SCUBA Odd Jobs

[Spartacus20]

A buddy and I were brainstorming earlier trying to come up with ways to make a little spending money by diving. I don't mean by opening a shop or becoming a dive master, but by "odd jobs" if that makes sense.

This may not turn into a long post, because the only thing we could think of was cleaning the bottoms of boats at local marinas, but does anybody have anything else?

Thanks for the input,

B

 

[BrianV]

Cleaning boats, scavenging under boats (looking for things the rich folk may have dropped when they were drunk), recovering things from rich folk who drop things in the water.

One guy I know has a gig with one of the marinas here. He probably gets 1-3 jobs per year, but every once in a while someone will drop something at their boat slip and for $50-$100 he'll go out and retrieve it.

 

[Darnold9999]

Knew somebody that made a few bucks retrieving golf balls from the ocean. Not private property so anyone can do it.

 

[SteveAD]

basic boat maintenance. zincs and props need to be changed from time to time real pita to have to get your boat hauled to do it. hire a diver.

 

[boulderjohn]

There was a similar thread I remember a year or so ago, and one of the themes that came out of it was that some of these seemingly simple jobs have some inherent dangers in them. Make sure you have appropriate safety measures and insurance.

 

[mudhole]

Make friends with marinas, retrieving lost tools etc. replacing broken cables that anchor their docks, even placing cover for fish shelters. Do a few quick freebies, low pay for short jobs and then get better pay ( or boat stall ) when they have a big job. Be VERY careful in what you accept. A popular local diver was asked to fix an intake filter for a water district. A manager was supposed to be there, he was late and the diver went ahead with the dive and was electrocuted.

 

[mike_s]

The dangers involved with these jobs are very true.

The minor danger is the fact that many boats still discharge sewage into the water in marinas, even though they are not supposed to. So you'll be diving in raw sewage, getting in your ears, mouth, etc. not to mention all over your gear. fun yet?


The real saftey danger is electrical shock. Boat "shore power" cords often fall in the water, GFCI (ground fault circuit interupter) breakers or outlets don't always work. Since most marinas are owned by individuals and not major corporations, also most electrical work is "poor" and hazardous by nature. Also most docks have metal frames which ground in the water and electrical is in conduit that is mounted on these metal frames or poles. One short and the current gets sent to the water. Electrical will find it's easiest path to ground remember...

If you "swim" into an electrical current, you will not be able to get out of it. You will simply be electrified and die.

We had a diver in a marina near where I live that was killed a couple years ago because of faulty electrical circuitry.


So... IF you had some really important reason to dive in a marina, the very least you should do is find the power distribution panel for the dock and turn the power off and "lock out" the panel with a pad lock while you are submerged. The reason I say "lock out" is that if you don't put a padlock on it then someone will come turn it back on while you are under. Boaters don't want the AC units not to work at the dock etc... they will turn it back on. take the key with you or give to a trusted friend on the surface. What's even better than just a padlock is the OSHA lockout tags in additon to locks, but I don't expect your average boater to understand that.

good luck.... don't get killed...

 

[MikeC]

Diving for money or "gifts" falls under the evil OSHA's jurisdiction. That means complying with Federal rules and then state and possibly local laws. As others have said, search back 12-18 months and you should find at least two threads on the subject.

Of course, you could not follow the rules and then IF you die your life insurance company just might decide that you violated the terms of your policy and not pay your wife on your policy. The same goes for your health insurance company, they like saving money, check your policy to see if you would be covered.

 

[vertaqua]

I used to clean hulls and replace zincs while I was in commercial dive school. Its a ****ty job, all the stuff that you wipe/ scrape / scub off of the hulls end up on you and also makes you prone to ear infections since the waters so dirty. Most major marinas at least in SoCal have independent companies that perform these services on a monthly basis. Most use a hookah set up with a compressor that they haul around on a cart. Any jobs on the infastructure of the marina should be left up to commercial surface supplied divers that are trained for such things as black outs, lock out tag out procedures etc. Scuba is not designed for nor should it be used for heavy labor under water no matter how shallow. Any marina owner that would hire a recreational diver to do such work is just tying to save money so he doesn't have to shell out the big bucks for a commercial diving crew. I don't mean to sound like a dick but you read about this happening from time to time. Some cheap marina owner hires a scuba diver and the scuba diver gets hurt or dies doing something he's not trained to do. If you want to work underwater go to commercial dive school, there are about 6 of them in the US alone.

 

[Gary D.]

Make friends with marinas, retrieving lost tools etc. replacing broken cables that anchor their docks, even placing cover for fish shelters. Do a few quick freebies, low pay for short jobs and then get better pay ( or boat stall ) when they have a big job. Be VERY careful in what you accept. A popular local diver was asked to fix an intake filter for a water district. A manager was supposed to be there, he was late and the diver went ahead with the dive and was electrocuted.

I'm not picking on this one or any post here but there are things that need to be addressed. I'm just using this one by MUDHOLE because it's easy.

(Replacing broken cables that anchor their docks) You better know what you are doing and have a ton of insurance to back it up. Should you make a bad repair and it fails causing damage to the marina or boats you might find yourself living in a cardboard box and eating out of dumpsters.

(Do a few quick freebies) They can cause you as much heart ache as paid jobs. Just because you do it for free doesn't release you from the liability.

(Be VERY careful in what you accept. A popular local diver was asked to fix an intake filter for a water district. A manager was supposed to be there, he was late and the diver went ahead with the dive and was electrocuted.) You can get zapped just swimming through a marina. The problem just gets compounded when you’re working in one.

Cleaning boat bottoms is not as simple as grabbing a brush and start scrubbing. Different coatings call for different techniques. Do the wrong thing to a bottom and it could cost the boat owner and ultimately you a lot of money. Besides depending on where you are and the type of coating you may have to have a collection system due to environmental hazards. That could get you in a world of hurt with the feds.

There is a lot more to it than just getting a "C" card and starting a business. You’re dealing with a lot of liability issues not to mention your life should you screw up.

Gary D.