Hull Cleaning?

[Slym]

Has anybody done it before? What kind of things are there to know before trying it? A non diver friend mentioned it to me and I thought it might be a cool way to make some cash on the side this summer.

 

[divezonescuba]

Get a suction cup bar like those made for temporary shower handle.

 

[pepperbelly]

Be careful. I read an article a while back about a diver being electrocuted because the shore power was not properly grounded. I don't remember the details but some boat owners are not careful or aware of their boat's ground.

 

[fstbttms]

Has anybody done it before? What kind of things are there to know before trying it? A non diver friend mentioned it to me and I thought it might be a cool way to make some cash on the side this summer.

I have been in the hull cleaning biz for over twenty two years. I suspect that in the area that you live in, cold freshwater and a short boating season mean that in-water hull cleaning is not even a 'thing.'

If you do manage to find any work (and no offense, but somebody who has never done it before and presumably knows very little about boats or anti fouling paint would not be my first choice as a hull cleaner), Electric Shock Drowning (ESD) is a real concern in freshwater marinas. Be careful.

 

[Slym]

Yea I have heard the electric shock stuff a few times now, If I did try it I would have to look more into marina electrical codes and suitable grounding for marinas. I am pretty confident in that, as electricity is my trade.... hull cleaning is not, lol so I take no offence Fastbottoms! Thanks for the advice!

 

[JamesBon92007]

You might not enjoy scuba diving any more.

I don't know about Canada but I was offered a job doing hull cleaning at Peter's Landing in Sunset Beach (Southern California) where all the really rich people park their big boats. The guy that offered me the job had way more work than he could do. I have no doubt that someone could make hundreds of dollars a day doing it there, once you are established.

 

[KevinNM]

If you are being paid to dive the employment and job safety laws apply. I don't know what the Canadian version of OSHA is, but you should check into what that implies. There are a lot of rules in the US around commercial diving that don't apply to recreational divers, but the safety inspectors care deeply about them if they catch you doing commercial diving.

 

[fstbttms]

If you are being paid to dive the employment and job safety laws apply. I don't know what the Canadian version of OSHA is, but you should check into what that implies. There are a lot of rules in the US around commercial diving that don't apply to recreational divers, but the safety inspectors care deeply about them if they catch you doing commercial diving.

In the U.S., OSHA regulations are applicable only to companies that have actual employees. Most dive services that have help use "independent contractors", which (in theory) excludes them from these regulations, as well as from having to pay into workers comp insurance etc.

Even those companies that do treat their divers as employees do not adhere to OSHA regulations, which require (at a minimum) a diver, a tender and a supervisor on each and every job. They do this at their peril of course, but OSHA has so far tended to turn a blind eye to the hull cleaning industry.

 

[pepperbelly]

I think a business has to have above a certsin number of employees, 15?, before OSHA gets involved.

 

[fstbttms]

I think a business has to have above a certsin number of employees, 15?, before OSHA gets involved.

I can find nothing that states a minimum number of employees before a company has to begin OSHA compliance. OSHA record keeping? Yes. OSHA regulation compliance? No.