Since 1993. P.R. is where I actually got certified at Coral Head Divers in the Palmas del Mar area.
"P.R.?"
Wow... 17 years of diving... That's a long time, my friend!
Lost over $2k in corals (my wholesale costs).
Wowch! It gets worse though... Next thing you know, they're asking for a car, then a college education... Then bail...
She was afraid I would get killed, but also the fact that just the training alone would keep me away for about 1-1/2 yrs then a stent overseas for roughly 1 yr on top of that. So...I would say the combo of both didn't sit to well with her.
Yeah, I can understand that... When Kym decided that she was going to return to the Marine Corps, I was none too happy about it... All I could see was her leaving for six months to a year, deployed in the Middle East. The recruiter promised that she wouldn't have to go, but I thought that silly... We are, after all, at war!
Fortunately, that promise was broken right away... She got her assignment before she actually signed the papers, which was... Wait for it... Overseas.
She decided not to go back in... Much to my relief.
After all, who wants to be single, without the benefits of being single? No way...
My main income comes from my construction business (STC Construction & Contracting, LLC).
Very cool! Yeah, a lot of my guys come from the construction industry, which is down, here in this area. How's things in PA?
Guys from the construction industry always know how to work... They're usually a pretty easy hire.
If I had my way (been a dream for years and years) I would have a Search & Salvage company. I just feel at home in the water when diving. It is like an astronaut...just in liquid instead of a vacuum.
I know how you feel. I felt the same way.
I lived in AZ for years, finishing a degree at the U of A and working at EDS, AOL, and Intuit in tech support. On the weekends, I would take the last few bucks that I had and go racing - motorcycles (streetbikes) were my passion.
When my family called me to ask me to come home and help my father and his ailing health, I did... And brought my bikes.
They lasted four months or so. The closest racetrack was more than five hours away, and all of the roads were straight and flat and full of traffic, bugs, and cops. I couldn't even get my bikes out of second gear.
...So I began to explore other hobbies... Boating, sailing, and jetskiing all seemed like good ideas, but after racing for a couple of years, they all paled by comparison.
...So I picked up diving again - I had done it a few times before, and liked it very much. But in Tucson, there wasn't much opportunity to dive. Living on the ocean in SC, I took the plunge.
About twice a month I took my new car to the springs in Florida to dive the clear, warm spring waters and caves. I did this for years before a friend of the family called me up.
"Hey, you wanna clean my boat?"
"Hunh?"
I was totally confused, and told him no... Why would I want to do that?
He then explained to me that he was paying his current diver (OH! Cleaning the BOTTOM!) about $120 for about 40 minutes' worth of work.
"Hmmmmmm..."
I gave it a shot. Took me about four hours the first time, but I improved quickly. Within six months, I had half a dozen customers, and wasn't diving in Florida any more... Why pay hundreds over the weekend when I can MAKE hundreds and not leave home?
It didn't take long before it was pretty silly to put off a client until the weekend so that I could do my "regular" job... And make less than half the money.
I finished my business degree right around the same time that I quit my day job. It was a pretty scary, exciting moment.
Today I employ eight part-time divers, own two trucks and four boats. My company only does about $350,000 a year in volume, but we're operating on a near 95% profit margin, due to low overhead. There's 278 regular clients, and I see every one of them about once a month.
...But that's our "Pass Go, Collect $200" job - our "bread and butter." About four times a year I get a really big job - a large insurance salvage, a job at the Georgia Aquarium, or running line and fiber beneath the seabed of one of our local rivers. We also climb towers, too, so the utility companies absolutely love us.
We've worked for the State of SC, GA, and FL on a variety of projects, several historical societies, and done countless disentanglements for commercial fishermen and shrimpers. Obviously, we're still looking for the Tybee Bomb, and of course, there's some TV coverage of that...
There's more, too... But I don't wanna say too much.
Suffice to say that our job description is, "Divers for hire." We like to think of ourselves as knuckledraggers with a brain and a scuba tank. If it happens underwater, we're the experts - and we've got a good history of working hard, showing up on time, doing the impossible, and not screwing up. It takes a unique blend of intelligence, hard work, experience, and the willingness to put oneself in situations that most normal people wouldn't.
I wouldn't trade the job for any in the world.
That said, you wouldn't believe how cold it is outside right now - which seems colder when you think about going swimming.
By far, this is the hardest job I've ever loved.
I know more than a few companies like mine in Charleston - we're a tight-knit group of likeminded people. Shoot me an email or give me a call when you arrive and I'll see what I can do to hook you up with the guys up there, and you can try it out yourself and see if it's a serious career move that you would want to consider.
Alternatively, I also know a number of people in the aviation industry - one is a trainer for airline pilots, and another works for a parts sales company that handles the parts for airliners. One of these guys is in Atlanta, the other in Ft. Lauderdale.
Let me know what you'd like to persue and I'll see what I can do to hook you up.
