Basic Amateur diving service business questions

[EireDiver606]

Hi all,

I plan on getting more dives under my belt this summer. Taking GUE Fundamentals and diving in Malta for two weeks straight. I’ve also joined a dive club, so every weekend I will be doing at least one boat dive hopefully.

I also plan on setting up an extremely small, amateur diving services business on my own. Make a business card, put it in the yacht and diving club and hope for the best.

I want to mainly search for lost items like phones, keys, etc, clean yachts with pressure washers, fix propellers, and do hull inspections. I am in a rich area with lots of yachts but I never see any divers. They all either pay an expensive lift fee to get the boat out of the water or have to wait for the season lift. This makes me think there must be some sort of demand for divers.

I have no experience doing hull cleans but I will get an experienced diver friend to show me the ropes.

My main questions are:
1. What are the price variables? How should I charge? Hourly/depth/size of yacht/. Simply what should I charge?
For example, tomorrow I am searching for a phone in a small 4m x 4m known area which contains an important SIM card by a guy who works on a big yacht. It is in shallow water probably max 5m/15 feet. I also have to rent a tank which costs 20€ as my own is getting a hydrostatic test. I also have to wear a 7/5mm farmer John wetsuit.

2. What tools do I need to clean/ polish a yachts hull? (sailing yacht). I was shown one before by someone but can’t remember the specific name of it.
Should I use a spool or reel to circle search for an item? What’s the best way to search for small items in mucky water when the items have probably sunk into the mud a little?

3. What’s the situation with payment? Should I ask people to pay me before or after? What happens if I don’t find the item, do I charge less or the same amount as I would have if I found it?

I’ll probably have more questions when I get answers as usual.

Thanks.

 

[Edward3c]

Sound like your venturing into the commercial diving world with some of the things you want to do. You need to check the legal requirements to dive commercially. In the U.K. you can’t dive commercially on your own, you need surface support, a documented risk assessment, plus a HSE medical. I’d be surprised if Ireland didn’t have similar requirements.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I'd get good liability insurance. If you start scraping at hulls, you could end up damaging them or the owner may claim you damaged them. Even a pressure washer might be an issue with a wood hull. If you're doing inspections, do you know what to look for? E.g., the difference between normal pitting vs. serious corrosion in a metal hull? (Not trying to suggest you don't, but rather make sure you do an honest self-assessment on your skills.)

On the other hand, some tasks (cutting a rope off that got fouled in a prop or replacing zincs) are pretty simple. (Finding keys, phones, etc. can be easy or a real pain, depending on the bottom conditions and how certain a person is about position.)

As noted above, there may be legal requirements to keep in mind as well.

I've done this kind of thing occasionally, but only on a remote island where I was trying to be "neighborly." People offered to pay me, but since I work for a university I just told them to donate whatever they felt appropriate to endowments that support student scholarships.

The other task I'd do occasionally is attach mooring buoys to existing concrete blocks/eyebolts in shallow water. This is the kind of thing you want to make sure you do right. You don't want somebody's yacht drifting away from its mooring. Key elements are the chain design (not really your job) and the details of attachment (hopefully also worked out by the owner, avoiding potential electrolysis but still keeping the chain attached to the block).

 

[EireDiver606]

Sound like your venturing into the commercial diving world with some of the things you want to do. You need to check the legal requirements to dive commercially. In the U.K. you can’t dive commercially on your own, you need surface support, a documented risk assessment, plus a HSE medical. I’d be surprised if Ireland didn’t have similar requirements.

I’m not doing hard commercial diving as such. I want to do more of a call me up,and I’ll hop in the water type of service. Not as strict as HSE regulated work. This is just amateur diving favours basically.

 

[KeithG]

I’m not doing hard commercial diving as such. I want to do more of a call me up,and I’ll hop in the water type of service. Not as strict as HSE regulated work. This is just amateur diving favours basically.

If you are getting paid you are no longer an amateur...you are now a professional.

 

[Edward3c]

I’m not doing hard commercial diving as such. I want to do more of a call me up,and I’ll hop in the water type of service. Not as strict as HSE regulated work. This is just amateur diving favours basically.

Even divers retrieving golf balls fall under the commercial Regulations.

 

[Russjstewart]

Forgetting about the whole workplace, OH&S, HSE, commercial diving thing, I can say from having done a bit of this in a less restrictive environment a long time ago.
1. Cleaning hulls is hard work, the viz sucks, and the hourly rate is even worse.
2. Nothing has ever fallen overboard where the owner says it fell.
3. Big boat owners are usually tight with money. That is how they can afford to own a big boat.
4. It is a long walk out to the end of the marina hauling all your gear, which is where the boat is usually moored.

 

[EireDiver606]

Thanks for the replies so far but can people please answer my specific questions. Please don’t bother bringing HSE again, I will be doing the scuba level 1 course in the future anyway

 

[Edward3c]

Like running any business identify you standing and running costs. Decide on you profit margin. Research what others (your competitors) are charging. The results will give you a steer as to whether your going to make or lose money.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Finding any small object in mud will be nearly impossible. I've found larger objects for folks after they had sunk in. The strategy there was to stay well off the bottom and scan for an outline that's the right shape. If you're lucky, it'll stand out. Scan the whole area first, don't dive after the first thing that MIGHT be your object or you'll kick up the mud. If you don't find an outline you're sure is the object, you might go for the most likely option.

I've never used an underwater metal detector, and have no idea how reliable they are, but that might work.