Three days straight in 45 degree water near Port Townsend last spring

We were doing a pipeline inspection and my drysuit seal started leaking on day two. By day three I was running on cold coffee and sheer stubbornness while my hands went numb every dive. Anyone else have a job where everything just went sideways?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver229d ago

Pushed through a 12 hour shift on a crab boat with a busted hydraulic pump and a growing leak that was mixing diesel with our bilge water. Hands were so greasy and cold I could barely grip the wrench by the end.

milestaylor26d ago

Been there on a shrimper, exhaust leak mixing with hydraulic fluid in the engine room. What worked for me was putting a cheater bar on a socket wrench and taking breaks every 20 minutes to warm my hands under the deck hose even though the water was cold. Had to wrap electrical tape around the wrench handle to get any grip at all. Trick was to move slow and steady, rushing just made me drop tools into the bilge. Also kept a dry rag tucked in my waistband, swapped every hour. That one wrench would've been useless without the tape.