Just realized I passed 500 hours of bottom time yesterday

I was logging my dives for the month and added up my total bottom time since I started commercial diving 8 years ago. It came out to 502 hours and some change. That number caught me off guard because I never think about it in hours, just in jobs and paychecks. 500 hours underwater doing inspections, welding, and salvage work is a lot of time breathing compressed air in the dark. It made me think about all the close calls I had in those hours and how I'm still here. Has anyone else kept a running total of their bottom time and been surprised by the number?

2 comments

2 Comments

amymiller6d ago

Respectfully disagree - counting hours just gives you something to obsess over instead of focusing on the work.

dakota_fox6d ago

Did you ever have a friend who tried to learn guitar? My buddy Mike was obsessed with logging his practice hours. He had a whole app for it and everything. He'd get mad if he only logged 45 minutes instead of a full hour. But after three months, he still couldn't play a full song. Then he stopped counting and just started playing along with his favorite tunes. Now he's actually decent and way happier about it. So yeah, I think focusing on the time takes away from the actual progress you're making.