Scoob noob question

[yousmellsfishy]

I'm looking for a website that would be to scuba what Reef Central is to reef keeping. A place to peruse forums about equipment, dive sites, newbie info, fish, UW photography etc.
Can someone point me to one or two?:bigeyes:

[SeaJayInSC]

http://www.scubaboard.com

Tell them that the ghost of SeaJay sent you. :)

[yousmellsfishy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14221930#post14221930 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SeaJayInSC
http://www.scubaboard.com

Tell them that the ghost of SeaJay sent you. :)
Wow! Just did a preliminary look. That's exactly what I'm looking for.
Thanks AGAIN SeaJayInSC!!

[SeaJayInSC]

:D No sweat, my friend. :)

[craftedpacket]

SeaJay....Your occupation says commercial diver...What do you do exactly? I have heard of people doing manufacturing and stuff like that under water. What other types of commercial diving jobs are there?

[SeaJayInSC]

Pretty much, I'm a jack-of-all-trades underwater. If it happens below the waterline, then it's mine. :)

I own a dive operation - a group of divers for hire for a variety of projects.

We've done quite a number of things - most recently, we were on the Discovery Science Channel in a show called, "America's Lost H-Bomb," where they filmed our search for a nuke that the US government lost in 1958. We've also done a lot of work for the SC Aquarium and for the State of South Carolina. We have worked on the Hunley project in Charleston, and even for a local historical foundation that selected to have my company do a search for a plantation home that was destroyed during the Hurricane of 1893 and blown into one of our local rivers.

...But that's the exciting stuff. The vast majority of our work is scraping barnacles off the bottom of a boat, changing zincs and propellers and getting the nets and lines out of the props of the local shrimp boats. Ocassionally we get lucky and get to do a big salvage job - not long ago we were the organization called to raise a sunk barge and push boat, complete with a crane atop the barge. We've also done a variety of boats, planes, cars, and every once in a blue moon - bodies.

It's not glamourous work, but we get to dive every day... And I wouldn't trade it for the world. At one time I was a well-paid computer geek, working for AOL, Intuit (Turbo Tax, Quickbooks, Quicken) and EDS (Ross Perot's company), but this sure is a lot more exciting - and better paying. :)

More information on my company: http://www.DeepSouthDivers.org

We have two big projects coming up, other than the continued search for the lost WMD... One is a search for a local shipwreck that is reputed to have several bronze cannon aboard (worth mucho $$) and the salvage of a probable drug plane that went down here locally circa 1977 or so. I'll keep you posted. :)

[craftedpacket]

That's an awesome gig. I would love to get to dive everyday for my job. Instead I am here in the middle of west Texas doing the computer geek thing. Getting to dive my 3 weeks of vacation a year is hardly as glamorous as what you get to do. Maybe one day this computer thing will get old and I could do what I really love to do every day.

Stay safe and do keep me posted!

[SeaJayInSC]

Heh - I love my job, but I don't know, bro... There's lots of times I'm standing on the dock at 7am, it's 40* outside, and raining sideways...

When we did the big barge/boat/vrane salvage job, it was wickedly cold, the water a briny, zero-vis brown, with a pretty massive diesel slick on top.

On those days, I stand on the dock and think back about what it was like to arrive daily in a warm, bright, dry office, sipping a cup of coffee, saying, "Just point me to what you think the problem is..." Life was simpler then, with a sure paycheck, clocking out on time, and benefits and 401k's. I often spent time online on forums and email between waiting for programs to load. :)

...Then the sun breaks, Spring arrives, and the local kids stand atop the dock saying, "Wow... What a cool job." And the checks arrive... Sometimes payday is every day.

When I question where I am and what I'm doing, all I have to do is stop what I'm doing and look around and see... My office. The water, the dock, the boats, the birds, the sun... Oh yeah, this is why I do this. :)

Yeah, I wouldn't change a thing. This is the hardest job I've ever loved.

If you're considering it, do what I did - do it on the weekends as a side thing and see what happens. :)