I sat down today with Hunter, Premier Marine’s Lead Diver to get some insight into what it means to be a Hull Diver.
Q – What made you get into hull diving? It seems like a career field not known by many.
A – Honestly, just where I was at I guess. Clint kinda he knew me through my little brother. Clint’s son and my little brother were friends, one day he just asked me if I’d be interested. I was working a different job at the time, I just left that on a whim to try something new. I’ve always loved the water, and was intrigued at the opportunity to learn something new.
Q – How long you been with Premier Marine?
A – 2 years so far, and many more to come!
Q – What do you enjoy most about hull diving?
A – The freedom. I get to be outside, in an environment filled with dolphins, baby sea turtles, and a whole lot of really happy people! I’ve always enjoyed sports and being physically active, and this job affords me the opportunity to kinda check all those boxes.
Q – What are some of the dangers of the job?
A – Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, let me tell you about my first ‘pucker factor’ moment. There I was, a new hull diver, getting ready to drop in from the dock. I look down as I’m getting ready to drop and see this HUGE alligator right under me. I nearly dropped right on it! Not gonna lie, it was exciting, invigorating! Knowing you’re in the water with animals, or creatures like that on a regular basis keeps me on my toes… or fins in this case. The unknown, it’s exciting. But in all reality this job can be dangerous. We work around props every day. It only takes one unaware boater to turn those on when we are underneath. That’s why we use our signs and flags, making sure our divers are as safe as possible.
Clint has done a really good job making safety a priority for our company. We routinely have safety training classes so we can minimize the dangers as much as possible. I don’t know any other divers that carry a tourniquet, but we all do. My family is thankful safety is such a priority for PMD.
Q – What are some common issues regarding boat hulls you wish owners knew?
A – Paint condition – good bottom paint can make or break a boat. Good quality paint makes cleaning it significantly easier, it’s “easier to do right”, If we can’t tell what’s going on, because of poor bottom paint, we can’t conduct a very good inspection. Good bottom paint and regular service ensures we can spot problems, or damage before it becomes a bigger issue for the customer.
Q – What is your role within Premier Marine as a Lead Diver?
A – I recently took over conducting Quality Control Inspections. This means I go behind our divers on various jobs and inspect their work. We believe it’s important to make sure the work we do is quality, that our customers are satisfied with their service. I will literally pick boats we serviced a day or two prior and go back to check them. It keeps the guys on their toes (LOL FINS!), and helps ensure we are delivering “Premier level service” (that’s a Clint-ism). I also help in developing and instructing in-house training courses to develop our diver’s capabilities and expertise.
Q – What do you like most about working for Premier Marine?
A – The people – Clint has managed to build a pretty strong team who seem to genuinely care about doing good quality work. The team environment is refreshing. You (Rich), always tell us you want this to be a place where we can make a career of it, somewhere we can do 20 years
and be happy. It’s genuinely nice to work for someone that really cares for his people. I’ve seen this company grow significantly over the last two years. To see where it was, to where it is, and where we are going, it’s very exciting!
Q – What was it like working through Hurricane Ian and the aftermath?
A – The tides seemed to change quite a bit, as did the current. The whole seas changed, and took quite a while to return to what I consider ‘normal’. The after effects were crazy! We service 190 miles of the east coast of Florida, so we saw a lot of the destruction which was sad to see. So many lives altered by the storms. As far as in the water, we all noticed a lot of underwater debris. We had a chance to really help out some people in need, whether recovering lost parts of their boat, or clearing debris from the marinas, I felt like I was able to do some real meaningful good.
Q – I gotta ask… How’d you get the name ‘Gator’?
A – LOL You know how! YOU gave it to me! Let’s just say it’s from the movie ‘The Other Guys’, from the times you (Rich) and I used to ride together. I still think I’m more Mark Wahlberg and less Will Ferrell, but the name seems to have stuck so…. Gator it is! Those barnacles better watch out, Gator don’t take no.. .stuff!
Our professionalism is matched only by our teamwork, and camaraderie. May this insight into our profession bring you, the reader, a smile, and a little bit of an insider’s view of our profession.
