newspaper as a diver who will retrieve your lost items (trolling motor, electronics, other miscllaneous items). I'm not talking about cars, snowmobiles, etc.. just common items people lose while doing water sports or activities. Would you be willing to pay $100 to retrieve a new $500 electric boat motor? Is anyone doing this kind of work? Is it even worth the hassle?

[Drew Sailbum]

A few guys allegedly make a living (or at least earn some money) retreiving golf balls from water hazards in golf courses. Clean up the balls, and sell them as used or sell them to the golf ops to use as range balls.

To be able to lift things like lost engines, you have got to be familiar with some search and recovery techniques. Finding the lost item can be damn hard sometimes, and then you've got to hook up a lift bag to float it, and figure a way to lift it out of the water.

Sometimes the lifting isn't much of a problem. I once went diving after a pair of prescription eyeglasses that a sailing student dropped off the pier. Three tries later, I came up with a pair of glasses. Weren't his! :rolling: One eye was good enough that he took them so he could see well enough to get to Lens Crafters.

[Uncle Pug]

Need money???
Get a job....
Or a second job....
Even as a dive shop monkey....
The quest to make money diving can rob you of the reason you enjoy diving....
Not to mention leave you broke....

If you get the chance to do a favor for someone....
Do it....
It will come back later - multiplied....

[trymixdiver]

i looked into the golf ball thing yrs ago and found out theres a company here where i live that has a contract with all the courses to recover balls from there water hazards. No way to get that job here unless you get hired by a company that has the contract for the local courses. i am sure it dont pay much unless you own the company.

I did some light salvage work for the USCG, unfortunatley it was for free because i was Stationed there. i recovered mostly lazer sailboat rudders dropped by cadets learning to sail. I offered my services because i was having some major diving withdrawals. it was either that or topping off the tub

TMD

[TRUETEXAN]

I enjoy doing search and recovery dives, and my dive buddy and I are fairly well known for doing it. We do not advetise in the newspaper but we have put up index cards stating that we do some search and recovery with our names and phone numbers on them in marinas and various other places around the local lakes that we like to dive inn and while we don't make much money off it w have gotten some fringe benefits from it and met some really nice people who are usually very appreciative if yo even try and help them find something. I do know a guy that lives in Galvston, Tx and he makes pretty good money cutting line off of shrimp boats and tugs down there.

[DivingGal]

Around here (Ontario), the moment you start actively see payment to retrieve items u/w, you couldbe considered as being a commercial diver. If you are seen as being that, a whole host of laws then come into effect.

I've not heard of anyone actually being charge with this, but the laws are there. So you might want to check if something applies to your neck of the woods.

just my 0.02 worth

[pipedope]

The incidental recovery of lost items is a fun and potentially renumerative part of diving.
By recovering items found in the normal course of diving and returning them to their owners you build goodwill and will often receive a reward.

Anything that will pay a substantial amount of money is likely to be a real salvage job that will require special equipment and training and should be left to the real commercial companies. Not all of the hazards are obvious.

My rule of thumb, if I can recover it with my hands and swim it to the surface it is an incidental recovery. If it needs lift bags or crane work (including any line from the surface) then it is a commercial job that requires the full 3 man (or bigger) dive team, equipment, training, and *insurance*. Commercial liability insurance will cost at least $3000/year.

Keep it safe, keep it fun.

michael

[ScubaScott]

I was just going to mention that same thing, about being classified as commercial and having all the regulations that surround that, but you beat me to it. I asked the same question to my instructor when I was getting cert. (always looking for a way to make and extra buck - gotta feed my dive habit you know!!), but she went over it all, and I quickly decided it wasn't worth it - at least not at this point in my diving career. I don't know if all these same rules apply in the US.


Curious though - does anyone know if you can make a decent living being a commercial diver? Certainly heard the stories of not making a living being a DM or instructor, but I've never heard much about comm. diving on this board?

[Drew Sailbum]

You can make a quite a decent living as a commercial diver. And the more underwater construction skills (i.e. welding) you have, the more marketable you are.

Unfortunately, life expectancies are short and the danger level is high.

[MNScuba]

That was a good point... I guess I'll look more to enjoying diving than making it 'work'. I know I for one would be very grateful if someone were to be kind enough to return something to me they happened to find while diving...

Now, let's say you find something such as expensive sunglasses, fishing gear, etc... (things generally not identified), do you just keep those or call them into the newspaper as lost and found? I know everyone will have varying approaches to this, but in general what do most divers do? Hey... I'm going to make this a poll!