Got called out on my umbilical management last month

We were on a bridge inspection in Mobile, and my tender, an old Gulf hand named Carl, watched me coil my umbilical on deck. He just said, 'You're making a bird's nest for the next guy, Hannah. Lay it in long loops, not tight circles.' I'd been doing tight circles for three years because it looked neat. Switched to his method, and my last two dives, I had zero twists or kinks on the way down. Anyone else have a simple habit they had to unlearn?

3 comments

3 Comments

benclark16d ago

Read an article once about how sailors coil rope. They said tight coils build up twist energy, like winding a spring. You lay it in long, loose loops to let that twist spread out along the line. Same idea with an umbilical, right? Makes you wonder what other "neat" habits are actually setting up the next person for a headache.

angela68716d ago

Watch someone perfectly fold a fitted sheet and you know they've just created a monster for the next laundry day. Same with those super tight vacuum cord wraps that fight you like a snake when you try to unplug it. People who stack cups in a super neat pyramid are basically building a Jenga game that explodes when you need the bottom one.

nancynguyen11d ago

Wait, they have to coil umbilical cords too?