Basic Amateur diving service business questions

[Lorenzoid]

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

Check the Commercial Diver forum: Commercial Divers. There have been posts over the years from people asking about starting a small hull cleaning business.

Maybe diving for small articles dropped in a marina is in a different category but hull cleaning, even on a small scale, apparently deserves the considerations (safety, legal, etc.) given to commercial diving.

 

[aquacat8]

Hull cleaning is by the foot usually. Not much, I think maybe it was two dollars a foot. I considered doing this briefly until I talked to some knarly looking guys that do it professionally and they told me about all the skin infections they get. Lots of stuff growing on hulls in low viz here. Basically you are scrubbing living organisms off the hull and creating a bacterial cloud. Not my idea of fun!

That by the foot price refers to the boat length, not square feet and not count length twice for two sides. It’s really not much.

Better if you live near warm clear low nutrient waters and clients do it once a month so big barnacles don’t get a chance to grow.

 

[Bob DBF]

Basically you are scrubbing living organisms off the hull and creating a bacterial cloud.

not to mention the bacterial / toxic cloud from lack of water flow at marinas, where traffic turns up the bottom constantly, boaters are constantly spilling something, accident or on purpose, and all of that is warmer temperature than open water and only a small percentage is flushed to sea. YMMV I have dove in marinas but I limit my exposure. Oh yes, lets not forget the threats of being run over and electrocution.

I have cleaned hulls occasionally for friends, however I have them take me for a ride and find a more attractive spot to work, and perhaps get in a dive s well. Of course I'm not in business.


Bob

 

[aquacat8]

Ok so I was at the marina today and a bottom cleaner happened to be there. I asked him what he charged and he surprised me saying $3.25 a foot.... a lot more than the $2.00 a foot the guys down in Daytona beach charged. I think he is higher than the going rate, and he was new at it, but said he was busy. His 8mil wetsuit was covered in slimy particles... It’s so murky here he may not have any competition.

 

[EireDiver606]

I did the quick phone search yesterday in 6m of water. It was a bit iffy because it was my first dive in 10 months, my first solo dive, first dive in new gear, and it was like 2 foot viz underneath a large yacht.

I found it, no problem after 30 mins as it was the same colour as the floor.

Lesson learned, it would be much more practical to use a reel or a spool to do a circle search where the owner says he dropped it.

Had a little problem equalizing at the start, as I haven’t dived in ages and am new to diving.

How long did it take until you guys could equalise really quickly

 

[EireDiver606]

not to mention the bacterial / toxic cloud from lack of water flow at marinas, where traffic turns up the bottom constantly, boaters are constantly spilling something, accident or on purpose, and all of that is warmer temperature than open water and only a small percentage is flushed to sea. YMMV I have dove in marinas but I limit my exposure. Oh yes, lets not forget the threats of being run over and electrocution.

I have cleaned hulls occasionally for friends, however I have them take me for a ride and find a more attractive spot to work, and perhaps get in a dive s well. Of course I'm not in business.


Bob

Sorry I didn’t clarify.

I don’t intend to scrape hulls, I just want to polish them and clean them with a simple cloth or soft brush/sponge.

 

[Wookie]

Ok so I was at the marina today and a bottom cleaner happened to be there. I asked him what he charged and he surprised me saying $3.25 a foot.... a lot more than the $2.00 a foot the guys down in Daytona beach charged. I think he is higher than the going rate, and he was new at it, but said he was busy. His 8mil wetsuit was covered in slimy particles... It’s so murky here he may not have any competition.

I charge $50 an hour or $25 a foot. I only clean military vessels. I am fully insured, and provide video of the job when complete.

The last ship I did took 100 Man hours over 10 days.

 

[aquacat8]

I charge $50 an hour or $25 a foot. I only clean military vessels. I am fully insured, and provide video of the job when complete.

The last ship I did took 100 Man hours over 10 days.

That sounds profitable. I was looking at sailboats. Yachties, even rich ones, are notoriously cheap. Military=deep pockets! Hard work!

 

[aquacat8]

I did the quick phone search yesterday in 6m of water. It was a bit iffy because it was my first dive in 10 months, my first solo dive, first dive in new gear, and it was like 2 foot viz underneath a large yacht.

I found it, no problem after 30 mins as it was the same colour as the floor.

Lesson learned, it would be much more practical to use a reel or a spool to do a circle search where the owner says he dropped it.

Had a little problem equalizing at the start, as I haven’t dived in ages and am new to diving.

How long did it take until you guys could equalise really quickly

Congrats on finding the phone! As for equalizing, you can practice just swimming in a pool, since really you should equalize every few feet. After I learned about it I u derstood why sometimes my ears hurt after swimming deep. They should teach it to all swimmers! Tuck you chin a bit when you do it, a lot of divers try to do it with neck extended as they swim down.

 

[aquacat8]

Or learn to equalize like a freediver