Amphibious Recovery

Pistol_Pete · Dec 18, 2006

For some time I’ve been thinking of starting an underwater recovery and salvage business. A service that retrieves lost jewelry, fishing gear, boats, cars, ect. Not necessarily as a for prophet business but as a way to get my dive trips paid for. It would also look really cool on the side of my truck, boat, and t-shirt. I could justify buying a tax deductible hookah, dry suit, full mask with communication system, and a side scan sonar and I could occasionally use them for my personal excursions.

Has anyone else tried this type of business in an inland state, if so how many calls did you receive, was it worthwhile?

ScubaFinder · Dec 18, 2006

Re: Oklahoma Amphibious Recovery

Well, I was hoping someone would answer your question, because I was interested in the same thing. I know some salvors, but they are all marine salvors, and they do pretty well for themselves. If you live near lake Texhoma, you might look in the phone books around there and see if anyone is listed. I'm wondering if you couldn't add your underwater metal detecting skills to an existing companies offerings if there is one. Then maybe you could get paid to dive

From what I've researched, it seems that lakes in our area produce very few wrecks, and most of those are boats that were worth around 2-5K...with Texhoma being the exception of course.

If you'll check the Texhoma area, I'll check the Possum Kingdom area and we'll have covered the two big lakes that have expensive boats on them. If neither of those areas have a salvage group, I'd say there might be a market for one. If they do, I bet you could get some good info from them. I'm heading to the public library tonight, and I think they have all of the local area phone books on file there. I'll let you know what I find out.

Jason

TreasureTales · Dec 18, 2006

Re: Oklahoma Amphibious Recovery

Haven't a clue about success in such an endeavor in OK. Did read of a guy here in CA that made a handsome living by retrieving GOLF BALLS from ponds and lakes on golf courses. He ultimately hired other guys to do the water retrieval work and he just collected the checks from different golf courses and individuals who bought used golf balls. This was in sunny southern California, where golf is a year round sport. My point about the golf ball guy is this: try thinking way outside the box. Try using your equipment for finding stuff that others may not think of customarily. In OK you might be able to use your dive equipment to help locate police or private investigator evidence, or shopping carts (each shopping cart costs around $100.00 new--super markets sometimes pay rewards to have them returned), or you could try to get a contract with the State of Oklahoma to inspect the footings of bridges for possible damage or debris accumulation. There are many other ideas I'm sure you could come up with that will provide money so that you can pursue your interests.

As far as not necessarily making a profit from your recovery business, I think the IRS frowns on businesses that don't make a profit after a couple of years or so. Maybe something to look into before beginning

Wishing you success.