What would be useful for breathing under water at depths not exceeding 3 meters for 5-10 minutes?

Question

In my area there are a lot of small fishing boats. I surf so I have wetsuits for summer and winter. Recently I have been making a fair amount of money swimming under fishing boats to cut tangles lines from their propellers. The water is cold and most of the fishermen do not have wetsuits so I am of great use to them for things like that. The only thing that limits what I can do is that I am not scuba certified so I just hold my breath for about 20-30 seconds at a time to do whatever I have to do under the boats. Is there some system or something, other than me getting scuba certified and getting all the gear, that would allow me to work in shallow water (1-3 meters) for short periods of time (5-10 minutes)? Would something such as Spare Air be useful to me? I am enlisted in the NAVY and ship out in a few months. They have given me some training in compressed air breathing and in the dangers of being underwater so, I am not completely clueless about the dangers involved.

Answer 1

I appreciate that you have had some training from the Navy. However, I would suggest that you go for the scuba certification. Even the use of a spare air presents dangers, especially when working underwater.

Then we have the issue of solo diving. Again, I appreciate that you are in 3m of water but entanglement is an obvious risk inherent in what you are doing.

Think long and hard about it. It is still a huge hazard even in shallow water.