Used to run charters out of Fort Lauderdale with a 20 minute bottom time and called it a day

Now I'm dipping to 120 feet for 12 minutes on a pipeline repair and somehow that's a regular Tuesday. What changed was the shift from tourist-heavy work to industrial contracts around 2018. I got tired of babysitting open water students and chasing six-pack tips. The money is better now but the risk is way higher and the decompression stops eat up half the day. Anyone else make the swap from recreational charter work to commercial and regret it or am I just getting old?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_spencer6d ago

Read somewhere that the switch to commercial diving really changes your whole relationship with the water... not in a good way either. The risk calculus is totally different when you're not just showing tourists a reef.

sandrap406d ago

Commercial diving turned the ocean from my playground into something I seriously don't trust anymore.