# Recommendation needed: Diver/bottom cleaning Annapolis area



## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

Hi all,
I'm looking for a reliable diver to check out our boat bottom, check/clean the shaft and prop, and perhaps a light bottom scrub. I'm not racing, so I don't need a spotless boat. But this is our first year with her, and I'd like to make sure the zinc is holding up OK, and I'm assuming the shaft and prop probably could use some cleaning. 

I'm on the South River on the Chesapeake. Can anyone recommend a local diver for this? Reasonable pricing would be a plus.
Thanks!
-J


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## painkiller (Dec 20, 2006)

I recommend Christian Graf (aka Yellow Dick Diving). I'll get his number for you when I get home tonight if nobody else posts it first.

EDIT: I'd also like to add that Christian dives all winter unlike most other divers in the area, so if you leave your boat in like I do and are paranoid about your zincs like I am, he's perfect!


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

painkiller said:


> I recommend Christian Graf (aka Yellow Dick Diving). I'll get his number for you when I get home tonight if nobody else posts it first.
> 
> EDIT: I'd also like to add that Christian dives all winter unlike most other divers in the area, so if you leave your boat in like I do and are paranoid about your zincs like I am, he's perfect!


Thanks painkiller! Please do forward his info when you can...


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## painkiller (Dec 20, 2006)

Here you go, Jos!

Yellow Dick Diving
970 Yachtsman Way
Annapolis, MD 21403

[email protected]

I don't seem to have any of his business cards handy, so I don't have his phone number. But he does respond to email, which is how I usually contact him. I'm on a regular schedule with him now, so I don't have to talk to him very often.


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

painkiller said:


> Here you go, Jos!
> 
> Yellow Dick Diving
> 970 Yachtsman Way
> ...


Thanks painkiller--really appreciate it!
-J


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

Also Blue panet Divers..out of Annapolis/ Edgewater

Dave


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

Thanks Dave!


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## Fstbttms (Feb 25, 2003)

painkiller said:


> Christian dives all winter unlike most other divers in the area...


Why do most other local divers not work through the winter? You don't haul for the winter in that area, do you?


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## bheintz (Jun 14, 2001)

Fstbttms said:


> Why do most other local divers not work through the winter? You don't haul for the winter in that area, do you?


The Chesapeake gets a lot of cold water runoff from the mountains of WV, PA and NY. The further north you go up the Bay the more brackish the water becomes and also colder. Potentially, it will get colder and freeze over sooner than that other nearby coastal bodies of water like Long Island Sound that are influenced by the Atlantic. In '77 the Bay froze over completely land locking Baltimore for a brief period of time.

Many people haul their boats so they don't have to deal with ice, bubblers or frozen bilge pumps.


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

Fstbttms said:


> Why do most other local divers not work through the winter? You don't haul for the winter in that area, do you?


While it doesn't freeze solid usually here, the creeks in our area do freeze during the winter, so it gets pretty cold in the water. Most people I know haul for the winter, but as bheintz mentioned, some people use bubblers, etc. Just 125 miles south of here, most everyone leaves the boat in all winter, but the water is much higher salt content.


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

I liveaboard and don't haul for the winter. If you keep the boat heated it isn't an issue.

I use Patrick McMahon ( [email protected] 410-271-0340 ) and am pleased with his service. I particularly like that he will send me an e-mail when he is planning to be at the boat (I am on a 5 week schedule) so I can leave a check out for him. That works for us. If you choose to use him please tell him Auspicious recommended him. He is $3/ft for the first service and now charges me $90 / service for the regular cleaning.

I did use Yellow Dick Diving a few years ago with good results, but that was before Christian bought the business. I do know he and his girl friend are very active in the local sailing community and sponsor at least one race boat. He's a good cook also. *grin*


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## midnightsailor (May 23, 2003)

_I am curious to know what sailors are paying for this type of work. Bottom cleaning, inspections, zincs, etc. Is $ 3.00/ ft. about the going rate for bottom cleaning ? Do any of the divers services yu know of charge a minimum? thanks, Rick_


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## eryka (Mar 16, 2006)

We also use Blue Planet and pay $3 to $4/foot. They charge based on how much time they spend on the boat, so it varies depending on how gucked up our bottom is. We schedule together with a couple of other boats on our dock, we save a little bit of money because the divers only mobilize once to do 3 boats.

Sally Morris
Robert van der Gon Netscher
BLUE PLANET DIVE SERVICES
410-867-2962
[email protected]


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## Fstbttms (Feb 25, 2003)

midnightsailor said:


> _I am curious to know what sailors are paying for this type of work. Bottom cleaning, inspections, zincs, etc. Is $ 3.00/ ft. about the going rate for bottom cleaning ? Do any of the divers services yu know of charge a minimum? thanks, Rick_


Hull cleaning rates vary from region to region. Seems like the going rate in Annapolis is $3.00/foot. You being in New York it may be different. Here in the Bay Area, for instance, we generally charge $2.25/foot for sailboats and $3.00/foot for powerboats. Zinc replacement is usually $10.00/zinc, plus the cost of the zinc. In SoCal hull cleaning is even cheaper, by a buck or so a foot.

I personally have a $50.00 minimum wet fee and that buys you half an hour of my time for inspections, retrievals or other misc. dive work. Again, YMMV depending on where you are located.


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## painkiller (Dec 20, 2006)

Fstbttms said:


> Why do most other local divers not work through the winter? You don't haul for the winter in that area, do you?


Most folks around here haul out for the winter. And if I recall, the Blue Planet guys go work in the Caribbean during the winter. So maybe it's a combination of low demand and seasonal opportunities elsewhere?


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

Thanks everyone for all the great info! This is a big help...


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## salrman (Jun 17, 2004)

*blue planet diving*

Has anyone heard from them lately? I've left email and voicemail messages for over a week and have not heard back from them.


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## mgmhead (Jan 14, 2007)

Jos,

Assuming your prop and shaft are comparable to my own (big assumption) you can check/clean yourself very easily. I can reach my shaft and prop with my right hand while holding onto a rope attached to the stern cleat with my left and still have my head above water. Guess if I found the zincs missing I'd have a different problem but for scrapping and cleaning find a clean creek, get into the water and see what you find.

Best of Luck...MGM


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## josrulz (Oct 15, 2006)

salrman said:


> Has anyone heard from them lately? I've left email and voicemail messages for over a week and have not heard back from them.


I wrote them and didn't hear back, but I only tried the one time.



mgmhead said:


> Jos,
> 
> Assuming your prop and shaft are comparable to my own (big assumption) you can check/clean yourself very easily. I can reach my shaft and prop with my right hand while holding onto a rope attached to the stern cleat with my left and still have my head above water. Guess if I found the zincs missing I'd have a different problem but for scrapping and cleaning find a clean creek, get into the water and see what you find.
> 
> Best of Luck...MGM


MGM, I figure I can reach it--it's probably the same distance as yours, though might be the opposite side of the boat. But when I tried it, I couldn't _see _anything whatsoever. And I didn't want to just reach out and grab the prop if there were barnacles or something on it. I'm betting I can get the hang of it if I can find someplace where I can see it, at least with a mask on.

By the way, sounds like you guys had a good Labor Day weekend!


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

I dive my own boat now, only way to make sure its done right. 

The places that I've called around to on the bay were about $100 for my 25 footer. Couldn't find anyone cheaper.


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## scottyt (Jul 19, 2008)

i dive my boat at the entrance to rock creek, it has a nice soft bottom. as well as it gets shallow gradually, moving 50 feet means about 6 inches of depth change.

just watch the minnows, they swarm when scraping barnacles. then they try to clean you off and it feels funny


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

Scotty,

IMHO I would be carefull with the quaility of the water out of Rock Creek, Unless I was out far. There have been all sorts of alerts about high fecal chloroform counts as well. A number of people in our club have gotten sick swimming in the water there. 

We keep our boat at the Maryland Yacht Club at the entrance to Rock Creek. I swim in the Chester, Whorton, Sassafrass. Personally I would never go in the water there unless it was an emergency.

Dave


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## painkiller (Dec 20, 2006)

I'll second what Chef said. I used to keep a boat up there in Rock Creek. I thought I had a line wrapped around my prop, so I asked the marina office if I they had a mask I could borrow. The marina manager said "What?? You're not going IN that water, are you? If you do, you take a shower as soon as you get out!" Soon thereafter, I found the website for Anne Arundel County that listed the poop counts in the local waters and was astonished at how filthy Rock Creek and the Patapsco are. I even called the county and the guy said "That's nothing. Not too long ago, the water was so polluted, it was like battery acid. We were getting complaints of damage to boat hulls." I'm not sure how long ago that was, though.


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## Inamorata (Nov 10, 2009)

*Blue Planet Dive Services*



salrman said:


> Has anyone heard from them lately? I've left email and voicemail messages for over a week and have not heard back from them.


I called a few times last week and the mailbox was full on the business number. There was no answer on the cell phone, but eventually Sally called me back after seeing my number a few times on her recent calls list.

We eventually made an appointment for yesterday afternoon to have the bottom done. I tried calling a couple of days ahead, just to make sure we were still on schedule, but again I could not reach anybody by phone. I thought they were probably just too busy to take calls, and that since we confirmed the appointment place and time, that everything would probably be okay.

Yesterday I waited at our boat at the agreed upon time and place. They never showed up. That's the last time I will call Blue Planet!


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## Inamorata (Nov 10, 2009)

*Other names for divers*

Thought I'd post a couple of names for divers I found after Blue Planet Divers didn't show up on their scheduled appointment. All of the following divers seem good, and they all were willing to work on Sunday. And, they answer their phones and return calls 

John at Commander Dive Services: 410-971-4777

Ryan at R&D: 443-763-0994


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## 4arch (Jul 7, 2009)

I'm refreshing this thread because Blue Planet got a lot of recommendations early on and then appeared to go MIA last fall. Anyone have any divers they've used this season and would recommend?


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## Inamorata (Nov 10, 2009)

We used John at Commander Dive Service last fall and they were excellent
Phone: 410-971-4777
Website: Commander Dive Service


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## windependent (Mar 23, 2011)

I would NEVER EVER use Yellow Dick Diving again and I would emphatically recommend against them to anyone. He was supposed to clean the bottom of our race boat _every_ Wednesday, and again at the end of the week on a regatta weekend. On a Saturday two weeks ago I went swimming with my family and friends and sliced my finger open on three *LARGE BARNACLES*. I called/left three voicemails and sent two email; no response. Then I showed up to race the next Wednesday and the bottom was still untouched. Called and sent emails again; again, no response. Had a regatta on Sunday...still nothing done. When I finally got in touch with him, on Sunday morning, all he had to say was "Gee, ya dude, I hear ya." This is the third time in a year and a half that he has screwed me like this. Stay far far away from Yellow Dick Diving.


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## DivingOtter (May 5, 2012)

Im charging 3.00 a foot for sailing vessels, 2.50 for power boats privately owned. Commercial vessels I will charge an hourly or flat fee depending on the circumstances. I make more business in the winter than I do spring through end of summer because when its 25 degree air and 34 degree water im the only one around and you can bet the rates go up for that. Now, EVERYONE and their brother who has a tank calls themselves commercial divers, undercutting my company to the point that I cant compete with them which in turn, only hurts the entire diving community as well as myself. Do be careful on who you hire. Ensure they are properly trained, knowledgable and insured! Not just some weekend warrior looking for beer money. If they are just a recreational diver and get hurt while under hire YOU are exposed legally for them getting injured.


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## johnnyquest37 (Feb 16, 2012)

My reccommendation is Charles Gilless - "Up the Creek Diving." email [email protected]. phone is 410-three two zero - 4798.


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## Jeff_H (Feb 26, 2000)

I have used Yellowdick Diving for the better part of 10 years now. The company had really been top notch, but with Christian out of town, in Florida and some other diver filling in, for him the coverage had been terrible. After several missed appointments, Christian referred me to:

Kyle Sobeck
Slippy's Dive Service
Annapolis, MD 21401
301-641-8499
[email protected]

Kyle 's company is a separate company from YellowDick but he has been very professional, thorough, and timely.

Jeff


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