Hit 200 feet on a single dive and nobody warned me about the paperwork

I finally broke 200 feet on a commercial dive last week off the coast of Port Arthur, and all the safety gear and prep talk I got from training didn't mention the insane amount of surface interval logs I'd have to fill out for insurance. Took me longer to do the paperwork than the actual dive itself, which honestly caught me off guard. Does anyone else feel like the administrative side of deep diving gets way too little attention in the courses?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.kevin2d ago

Once you get into the rhythm of filling them out right after surfacing, it gets a lot faster" - sure, but that rhythm only works if you ignore half the form. I've been doing this ten years and I still watch guys spend twenty minutes on the "last 48 hours" section because they can't remember if that second cup of coffee was at 6 or 6:15. The training courses don't gloss over this stuff, they plain avoid it because they know if they told a new diver he'd spend as much time on paperwork as underwater, half the class would walk. And honestly, maybe that's fine. If you can't handle a few forms, maybe commercial diving isn't for you. We've got enough people in this industry who can't figure out a clipboard, no need to make it easier for them.

amyh212d ago

Just gently correct you on one thing there - those interval logs aren't just for insurance. They're actually required by OSHA if you're working under their regulations, which most commercial outfits in Port Arthur fall under. The forms might seem like a hassle, but they're meant to track your nitrogen load properly. I remember my first deep dive and sitting there with a pencil for an hour trying to remember when I had my last meal and whether I drank coffee that morning. The training courses definitely gloss over this stuff, you're right about that. But once you get into the rhythm of filling them out right after surfacing, it gets a lot faster.