c/commercial-divers

That dive supervisor in Port Fourchon who killed my first umbilical repair

Guy pulled me aside after I botched a fitting at 30 feet and said, 'slow down, the water ain't going anywhere,' but then he made me redo the whole splice topside in 90 degree heat before he'd sign off my logbook, so how do you balance patience with not wasting a full afternoon?

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felixlane•1d ago

Spent $2400 on a mixed gas cert that my outfit doesn't even need

Last spring I paid out of pocket for the full mixed gas class down in Houston because a supervisor hinted it would open doors for us on a deep job. Got the cert, came back, and they said the client specs only need air or nitrox for this whole contract. I could have used that cash for a new drysuit zipper or saved it. Anyone else sink money into a ticket that never got used on actual dives?

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olivia_white93•2d ago

The "one more dive" rule is killing our dive logs

I keep seeing guys post about pushing bottom time because the job is almost done, and honestly it scares me. Last month in the Gulf, a buddy of mine stayed down 12 extra minutes to finish a weld, and his deco schedule got all messed up. We had to do an emergency ascent plan that we hadn't even practiced together. I get that the client is breathing down your neck, but nobody is going to thank you for a bent shoulder. My first supervisor used to say, "the bottom is never worth your spine," and I brushed it off until I saw a guy get hit with the bends off Galveston. Has anyone else had a close call where the extra time just wasn't worth it?

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ruby659•3d ago

That "just follow the bubbles" tip from a retired diver in Port Fourchon actually worked

Old timer told me to trust my lifeline tension instead of the visor gauge during a low-vis pipeline job, and after 2 hours of zero issues I finally get why he was laughing at my trim weights, anyone else had a mentor's random advice click way later on a different site?

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mason_reed47•5d ago

My drysuit zipper gave up 40 feet down off Port Angeles

Last Tuesday I was doing a hull inspection on a barge out of Port Angeles when my drysuit zipper let go right at the shoulder. Water came in fast, like someone turned on a garden hose inside my neck seal. I called it to the surface tender and did a slow, controlled ascent, but by the time I hit the deck I was swimming inside my own suit. The funny part is the zipper was only 11 months old, not even a full season of work. I spent the next 3 hours in the van with the heater blasting, wringing out my thermals. My supervisor just laughed and said I looked like a drowned raccoon. Has anyone else had a zipper fail that quick, or did I just get a lemon from the factory?

1 comments

the_alice•6d ago

That week in the Gulf where everything went sideways on day 2

We were doing pipeline inspection off Galveston, 7 days straight, and on Tuesday the current ripped so hard my umbilical wrapped around a riser. Took me 45 minutes to untangle with a knife, and my comms were so garbled the surface thought I was calling in a shark bite. The next day the compressor died on the boat, so we sat for 14 hours doing nothing but watching the horizon. Anyone else have a job where the weather was perfect but the gear just refused to cooperate?

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the_robin•6d ago

The day the visor seal blew on a 60 foot murky dive

Back in 2017, I was on a harbor job in Norfolk, cleaning a propeller shaft. Water was maybe 5 feet of visibility, cold, and I was 60 feet down. About 20 minutes in, my visor seal let go, right at the bottom edge. Water poured in, not a trickle, a real flood. I remember my hand shaking as I hit the emergency valve, had to keep my mouthpiece in and breathe slow. My tender said later I was down there for 4 minutes before I cleared it, felt like an hour. That was the week I switched from silicone to neoprene seals, never looked back. Has anyone else had a seal fail like that, or was mine just a bad batch?

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keith274•8d ago

Old dive supervisor told me to always hand-check my regs, I skipped it once

He said "trust the gauge but verify with your mouth" and I thought it was overkill. Yesterday at the Port of Oakland my SPG read 200 bar but the reg free-flowed at 10 meters, so now I do the 5 minute pre-dive check every single job. Anyone else have a habit they picked up from an old timer that saved them?

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charles_baker28•12d ago

Passed my first 100 foot bell dive last Thursday in Port Fourchon

Been at this for 3 years now, mostly shallow rig work, but got the chance to tag along with a senior diver on a 100 foot bell check last week. Took me a while to get the comms right and stop overthinking the equalization, but once I was down there it just clicked. Anyone else remember that first deeper dive where everything suddenly made sense?

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barbara_jenkins66•16d ago

Rode the new hot water suit for a month, going back to my old shell

Last month I forked over $3,400 for that fancy hot water suit everyone raves about, and my core temp swung way more than my trusty 20 year old Kirby Morgan setup ever did. Anyone else find the old school gear is just more predictable on cold North Sea jobs, or am I the only one sticking with what works?

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olivia_lopez98•20d ago

Ran a 300 foot umbilical wrong for 3 seasons until a deckhand pointed it out

Always rigged my umbilical over the transom and clipped it to the port side. Thought it was fine. Last month on a job off Port Fourchon, this young deckhand asked why I was fighting the current every dive. Said my hose was dragging against the anchor line. Switched to running it off the bow quarter and the pull basically vanished. Felt like an idiot for 3 years of extra effort. Anyone else have a tiny rigging detail that took forever to click?

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danielm80•20d ago

Stuck with a 90 pound lift bag for 2 years before someone asked why

I was diving on a jetty job near Pensacola and kept struggling to move concrete chunks that were way under the bag's rating. The foreman finally asked why I wasn't using the 500 pound bag sitting in the truck, and I realized I'd just grabbed the same one every day since my first week. Anyone else ever get locked into a habit that makes zero sense once you see it?

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nancy_king29•28d ago

Rant: my dive light died 80 feet down and my buddy thought it was funny

Last Thursday I was doing a hull inspection on a barge near the Port of Everett, and my primary light just went dark halfway through the checklist. I switched to my backup, but it had a dead battery from the last job in Tacoma, rookie mistake on my part. My buddy saw me flailing in the murk and started making ghost noises over comms, real funny guy. I had to feel along the hull for 10 minutes until we surfaced, and the whole time I was counting my breaths like a nervous kid. Anyone else had gear fail at the worst moment and had to rely on a buddy who thinks it's a comedy show?

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theajohnson•29d ago

Hit 500 logged dives this month and it freaked me out more than I expected

I mean, I've been doing this since 2019 around Port Fourchon and never really counted until my logbook app showed 500. That number felt huge. It made me think about all the close calls I've had, two blown regs and one lost weight belt in the Gulf. Each dive added up without me noticing. Now I'm wondering if anyone else keeps track of the total or just forgets after the first hundred? How many dives were you at when it started feeling real?

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fiona_carr26•1mo ago

My drysuit zipper gave out 40 feet down off a rig in Louisiana

Mid-inspection on a platform leg in the Gulf, the zipper on my drysuit just split at the shoulder, so I got a slow cold trickle down my back for the next 20 minutes while my tender laughed over comms. Has anyone else had a zipper fail mid-dive, and what quick patch trick actually held up until you could get topside?

2 comments

paige166•1mo ago

Air hose whip caught me off guard in the Gulf last month

Was doing a pipeline inspection off Corpus Christi and my whip check let go at 150 psi, whipped right past my helmet before I could kill the valve. Anyone here run dual whip checks or just stick with one?

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pat_roberts55•1mo ago

Mine your own air or pay for bottles? I made a call after a Jamestown job

Last year on a wreck job off Jamestown, Rhode Island I had to pick between hauling my own compressor or renting bottles from the local shop. Took the compressor. Figured it would pay off after a week of dives. Big mistake. The barge crew had no pad for it, so I lost half a day rigging a mount. Then the diesel pump acted up every morning. Bottles would have cost $340 more but zero headache. I still think owning gear is right long term, but that call cost me time and stress. Anyone else stuck with their own gear on a site that was not set for it? What do you do, rent or bring?

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abby_morgan18•1mo ago

That dive supervisor in Galveston told me to tape my gloves before every dive and I thought he was being anal, 6 weeks later my hands are the only thing that didn't get chewed up on a rusty wreck

He said 'tape costs 50 cents, a shredded hand costs a week of work' and after I ignored him for 3 months, I finally tried it on a job off Freeport and now I won't even do a harbor hull scrub without it, anyone else have a safety habit they resisted until it saved them once?

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evan543•1mo ago

Hot take: I used to think band masks fitting tight was always better

For years I cranked my Kirby Morgan band mask super tight on every dive in Seattle. Thought a leak meant I wasn't cinching it down enough. Then a buddy on a bridge job showed me his mask seals fine with way less tension, and I realized I was causing headaches and face fatigue for no reason. Anyone else get told tight is always right and find out the hard way?

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lewis.brian•1mo ago

Saw a guy using a Poseidon band mask on a job site last month and laughed it off

Turns out he was clearing 40% faster on the bottom time because of the lower gas consumption, and now I'm the one looking foolish - anyone else ever had a piece of gear they dismissed totally flip your opinion?

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jenny_lane12•1mo ago

My Kirby Morgan regulator locked up on a 60 foot dive last week

I was doing hull cleaning on a barge in the Port of Seattle and my second stage started free flowing like crazy about 20 minutes in. Thought it was just ice at first since it was 45 degrees down there but it kept getting worse. Ended up having to abort the dive and swap to my backup reg which saved the job but killed my bottom time. Got back up and found a tiny piece of rubber gasket had torn off inside the regulator body. Has anyone else had issues with the newer Kirby Morgan parts failing like that? I'm thinking about switching to a different reg setup but not sure what's worth the money.

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willowr96•1mo ago

Back when I did sat checks with just a flashlight and a mirror

I remember staring at a 12 inch crack in a concrete pillar 80 feet down with a dull flashlight and a dental mirror in 2005 - took me 45 minutes to figure out the rebar was exposed. Now I just strap on a GoPro and a good light and get the whole thing in 5 minutes with video proof. Do you guys still bother with the old-school inspection methods or has everyone gone digital by now?

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emma_garcia•1mo ago

Hot take: Gulf of Mexico dive boats are getting way too lax with safety gear

I was down in Port Fourchon last month and hopped on a charter that clearly skimped on the comms setup. They had one backup radio that was dead on arrival and the deckhand just shrugged when I asked about it. During our first dive to 90 feet on a rig jacket, the current picked up and we lost visual on two guys for a solid 5 minutes. If that radio had failed we'd be waving at passing shrimp boats. Am I wrong for thinking this is getting worse, or has anyone else noticed corners getting cut since the oil patch slowed down?

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olivia670•1mo ago

I used to hate those full face masks until last week in Corpus Christi

I always said full face masks were for guys who couldn't handle a regular regulator. Last week I had to do a hull inspection in some nasty murky water near the Corpus Christi ship channel. Visibility was maybe 2 feet and I kept getting water in my mouthpiece from the current. My buddy let me borrow his Kirby Morgan for one dive and I actually finished the job without cussing once. Now I'm looking at prices online but man they are expensive. Anyone else change their mind about a piece of gear after trying it once?

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josephbailey•1mo ago

Old timer on the rig taught me a hand signal I'll never forget

I was working a saturation job in the Gulf about 2 years ago and got paired up with this guy named Gene who had been diving since the 80s. We were doing some valve work at 200 feet and he grabbed my arm hard, made this weird fist over his chest. Turns out he was signaling that a line had snagged on my tanks and I was about to get yanked. Spent the next hour learning his whole set of custom signals. Has anyone else picked up unique hand signals from an old diver that aren't in the standard training?

3 comments