A salvage job in the Gulf turned into a week of perfect conditions

We were on a job off the coast of Pensacola last month, pulling up old pipeline sections. The forecast said we'd have maybe two good days before a front moved in. Instead, we got five straight days of flat calm seas and 100-foot visibility. I've never seen the water that clear on a job site before. We could see the whole wreck layout from the surface, which cut our bottom time in half because we weren't searching blind. The deck crew was on point, and we finished the whole contract three days early. It was one of those rare weeks where everything just clicks. What's the longest stretch of good weather you've ever had on a project?

3 comments

3 Comments

janah8312d ago

Five days of flat calm is unreal for that area. Had a similar run on a hull inspection up in Puget Sound once, got four days of clear water and no current when we were braced for the usual murk and drift. It feels like winning the lottery when the weather just decides to cooperate for the whole job. You almost get nervous because it's so out of the ordinary. Makes you remember why you put up with all the terrible days.

victor77912d ago

You mentioned waiting for the other shoe to drop, and that's so true. I've found those perfect runs in work or life make you superstitious, like you're borrowing luck from somewhere else. It's a weird feeling when things just work.

oliverhernandez12d ago

Man, that sounds like a dream week. My best run was probably four days of perfect weather on a land survey, which is basically a miracle (the mosquitoes even took a day off, I swear). It's so rare that everything lines up like that, you almost don't trust it. I spent the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never did.